Li Hongjun’s sensitive mastery and personal expressions of contemporary art languages enable what he has done to be a valuable personal case in the modern art practice in China. Nowadays he is one of the most striking artists of sculpture in Chinese mainland. Li Hongjun’s particular life experiences have given him dual identities: as peasant and as artist. In the early 90’s he created installations in international exhibitions alongside artists such as Fang Lijun and Xu Bing, but when his wife fell ill he chose to return home and take care of her. In 2006 an admission notice from Central Academy of Art’s Experimental Art Program allowed Li Hongjun, in middle age, to return to Beijing and continue his creation of art. His works are mostly made by paper. His “Myself”, “Expansion”, “Drift Away” and other series used displaced paper, rotation and other methods to combine eastern and western methods of paper cutting, and expressed the distortion of man’s values after encounters with the reality of modern society. Today, his many years of work have given him an outstanding reputation as an installation artist, and he has been called by CAFA’s vice-president Xu Bing “an artist with Chinese folk wisdom”.
SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2011
Removed, VA Gallery, Hong Kong
“Li Hongjun’s Solo Exhibition”, Gallery 604 J, Busan, Korea
2010
“Into Papers”, PIFO New Art Gallery, Beijing, China
GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2012
Material Object, Eli Klein Fine Art, New York, USA
2011
ART Taipei 2011, Taipei World Trade Center, Taipei Art Beijing 2011, National Agriculture Exhibition Center, Beijing, China ArtStageSingapore 2011, Marina Bay Sands Expo and Convention Centre, Singapore Art Beijing 2011, Beijing, China Remaking of Civilization: Chinese Contemporary Sculptures, Cultural Affairs Bureau, Macau SAR， China
2010
Art Beijing 2011, National Agriculture Exhibition Center, Beijing, China China International Clothing & Accessories Fair, China International Exhibition Center, Beijing, China “T’ien-Kung-K’ai-Wu”, Q.K Art Center, Beijing, China
2009
NOTCH09 Festival/ ID-entity, Beijing, China “Discovery”, Found Museum, Beijing, China “The Fourth A+A”, PIFO New Art Gallery, Beijing, China
2008
“Painting and Handwork” Third Exhibition, PIFO New Art Gallery, Beijing, China “Look at Climate”, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China “Inward”, PIFO New Art Gallery, Beijing, China “The Third A+A”, PIFO New Art Gallery, Beijing, China “The Third A+A”, Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China
2007
“Comfortable Way”, PIFO New Art Gallery, Beijing, China “Painting and Handwork” Second Exhibition, PIFO New Art Gallery, Beijing, China “The Desire for Material Welfare & No Wants”, Beijing, China
2006
First Academy Experimental Art Exhibition, CAFA, Beijing, China
1996
“Focusing on China”, Munich, Germany
1995
95’ Beijing Paper Cutting Exhibition, Contemporary Art Gallery, Beijing, China International Exhibition of Culinary Art, Elfurt, Germany
1993
“93’Transition II”, Contemporary Art Gallery, Beijing, China Southeastern Asian Tour Exhibition, Hong Kong/Malaysia/Singapore First National Fine Arts Exhibition, National Museum of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
1992
“92’Transition I”, Contemporary Art Gallery, Beijing, China
1984
Sixth National Art Exhibition, Hangzhou, China
Artworks Published Records
Art Taipei 2011 Art Book
Art Stage Singapore Art Book
Hi Art
Vision in Life
My Modern Youth
L’officiel Art
Entertainment World
Pipeline
Master Oriental Art
