Solo Exhibition Sea World Culture & Arts Center, Shenzhen, 1187 Wanghai Road, Shekou, Nanshan District
Curator: Hou Hanru
2025.03.24 - 05.23
Coastal Gallery, 1F, Sea World Culture and Arts Center
1187 Wanghai Road, Shekou, Nanshan District, Shenzhen, Guangdong Province
“Li Shan's art practices over the past three to four decades have been exploring how to break away from commonly accepted artistic definitions and modes of production, and to pioneer a revolution in our understanding of the source and meaning of the existence of human beings and the world, or, in other words, of life itself.”
- Hou Hanru
Li Shan’s solo exhibition, Quantum Jumping, will open on March 23, 2025, at the Sea World Culture and Arts Center in Shenzhen. This highly anticipated presentation marks the artist’s first institutional solo exhibition since his 2017 show at the Power Station of Art. Curated by Hou Hanru, the show will survey over a decade of Li Shan’s multidisciplinary practice, featuring his signature bio-art installations, monumental paintings, a large-scale site-specific installation, manuscripts, and an experimental video work. Through a multi-sensory experience, the exhibition invites the audience to immerse themselves in a captivating realm and delves into the artist’s ongoing exploration of the intersections between life, science, organisms, art, and the future of humanity.
The term “Quantum Jump”, originally referring to the instantaneous transition of particles between discontinuous energy levels in quantum physics, has become a pivotal subject in contemporary technological advancement and, consequently, a focal point in geopolitical competition. In his artistic practice, Li Shan seeks to transcend the boundaries of cognition and perception, making multiple “jumps” in the themes, mediums, and expressions of his works. “Quantum Jumping” is not merely the concept of this exhibition but also the artist's methodological approach to creation.
Shifting his focus to bio-art using genetic editing as a language since the 1990s and delving into the exploration of Sumerian civilization in recent years, Li Shan’s artistic trajectory, though seemingly nonlinear, consistently points to an inquiry into the essence of life. Displayed in the venue’s lobby, lifting the curtain on the exhibition, Li Shan’s iconic bio-art works, Deviation and Smear, encapsulate his profound reflections on the genetic technology, anthropocentrism, and life. In Deviation, Li Shan merges the lower half of a human body with the upper half of a dragonfly, creating a new species of “dragonfly-human” at human scale. This surreal form not only challenges traditional aesthetics but also liberates the conventional concept of humanity by breaking species boundaries, offering a broader perspective to re-examine the diversity and possibilities of life. Another significant work, Smear, presents the genetically modified forms of plants. In Li Shan's creative philosophy, genetic editing technology is stripped of its utilitarian value of “survival of the fittest” as assigned in scientific fields, and instead becomes a method and medium for artistic and philosophical expression. By reconstructing the meaning of bioscience, the work questions the anthropocentric view that prioritizes human needs in reshaping the natural world.
At the entrance of the gallery, the narrow passageway will feature the simultaneous debut of two large-scale paintings Echo of Sumer II and Echo of Sumer III. Through his unique visual language, Li Shan reinterprets the origins of humanity and art in ancient civilization. With bold brushstrokes and enigmatic colors, the artist revives ancient imagery through contemporary forms, creating a visual resonance spanning tens of thousands of years. At the end of the passageway lies a symbolic representation of Li Shan's conceptualization of Sumerian civilization. Seemingly elusive, it embodies the artist's reinterpretation and contemporary transformation of unknown culture. Using abstract forms and symbolic motifs, Li Shan explores modern humanity's curiosity and imagination about history while revealing the ruptures and continuities in the evolution of civilization.
In addition to the paintings, the exhibition will feature a large-scale site-specific installation from the Echo of Sumer series. Within a 200-square-meter space, the artist “recreates” the remnants of an event seemingly evoking a nuclear explosion as narrated in Sumerian literature. Through various mediums, Li Shan sets a stage for this legendary scene, inviting viewers to experience the intersection of myth, history, and contemporary interpretation.
Furthermore, the show will also debut Li Shan's latest experimental video work, presented for the first time in a surround-projection format. Through his distinctive perspective, the piece captures the phenomenon of how life influences quantum mechanics and how quantum operations support life. By integrating light, sound, and color, Li Shan turns this quantum-level life phenomenon into a poetic sensory experience, reexamining the flow and transformation of energy in the natural world.
Simultaneously, the show will feature the first public display of 30 notebooks and manuscripts from the artist's years of practice. These documents encompass his reflections on biology, science, philosophy, and ancient civilizations, as well as sketches and conceptual ideas from his creative process. This rare glimpse into the artist's archives offers viewers a window into how Li Shan translates complex theoretical research and philosophical inquiry into groundbreaking creations.
The exhibition Li Shan: Quantum Jumping will be on view through May 23, 2025.
About the Artist
Li Shan is a Chinese contemporary artist and a pioneer of Bio-Art (shengwu yishu). He was born in Lanxi, Heilongjiang Province in 1942. He studied at the Heilongjiang University 1963, and studied at the Shanghai Theater Academy 1964-68 and later taught there until his retirement in 2002. In the 1960s he started to engage in contemporary art. He lives and works in Shanghai and New York now.
Li Shan was also one of the main participants in the Chinese '85s New Wave Art Movement. In 1993, Li began investigations on life science through his art. Based on molecular biology, he completed the first-ever genetic Bio-Art project Reading in 1998 and published the article The Story of Fish and Butterfly in 2000.
Solo exhibitions: Decoding, ShanghART, Shanghai (2019); PSA Collection Series, Power Station of Art, Shanghai (2017); Reading Li Shan, MOCA, Taipei (2012); The Pumpkin Project, ShanghART, Shanghai (2007); Reading of Li Shan, ShanghART H-Space, Shanghai (1990).
Group exhibitions: The Animal Farm Simulator, Hyundai Motorstudio Bejing (2023); Start, Inaugural Exhibition, Start Museum, Shanghai(2022); M+ Sigg Collection: From Revolution to Globalisation, M+ Museum, Hong Kong (2021); Future of the Arts, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo (2019); Supernatural, White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney (2018); Theater of the World, Guggenheim Museum, New York (2017); Thirty Years of Chinese Contemporary Art, Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai (2010); Inside Out, Asia Society & PS1, New York (1998); Biennial of Sao Paulo (1994); Venice Biennale (1993), China /Avant-Garde Art Exhibition, National Art Museum of China, Beijing (1989).
About the Curator
Hou Hanru is a prolific writer and curator based in Rome, Paris and San Francisco. He was Artistic Director of MAXXI (National Museum for 21st Century Arts), Rome. He is an advisor for numerous cultural institutions, including Times Museum, Guangzhou, Rockbund Art Museum, Shanghai, The Solomon Guggenheim Museum, New York, and frequently contributes to various journals on contemporary art and culture and lectures and teaches in numerous international institutions.
He has curated and co-curated over 100 exhibitions for last three decades across the world, including: China/Avant-Garde, National Museum of Art of China, Beijing, 1989; Cities On The Move, 1997–2000; Shanghai Biennale, 2000; Gwangju Biennale, 2002; Venice Biennale - French Pavilion, 1999, Zone of Urgency, 2003; Chinese Pavillion, 2007, The 2nd Guangzhou Triennial, 2005; The 10th Istanbul Biennial, 2007; The 10th Biennale de Lyon, 2009, The 5th Auckland Triennial, 2013，Growing in Difference, the 7th Shenzhen Hong Kong Bi-City Biennial of Urbanism and Architecture, UABB 2017-2018, etc.
More Pictures:
Facebook
Instagram
WeChat 微信