A Path to Life

A PATH TO LIFE
SOLO EXHIBITION BY
LI YONGGENG
CURATED BY
JANET FONG
Galerie du Monde
3 March 2016 – 19 April 2016
29 January 2016, Hong Kong – 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
  ‘I am thrilled to be welcoming Li Yonggeng to Galerie du Monde for his first exhibition in Hong Kong, to take place during an extremely important month for the art world in Hong Kong. The simplicity and conceptuality of Li’s work elicits a warmth that demonstrates the meditative effect the process of creation has on this artist.’
• Fred Scholle, Founder, Galerie du Monde

About Li Yonggeng
Li Yonggeng (b. 1973) was born in Change, Hunan. He studied at the Beiking East Art Institute from 1994 – 1995 and currently lives and works in Beijing. Recent solo exhibitions include thethe’s home, Artmia, Beijing, China (2015) and Prescription¸ SHI FANG Fine Art, Dusseldorf, Germany (2014).
Group exhibitions include Logic of Perception: Cases of Chinese Contemporary Abstract Art, IAM ART SPACE, China (2014); Uneasy Trip in Asia 2014, Star Gallery, Beijing, China (2014); Chao-Bai River Project, ON SPACE, Beijing, China (2014); Zhuang, Artmia, Beijing, China (2015); Chinese Abstract Painting Today, GALERIE FRANK SCHLAG&CIE, Essen, Germany (2015); vibrARTion 14: No Air No Art, MoCA Beijing, Beijing, China; INNOVATIVELY TRANSFORMED FOLK ARTS – 2015 BEIJING 798 ARTFESIVAL PROMOTION EXHIBTION, Jinshuku, Originality Square, 798 Art Zone, Beijing, China (2015).
About Janet Fong
Janet Fong is an independent curator who was born in Hong Kong and currently lives and works in Beijing. Since 1997 she has worked with a number of organisations including CAFA Art Museum (Central Academy of Fine Arts), Osage (Art Foundation and Gallery), University Museum and Art Gallery (University of HK), 1a Space and HK Maritime Museum.
Janet has curated numerous exhibitions including Botero in China – The Art of Fernando Botero, National Museum of China, Beijing and China Art Museum (2015 – 2016), I wanna eat, yummy yummy, Contemporary Art Exhibition, Oil Street, Hong Kong (2015), and CAFAM Future Biennial – Artist Residency Project Chinese artists to HK, Emergency Lab, Hong Kong (2015).
Janet holds a Master degree in History of Art from The University of Sussex as well as a postgraduate degree in Museum Studies from The University of Sydney. She is also an advisor at the Osage Art Foundation, and serves on the committee of the K11 International Artist Residency.

About Galerie du Monde
Founded in Hong Kong in 1974, Galerie du Monde has been specializing in modern and contemporary works by internationally established Chinese artists for over 40 years. The gallery also nurtures and promotes emerging talent from Mainland China, presenting a varied programme of solo and group exhibitions with a strong focus on works of art on canvas, paper, sculpture and photography. To celebrate its 40th anniversary in 2014, Galerie du Monde introduced The GDM Projects series to strengthen the gallery’s support to a wider group of artists from different nationalities, providing them the opportunity to exhibit outside of their own countries.
Media Enquiries
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Panacee Zhao | Galerie du Monde
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