Li Hei Di Sets New Auction Record at Phillips Hong Kong

Li Hei Di b. 1997, China Follow +

Phillips’ Modern & Contemporary Art Evening Sale in Hong Kong last night realised U.S. $22 million.

Yoshitomo Nara‘s Baby Blue (1999) topped the sale at $5.8 million, followed by Sanyu‘s Reclining Nude, with Raised Knee II (1950/1960s) for $5.5 million, and Nicolas Party‘s Mountains (2023) for $1.8 million.

Nara’s only motorised sculpture, Fountain of Life (2001/2014), sold for over $1.3 million.

The most noteworthy result was a new world record at auction for Li Hei Di, whose 2021 painting Orange Swim sold for $155,035, eclipsing their previous record, also set in 2024, of $127,000.

Born in Shenyang in 1997, Li Hei Di received their MA in Painting from the Royal College of Art, London in 2022. They’re represented by Pace Gallery, Pippy Houldsworth in London, and Michael Kohn Gallery in Los Angeles.

Li’s more recent works are more abstract—glowing, shimmering canvases infused with desire.

Speaking to Ocula‘s Rory Mitchell last year, Li said, ‘When I was studying at the Royal College of Art in London, I became infatuated with themes exploring intimate relationships. I began painting abstract faces and figures that gradually morphed into fragmentations of physical features like limbs, nipples or breasts.’

‘The erotic ambiguity of my paintings feels like I’m capturing a ghost of something not quite abstract, but not quite figurative either,’ they continued. ‘This ephemeral style permeates my work and grants me space to navigate stories of repressed desires and provocation.’ —[O]

Main image: Li Hei Di, Orange Swim (2021). Courtesy Phillips.