Li Shun：Stream of Ideas in Mountains and Seas

Ginkgo Space is delighted to present the upcoming solo exhibition by Li Shun, titled “Stream of Ideas in Mountains and Seas,” commencing on November 7, 2023. This exhibition is the artist’s first collaboration with Ginkgo Space, as well as his first solo exhibition in Shanghai. It continues his exploration, examination, and contemplation of the correlation between ancient Chinese literati art and the contemporary spatiotemporal realm, constituting his most emblematic artistic expression. Meanwhile, it presents his latest works with a deeper and more diversified exploration. The exhibition will run until December 23, 2023. 

Since 2009, Li Shun has been using his camera to record the nocturnal cityscape, capturing the interplay of light and time. He transforms fleeting light into abstract lines, utilizing these as “brushstrokes” to generate calligraphy. His unconventional tools — camera, light, and computers — have allowed him to engage with and interpret the contemporary world. The “Light” series is the evidence of his exploration of “pen and ink in the current world” in the context of new media art. The latest addition, “Remnant Mountain”, marks a new stage in the artist's creativity, transitioning from creating words with light to painting with light in this landscape piece.

The oil-on-page work “Sea Surface - History of the World”, spanning nearly thirty square meters, follows his prior creation “Sea Surface - General History of China” in 2018. Here, Li Shun “shapes” a fictional work of art by superimposing it on a history textbook. By “shaping” the fictional sea surface on the history textbook, the artist expresses his view of history with a contemporary landscape view. In the artist’s view, history is like the slices on the fictional sea surface. However, he aims to discuss his works by trying to elevate humanity’s perspective on its own history from “observing it through material things” to a more profound understanding.

Just as the exhibition title “Stream of Ideas in Mountains and Seas” suggests, the flow of ideas merges within the mountains and seas, indicating that Li Shun's creative essence and interpretative thoughts across different periods and series of works all share a common core. Central to Li Shun’s artistic pursuit is the fundamental principle of “learning from nature and practising the way of nature”.

Li Shun, born in 1988 in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province, received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees from the School of Intermedia Art, China Academy of Art, and now lives and works in Hangzhou. His works have been exhibited and collected by important art institutions in China and abroad, including Guangdong Art Museum, Zhejiang Art Museum, White Rabbit Contemporary Art Museum of Australia, Shanghai Power Station of Art, Tokyo University of the Arts Museum, Shanghai Hao Art Museum, Shanghai Long Museum of Art, Tichy Ocean Foundation of Switzerland, Chengdu Knowledge Museum of Art, Beijing Exhibition Center, Bell Museum of Art, Serbia, and Minsheng Art Museum, Beijing, Charles E. Sinn Library, Connecticut College, USA, etc. He was selected as a finalist for the 2023 SOVEREIGN Outstanding Asian Art Award, the 2020 China Photography Annual Ranking, the 2021 and 2017 TOP20 Chinese Contemporary Photography Emerging Artists, nominated for the 2020 Jimei-Arles Discovery Award, and the Silver Prize for the opening exhibition of the 2015 Minsheng Art Museum in Beijing, among other awards.

Written by: Ginkgo Space

Translated by: Yi Hanqi