The First Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art

Li Lei was born in 1965 in Shanghai, China. He graduated from the Huashan Art Institute, Shanghai in 1983 and then worked for the Shanghai Art Design Company until 1991. During this period he continued to study at the Institute for LightTechnology, Shanghai. In 1991 he joined the Bureau of Culture in Shanghai where he is currently employed. Li Lei held solo exhibitions in Shanghai in 1991 and 1992. He has taken part in many group exhibitions including the 'Shanghai Youth Art Exhibition' in 1986, 1988, 1990 and 1993; 'Chinese Modern Prints', Shanghai, 1989; and the '5th Taiwanese International Print Biennale', Taibei, Taiwan, 1991. Mysticism has always been present in the prints of Li Lei, though it is usuallymixed with ideas of faith, the absurd, terror, self­ derision, religion and mythology. His works project a strong anti-fatalistic attitude. Most of Li Lei'searlyworkswere produced as a response to his veneration of primitive art, religious culture and the life force in­ herent in nature. After 1989, non-rational and hallucinatory imagery has become more important. The aesthetib dimension has decreasedas hehasembracedwild, express­ ive, subconscious and intuitive states. Following the experience of his early years spent on the north-western Chinese border and his later journeys on foot into remote and uninhabited areas of Tibet, he has devel­ oped a dislike of large and noisy cities. The destructive prophecy expressed in 'Hell', the hopelessness conveyed in 'Sun bird', together with the irreverent composition of monks and nuns, convey a sense of spiritual loneliness and individual tragedy. Li Lei's work has been profoundly influenced by Buddhism and qi gong [exercises which empower the body through controlling qi or vital energy]. The former has strengthened the spiritual substance of his work and the latter has enriched the freedom with which he expresses forms. In the series 'Sun bird', the heavy sen­ sation of grief and indignation that was present in his earlier works is diluted. Free and spontaneous brushstrokes together with exaggerated and comic forms express an increasing optimism. Li Lei feels that the art work is not as important as the process through which it is created and the striving for perfection of human consciousness. Art is not an end in itself, rather it is a means of transcending the self. Li Lei reiterates the words of an ancient CHINA LI LEI Top I act as a sun bird (from 'Sun bird' series) 1989 Screenprint 34x50cm Collection: The artist Chan master when he says: 'Having already crossed the river, there is no need to worry whether it is best to use the bridge or come by boat'. Li Xu 59 Bottom Hell (from 'Hell' series) 1989 Screenprint 37x46cm Collection: The artist