Galerie du Monde is delighted to announce A Path to Life, a solo exhibition of work by Chinese artist Li Yonggeng (b. 1973). This exhibition will be Li’s first exhibition in Hong Kong, and will comprise part installation and part textile paintings, of which there are two series. Curated by independent curator Janet Fong, the exhibition will show between 3 March and 19 April 2016.
Li Yonggeng is originally from Changde in Hunan province and is a self-taught artist who specializes in the transformation of everyday objects into works of art. For the last 20 years, the artist has been working on two series called Do and Sew,which aims to blur the boundary between experience and creation. The artist creates his art by transforming the objects he encounters in his everyday life, as well as constructing installations in the places where he happens to be staying at a particular time. Li captures his emotions and personal experiences at a particular time, translating them into his work.
This exhibition will showcase a number of works from these two lengthy series, and will include several new pieces of work which will be debuted at this exhibition. For Li, the everyday objects he encounters in his life carry his personal history and narrative. The work Li produces is heavily related to the environment he happens to be living in at a particular time, with a focus on the idea of having a ‘home-like’ space. The installation part of the exhibition at Galerie du Monde will feature the bed in which the artist sleeps, along with the chairs he uses at home, wine bottles, shoes and other items related to his life. Household items such as his rice bowl, spoon and chopsticks have been transformed into sculptural artworks.
Accompanying Li’s installation will be the series of paintings where each canvas has been slashed open and sewn back together. This conceptual practice originated from the artist’s attempts to use art as therapy for troubling life circumstances and consisted of the artist or his friends slashing canvases before Li stitched the pieces back together. Li’s tools such as needles, scissors and thread will be included in the aforementioned installation, allowing visitors to immerse themselves in the artist’s life and practice.
‘To me, exterior beauty is not what I care about. The most important thing is one’s unique perception of a material object and one’s creative attitude. My use of daily objects reflects the reality and temporality of life, right now. I believe that this simple style of creation can attract other people to become artists.’ - Li Yonggeng, Artist