ArtistLi, Zili

Artist Years1962-living

Artist NationalityChinese, French

TitleBruges

Yearca. 1990

MediumPainting > Oil

DimensionsCanvas: 25 X 19.5 inches

Accession NumberRC1628

NotesInnovative artist Li Zili continues to confound, confuse and bewilder the Western art world with his exploration toward impressionism in “scattered perspective” and “optical artwork,” which fuses science and art. The Paris-based Chinese artist, who is preparing a solo exhibition at the Bao Long Art Museum in March, was recently appointed Distinguished Professor by the Fine Arts College at Shanghai University as a tribute to his creative work.

Born in 1962 in Shanghai, Li majored in iron and steel making at Shanghai University. “I am quite good at math, physics and chemistry, but I am also interested in art,” Li says. Upon graduation, Li taught at his alma mater. He later furthered his study at the Ecole Nationale Superieure des Beaux-arts de Paris and The Sorbonne in the late 1980s. He also obtained his doctor’s degree in art theory. “I love impressionism, but the more I studied, the more I got perplexed,” he says.

Impressionism is a 19th-century art movement characterized by relatively small, thin, yet visible brushstrokes, with emphasis on accurate depiction in the changes of shade and light. “But I have a question: Why is the backdrop always blurred? And why can distance on canvas only be achieved via contrast between the clear and the blurred?” he says. “That’s how an image forms in the camera. What we see is clear, whether far or near.” Li tries to reflect distance through the application of warm and cold hues. The cold colors often refer to near subjects, while the warm ones refer to the far.
“It is easier said than done,” he says. “It took me more than 10 years to ripen this technique.”
(source: shine.cn)