EXHIBITED:
Li Chen in 52nd Venice Biennale – Energy of Emptiness, Telecom Italia Future Centre, Venice, June 10 – November 21, 2007
Li Chen - Mind-Body-Spirit, Singapore Art Museum, Singapore, September 25 - December 9, 2009
Greatness of Spirit - Li Chen Premiere Sculpture Exhibition in Taiwan, Chiang Kai-Shek Memorial Hall / Road of Democracy, Taipei, November 6 - December 4, 2011

ILLUSTRATED:
Li Chen Sculpture 1992-2002, Asia Art Center, Beijing, 2004, color illustrated, pp. 40-42
Li Chen Energy of Emptiness 52nd International Art Exhibition – La Biennale di Venezia, Asia Art Center Co., Ltd., Taipei, 2007, color illustrated, pp. 30–31;
black and white illustrated, p. 216
Li Chen: In Search of Spiritual Space, 2008 Solo Exhibition at National Art
Museum of China, Asia Art Center, Taipei, 2008, color illustrated, p. 194

This sculpture is to be sold with a certificate of authenticity issued by Asia Art Center, Taipei.

Li Chen has acquired Buddhism, Taoism, and other classics to search for truth, which transmitted into his sculpture in an attempt to represent the Oriental spirit and essence. Li Chen uses "emptiness" as his important aesthetic concept in creation. Emptiness and nonbeing are the major concepts of Buddhism and Taoism in the Chinese culture. Emptiness embedded in Buddhism does not refer to nothing, but signifying a grand serene life and dead witty stage. Similarly, the Taoism saying goes, "Emptiness breaks; Silence resumes," suggesting a perfect moment of breaking and silencing, in search of a way in the moderation. Li Chen's sculpture conveys the energy of emptiness in a sculpture object, empty outside but filled up with energy inside.

Owing to Li Chen's rebirth of energy in a spiritual form, the sculpture is highlighted in an exaggerated and lacquered black object to display a sweet, romantic, joyful, and satisfactory spiritual concept. Hence, despite Li's art is in gigantic form, but never heavy but flowing in the sky to transmit a "heavy and light" feeling, and a perfect fusion of spiritual energy and material energy. Li Chen's art, determined to break from the traditional thousand-year religious Buddhist formality of its structures, results in transforming Tang Dynasty's Buddhist round and complete figurative sculpture and the Song Dynasty's beautiful spirit and unique characteristics into simplistic sculpture's smiling face and lines. In addition, Li obtains the cultural elements from the 5000 years of Chinese history, such as spirits, Buddha, dragon, fables, and legends, blending contemporary artistic elements and materials into fusion of tradition and modernity. Hence, Li's work displays an unprecedented unique style and panorama to endow the Eastern sculpture with a new life.