CHRIS GILL

Chris Gill (b.1970, UK), also known by his Chinese name ‘Li Yunfei’, has been working in China for 20 years. He opened his first studio in 1992 in the artists’ village of the Old Summer Palace, the center of all the emerging Chinese artists at that time. Since 1997 Chris Gill has been working in Shanghai where he has created paintings and mixed-media works, using different kinds of materials, including oil paint, collage, and photography. Over time Chris Gill has created a visual diary of the changing societies in China, documenting and interpreting the reform process in his own style. Chris Gill’s work has a sense of magic realism, interweaving myth and reality. Chris Gill’s first solo exhibition at ShanghART Gallery will present all new works.

‘I think you could appreciate Chris Gill’s works from the perspective of science fiction!’ (Mian Mian, writer, Shanghai)

‘In China, he has his own art; in Britain, he represents a part of Chinese art. This is Li Yun Fei and Chris Gill, two cultural personalities.’ (Pu Jie, artist and professor of Fine Arts College of Shanghai University)

‘Chris Gill reminds me of the Jimi Hendrix quote ‘I used to live in a room full of mirrors. All I could see was me. I took my spirit and I smashed my mirrors, now the whole world is here for me to see.’ (Thomas Fuesser, Photographer)

Chris Gill’s solo exhibitions include Chris Gill: Works on Paper, Stage BACK Gallery, Shanghai (2012); The World Mind, YARD Gallery, Shanghai (2011); Multi local, M50 Creative Space, Shanghai (2010); City of Gold, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai (2007); Be a better part of the collective consciousness, YARD Gallery Shanghai (2006); China Work, Zhu qi zhan Art Museum, Shanghai (1997); Works on Paper, Beijing San Li Tun, with Red Gate gallery, Beijing (1995).

His selected group exhibitions include: Essence of Random- The Secret 7 Document Show, ‘Secret 7’ artist group, Yang Shanghai Art Space, Shanghai (2012–2013); China Dream, Red Gate Gallery, Beijing (2011); Lost & Found, Stage BACK Gallery, Shanghai (2011); THE POINT OF ZERO -2010 Contemporary Art Exhibition, Duo Lun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai (2010); Weltschmerz, Stage BACK Gallery, Shanghai (2010); Intervention 3, Wei Hai Road Studios, Shanghai (2009); Stolen Treasures of Modern China, ShanghART Gallery, Beijing and Shanghai (2009).

Chris Gill’s works have been published in Stolen Treasures from Modern China (2009), Thomas Fuesser, Short Cuts, Artists in China (Skira, 2012) and many other publications.