Li Yuan-chia’s Art and World Making with Lesley Ma
8 February, 5.30–6.30pm
Join us for a talk with curator Lesley Ma on Li Yuan-chia’s concept of ‘Cosmic Point’.
Li Yuan-chia (1929–1994) began making art in Taipei in 1950. From there, his life and career brought him to Bologna, London, and finally, Cumbria, where he made a mark as a community art leader in the 1970s and 1980s.
The development of ‘Cosmic Point’, a conceptual foundation of Li’s work, is crucial in understanding his art. This talk explores this idea, from close readings of his ink paintings to investigating the social and artistic environment that encouraged its formation and evolution.
The talk focuses on two key aspects of Li’s work: the intuitive application of Daoist and Chan Buddhist philosophies and aesthetics in his paintings, installations, and participatory activities; and the networks and communities that fostered his unique vision.
This event accompanies Space | Time | Life: a gathering at Wysing Arts Centre.
About Lesley Ma
Lesley Ma joined The Metropolitan Museum of Art in Spring 2022 as the inaugural Ming Chu Hsu and Daniel Xu Associate Curator of Asian Art in the Department of Modern and Contemporary Art. From 2013 to 2022, she was founding Curator, Ink Art at M+, Hong Kong, a museum for global visual culture that opened in 2021. Prior to M+, she curated projects at Para Site, Hong Kong and was Project Director at Cai Guo-Qiang’s studio in New York. Her Ph.D. in Art History, Theory, and Criticism from the University of California, San Diego, focused on abstract painting in postwar Taiwan.
About the Exhibition
The exhibition retraces Li’s commitment to fostering creativity, his interest in play and his investment in new ways of being in the world. Through the LYC, Li showcased Roman artefacts, works by major figures of British modernism, local artists and contemporary practices including kineticism, land art and video. The LYC’s children’s room provided a place for young people to experiment with art making, while craft workshops played host to communities of making. Much like Kettle’s Yard, the LYC also had a library, a garden, and spaces to socialise, transforming how we encounter art.
The exhibition puts the LYC into conversation with Kettle’s Yard. Both projects evolved over time, with collections (in the case of Kettle’s Yard) and exhibitions (in the case of the LYC) being shaped through friendships and personal affiliations, including with the artist Winifred Nicholson, who was an important presence at both the LYC and Kettle’s Yard.
Li’s practice – as both artist and organiser – is at the centre of the exhibition, along with those artists he exhibited at the LYC and those who were part of the cosmopolitan networks he enabled and enriched. Making New Worlds will also include works by contemporary artists reflecting on the afterlives of Li’s work in the present.
Find out more about Making New Worlds: Li Yuan-chia & Friends
Access
The Clore Learning Studio is fully accessible. It can be reached by stairs or by lift, to the basement -1 floor. There is an accessible toilet with baby changing facilities in the basement beside the Learning Studio. There are more toilets and facilities on the ground and first floors.
