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The Art World in Focus
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Zhou Li

ZHOU LI

Closest Yet Farthest ShanghART 13 September–12 November 2025 Beijing
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Press Release

In her large-scale works such as The World in a Flower and Night, Zhou Li lets the colours and lines receive the overflowing energy that seems to break through the boundaries of the frames, permeating into larger space and blurring the internal and the external. Through the layering of acrylic and other mixed materials, a translucent and overlapping visual field unfolds, where various elements simultaneously resonating and exhibiting their own vitality in the emergence, while creating a dynamic tranquility. Much like in works such as Shadow of the Wind, Rose of Light, and The Peach Blossom Spring, the confluence of tension and harmony, lightness and heaviness, near and far, and the resonance between experience and the world, all in free flow, as well as the tension between random and order, makes a specific tone of Zhou Li’s works. Unconstrained by the concept of abstract art, she goes for the ‘re-enchantment’ of things.

Zhou Li’s paintings maintain this free-flowing, rhythmic language rooted in ink wash painting. Here, ink wash is not merely a technique but an intrinsic rhythm of emotion and perception infused by generations of literati painters—a medium for marking their experiences and feelings. It is an echo of time, a bridge connecting the inner and outer realms.

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Installation Views

Exhibition view: Zhou Li, Closest Yet Farthest, ShanghART Beijing (13 September–12 November 2025). Courtesy ShanghArt.
Exhibition view: Zhou Li, Closest Yet Farthest, ShanghART Beijing (13 September–12 November 2025). Courtesy ShanghArt.
About the Artist

Zhou Li was born in Hunan Province in 1969, currently lives and works in Shenzhen. Graduated in 1991 from Department of Oil Painting, Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts. Lived and worked in France during 1995-2003. Guest Professor in Department of Oil Painting, Guangzhou Academy ofFine Arts, since 2012; Art Director of Boxes Art Museum, Shunde, since 2017; Director of No.5 Studio in the Department of oil painting of Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts and Academic Committee member of Pingshan Art Museum, since 2019. Art Director of Boxes Art Museum, Dongguan, since 2025; Zhou Li’s works include mixed-media painting and installations. Freed from the constraints of material, she has developed a personal aesthetic and philosophy grounded in naturalism. Rational romanticism on European cultures and bold elegance rooted in Chinese traditions can both be seen in her works. Her ex-plorations in contemporary boundaries show deep care for culture and humanity. In each and every one of her works, delicately felt details are transformed by this inner force into visionary forms.

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Also Exhibiting at ShanghART

All Exhibitions
Group Exhibition
GROUP EXHIBITION Shifting Images: Photography from Singapore 2000 - 2025 ShanghART 11 October–7 November 2026 Singapore
Zhang Meng
ZHANG MENG I Lost Half My Soul Here ShanghART 5 September–31 October 2026 M50, Shanghai
Xu Lishuang
XU LISHUANG Passing, gnissaP ShanghART 5 September–31 October 2026 M50, Shanghai
Sun Xun
SUN XUN Magic Atlas ShanghART 4 September–4 November 2026 Beijing
About the Gallery

ShanghART gallery was initiated in 1996 in Shanghai. It has since grown to become one of China’s most influential art institutions and a vital resource to the development of contemporary art in China with two spaces in 50 Moganshan Road (Main Space and H-Space), a public warehouse space in West of Shanghai (ShanghART Taopu), and a gallery space in Beijing and representing over 40 artists.

Being recognized for its importance ShanghART became the initial gallery from China participating in major international art fairs like Art Basel and Fiac, Paris. ShanghART gallery also enjoys the great respect of being among the 75 most influencial galleries selected in Thames & Hudson’s publication ‘International Art Galleries: Post-war to Post-millennium.’

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Address
261 Caochangdi, Airport Side Road
Chaoyang District
Beijing
China
Opening Hours
Tuesday - Saturday
11am - 6pm

Closed Sunday and Monday
(1)
Beijing 261 Caochangdi, Airport Side Road, Chaoyang District
ShanghART contemporary art gallery in Beijing China
ShanghART
261 Caochangdi, Airport Side Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China
+86 106 432 3202
http://www.shanghartgallery.com

Opening hours
Tuesday - Saturday
11am - 6pm

Closed Sunday and Monday
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