In Li Dafang’s view, in art there is little difference between progress and regression. The freedom in contemporary art is hypothetical, a “selfish” freedom that is fragile and vulnerable. Within today’s context, the artist is always overrated, yet the facts prove otherwise – creativity is relative, mediocrity is the original state. Beholding a humble attitude towards art, returning to an initial state in artistic practice—this is Li Dafang’s valuable intent.
Read MoreAmong many of Li Dafang’s works, his inseparable relationship with childhood memories and the environment where he grew up are found in the industrial areas and defunct factories seen in his images. Mesmerized by the old machinery housed in large factories and the defunct iron tools that for the artist represent a sense of absurdity and oppression, Li observes, “The beauty of the ruin dispersed through these factories and buildings of the past is what I appreciate until this day.” The figures among these images display strange poses and benumbed expressions, assigning a certain degree of narration and theatricality to his artworks, which even the audience might encounter with sense of confusion.
Li Dafang was born in 1971 in Shenyang, Liaoning Province. He currently lives and works in Beijing. His works have been exhibited extensively throughout the world. Recent group exhibitions have included CAPITAL - Merchants in Venice and Amsterdam at the Swiss National Museum in Zurich 2012; Face at Minsheng Art Museum in Shanghai 2011; the project Zhang Hongbo shown within the Art Unlimited section at Art 40 Basel in 2009; and The State of Things. Brussels/Beijing at BOZAR in Brussels, Belgium in 2009.
