Li Shan 李山

From ArtSpeak China (ASC) Wiki

Li Shan is a widely recognized leader of the Political Pop movement that emerged in China after 1990. His colorful, Warhol-like portraits of Mao wearing lipstick and carrying a lotus flower have long been popular with collectors.^[1] Born in 1942, Li lives and works in Shanghai.

Contents 1 Date & Place of Birth 2 Education & Development 3 Art 4 Exhibitions 5 Gallery Affiliation(s) 6 Acquisitions & Auctions 7 References 8 Links

[edit] Date & Place of Birth

Li Shan was born in 1942 in Lanxi, Heilongjiang Province.

[edit] Education & Development

In 1963, Li graduated from Heilongjiang University, Heilongjiang, later earning a degree from the Oil Painting department of Shanghai Theater Academy in 1968.

[edit] Art

Li Shan has undergone many stylistic transitions throughout his career but has never lost his ability to express internal sensibilities as well as external reluctances. The latest paintings in his “Rouge" series show mutant beings with butterflies as ears or as part of their faces. They seem to evoke two contradictory strains: humor, laughter and self-mockery on the one hand and a cynical undercurrent of criticism on the other. “Rouge” is based on the principle of ambiguity as Li attempts to find an evolving form that can address the problem of extracting the recognizable out of the unrecognizable.^[2]
Most recently in a series entitled “Reading” (2005), Li created computer images of various insects and plants. Closer viewing reveals that these insects are composed of human body parts like fingers, ears and genitalia. Through his uncannily realistic representation of interspecies insects, Li Shan questions the hypocrisy and lack of equality of human values in today’s politically informed bio-scientific experiments. In terms of artistic style, he has adopted decorative methods similar to those of folk art, creating intimate, eccentric and oddly organic objects. The synthesized insects are constructions of digital imagery morphed into abstracted pictures. He raises the question of whether it is still possible to identify the boundaries between any particular organism and the world it inhabits.

Li’s seemingly infinite variety of work reveals a sort of consistency upon closer inspection. Li's work aims to evoke a tension within the idea of the yet unknown. He attempts to reconcile opposites in a way that leaves them un-reconciled, allowing viewers to reach their own ambiguous conclusions.^[2]

[edit] Exhibitions

Li Shan's work has been exhibited internationally in solo and group exhibitions such as Painting the Chinese Dream: Chinese Art 30 Years after the Revolution, which traveled through the United States, ending at the Brooklyn Museum; China's New Art, Post 1989 Art Centre (Hong Kong); and the 45th Venice Biennale.

For Li Shan's full exhibition history, click here.

[edit] Gallery Affiliation(s)

Li is represented by Chambers Fine Art in New York and ShanghART in Shanghai, among other galleries.

[edit] Acquisitions & Auctions

For Li Shan's auction record, click here.

[edit] References

1. ↑ http://new.artzinechina.com/display_vol_aid291_en.html
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} http://www.shanghartgallery.com/galleryarchive/artists/name/lishan/intro

[edit] Links

88MoCCA - The Museum of Chinese contemporary art on the web: Li Shan