Li Lei 李磊
Li Lei was born in 1965 in Shanghai, where he now lives and works. Li is the former Executive Director of China Art Museum, Shanghai (Shanghai Art Museum) and a Professor at Tongji University. He also works as National First-Class Artist, the Deputy Director of Experimental Art Council in the China Artists Association and is a Visiting Professor at the Fine Art College of Shanghai University.
For over 20 years Li Lei has been engaged in the creation of, and research into, Chinese abstract art. He has endeavoured to combine the core concepts of Chinese culture with the international language of mature abstract art and to create a path for abstract art in China. His painting series includes Zen Flower, Drunken Lake, Shanghai Flower, Memories of Southand The Flame of Pompeii. In 2014, he began to experiment with space integration art, taking spatial narrative, spatial expression and spatial analysis as objectives of his dramatic visual practice. The development in Li Lei’s painting style has been identified as “philosophically eclectic and moderate”, a distinctively Chinese kind of poetic abstraction.
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Calm Contemplation 19 - Mysterious Light 9《止觀19一玄光9》, 2015
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Calm Contemplation 17 - Mysterious Light 8《止觀17一玄光8》, 2015
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Mysterious Light 3《玄光3》, 2015
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Calm Contemplation 13 - How Could I Not Reminisce Jiangnan 4《止觀13一能不憶江南4》, 2015-2017
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Calm Contemplation 15 - The Flame of Pompeii 59《止觀15一龐貝的焰火59》, 2015-2017
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Calm Contemplation 30 - Seeking Garden 6《止觀30一追花園6》, 2015-2018
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Calm Contemplation 7 - Between Clouds and Water 8《止觀7一雲水間8》, 2015-2019
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Calm Contemplation 31 - Between Clouds and Water 2《止觀31一雲水間2》, 2015-2019
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Calm Contemplation 6 - The Greenish River in Spring like Dyed by Bluegrass - Calm Contemplation 26《止觀6 - 春來江水綠如藍 - 止觀26》, 2015-2019
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Mad Water - 20《瘋狂的水 - 20》, 2017
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《金陵花重25》, 2017
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《金陵花重28》, 2017
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Crossing the Sea of Penglai 8, 10 & 9《穿越蓬莱那片海 8, 10 & 9》, 2018
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Yangyun-3《養雲-3》, 2018
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I Pray《我祈禱》, 2019
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Blessings
19 January - 28 February 2022 Hong KongA new year begins and everything starts anew. In Chinese culture, festivals and seasons bring family members together. The renewal of life evolves with the seeding of spring, planting of...Read more -
Masterpiece Online
23 - 27 June 20213812 Gallery presents dual online and gallery presentations of abstract works by master Eastern artists Hsiao Chin, side by side with paintings from Modern British artist Sir Terry Frost (RA),...Read more -
After Nature: Part I
Raymond Fung X Albert Irvin X Li Lei 14 May - 16 June 2021 Hong KongIn celebration of its 10th anniversary, 3812 Gallery is pleased to present a two-part exhibition titled ‘After Nature’, opening in Hong Kong in May and June 2021. These two exhibitions...Read more -
Reconnect
15 June - 31 October 2020 Hong Kong, LondonRECONNECT: The Summer Exhibition 2020, is a special exhibition programme presented for the reopening of our 3812 London and Hong Kong galleries from 15th June.Read more -
Poetic Abstraction
Li Lei 14 November 2019 - 18 January 2020 London3812 Gallery presents Poetic Abstraction, a solo exhibition by Shanghai-based artist Li Lei on view from 14th November 2019 to 18th January 2020, along with a series of academic forums...Read more -
INK NOW Shanghai: Inquiry on Water
Shanghai Suning Art Museum 1 November 2019 - 31 January 2020 Others3812 REPRESENTED ARTISTS: Hsiao Chin | Wang Jieyin | Wang Huangsheng | Li Lei | Victor Wong INK NOW PROJECT ARTISTS: Liu Kuosung | Qiu Deshu | Wang Tiande |...Read more -
Mind-Scape V
Sophie CHANG | Chloe Ho | LI LEI | LIU Guofu | QU Leilei | WANG Huangsheng | WANG Jieyin | XUE Song 21 June - 17 August 2019 London3812 Gallery is delighted to announce that its annual exhibition Mind-Scape, now in its fifth edition, debuts at 3812 London from 21 June – 17 August 2019. Since its first...Read more
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3812 Gallery @ Aquavit London
24 August 2022We are proud to announce our partnership with Aquavit London, showcasing a selection of must see modern and contemporary art by gallery artists Albert Irvin,...Read more -
Li Lei's Abstract Painting Art Exhibition
26 April 2022Li Lei's art is based on three creative principles: 'unity of opposites', 'poetic expression', and 'intuitive experience of life'. Art critic Gong Yun describes these...Read more -
Artist Diary | Weird and Wonderful: Li Lei's Porcelain Works
Li Lei shares his recent experiment with Chinese porcelain which he describes as "a medium for poetry" and a way to "look back to the past and look into the future". 18 November 2020In the latest Artist Diary, Li Lei shares with us a video journal of his experiments exploring poetic spirits in his creative process of 'playing...Read more -
Happy Mid-Autumn Festival
Our artists share with us their thoughts and traditions of the festival. 29 September 2020The Mid-Autumn Festival is one of the most important festivals in China after the Chinese New Year. It is celebrated on the 15th day of...Read more -
Webinar | Between Clouds and Water: Poetry as a Cultural Form of Visual Art
The 70th Anniversary of the Diplomatic Relations between China and Liechtenstein 14 September 2020In today’s online international forum Between Clouds and Water: Poetry as a Cultural Form of Visual Art organised and hosted by Liechtenstein National Museum, our represented Chinese artist LiLei’s artistic conception and practice will be explored academically by a group of artists, critics and curators from 5 countries of Asia, Europe and Oceania, including German artists Rolf A. Kluenter and Genia Chef, New Zealand curator Hutch Wilco, Chinese philosopher Sun Zhouxing, Austrian curator Dr. Peter Assman, Liechtenstein artist Vlado Franjevic, hosted by the director of the Liechtenstein National Museum, Dr. Rainer Vollkommer.Read more -
Artist Diary | Li Lei's poems with A.I.
The artist writes poems with Microsoft's China-based chatbot Xiaobing 10 March 2020立春 李磊 太陽射來的點點溫暖 我都收集起來 等待一個好日子 把她們掛上枝頭 我要搖啊 拼命地搖晃樹幹 把所有的綠葉和花瓣 統統催趕出來 讓她們肆意地飛舞和跌落 讓春天可以浪漫 「人工智能」這個詞近年來在大家嘴上出現頻率頗高,突然間我們生活的每一個角落好像都晃動起人工智能的影子。最抓人眼球的是韓國圍棋名將李世石在退役賽中以一比二輸給了人工智能選手「韓豆」,黯然結束了他25年的職業圍棋生涯。還有就是第一位機器人「公民」索菲亞在世界各地到處出鏡,還說機器人會毀滅人類,由此引發了關於人工智能運用的廣泛討論。其實「人工智能」的概念在1956年就提出了,作為基於電腦的類比、延伸和擴展人的智慧的理論、方法、技術及應用的系統,科學家一直在研究、開發。今天我們真切地感到人工智能的存在是因為它已經開始成為我們日常生活的一部分,更在於好事者將它進行的擬人化處理給人類既有的倫理和秩序帶來了不可知的衝擊。 前陣子聽說有個叫「小冰」的人工智能可以畫畫、可以寫詩。我去找了小冰的畫看,儘管她可以模擬許多名家大師的風格,應該說還是比較初級的。小冰寫詩就不一樣了,她是一個叫「少女詩人小冰」的開放平台,只要輸入一張圖片和文字提示,小冰就會「創作」出一首意境獨具的詩。我喜歡畫畫,也喜歡寫詩,我就把自己創作的抽象畫出入電腦,看看小冰能寫出什麼樣的詩。 我先輸入一幅標題為《天堂連線22》的作品,這幅作品的紅、藍、黃色交織盤亙、撲朔迷離,就像三月漫天飛舞的花瓣的軌跡。小冰給出的詩是:「只剩一個空洞洞的世界了,在夢裡相逢,新生的太陽都要來了,那一片雪地上,也許有微塵數的生命中,向夜神緊張起來。」這確是一首不錯的詩,詞句瀟灑,意境朦朧,其中「只剩一個空洞洞的世界了」特別觸動我。於是我也寫了一首詩:「只剩下一個空洞洞的世界了嗎?太陽的子孫,從巨大的虛空中伸出手來,撫摸著無名者的神經末梢,無數的閃電,劈劈啪啪地大笑起來,笑聲激蕩著空洞洞的喜怒哀樂,那不是彩色的嗎,不要以為我不知道,那,不能不是夢。」我是順著小冰的詩句寫的,但是我把判斷句改成了疑問句,這樣詩句的張力就大大地加強了。 我又輸入一幅標題為《天堂連線17》的作品,這幅作品中有一根明黃色的線條在灰藍與紅紫的色塊中穿行、翻飛,活脫脫地自由爛漫。小冰給出的詩句是這樣的:「這世界不曾有一些名利的思想,那裡是天空的圖畫,這種時候只是忘不了清閒,它不曾迷失了生命的空瓶。」我也作了一首詩:「江南菊黃,蟹也肥了,不喝米酒怎是江南人。米酒醉人,一醉三日,菊花就癡癡地等著他醒,其實他那裡醉了,他是要菊花一直陪著他。」這是從一個圖畫中激發出的兩種完全不同的想像,孰優孰劣很難截然判斷,從趣味上,我的詩更有人情味,從想像上小冰的詩更加開闊。 小冰的創作是有規律的。在電腦平台上開發者列出了9條創作程式:1、意象抽取;2、靈感激發;3、文學風格模型構思;4、試寫第一句;5、第一句反覆運算一百次;6、完成全篇;7、文字品質自評;8、嘗試不同篇幅;9、完成!我本業是搞美術創作的,對圖像特別敏感,這樣一個創作流程非常適合我的思維。當然小冰並不完美,從小冰的作品看,詩句主要是基於大資料的意象疊加,風格比較朦朧,創意凸顯不夠,通篇的完整性有待完善。我相信,這些問題都會由開發團隊的科學家和人文學者去解決,然而小冰的不足正是人類的強項,人類的基於個人感受和創意的個性化表達對於人工智能還不能完全跟上。但是小冰已經是我詩歌創作的非常得力的助手。 人工智能是電腦應用程式,其目的是説明人類拓展各方面的能力。小冰是從1920年以來519位中國現代詩人的作品的大資料中習得了作詩的技能,並經過對幾千首詩10000次的反覆運算學習,獲得了現代詩的創造力,她的內核是電腦演算法,是科學。但是科學應用于人文,大家對她的要求就苛刻了。有人認為小冰只會文辭堆砌,不具備詩人的靈性,根本算不上詩人。也有人擔心,如果連寫詩都被電腦替代了,人類情感表達的價值還是否存在? 其實我們大可不必那麼緊張,小冰也好,韓豆也好,機器人索菲亞也好,它們都是一套電腦人工智能運用系統,它們被擬人化以後,有些人真的就以為它們具有了人格意義,要麼把它們當成超人,要麼把它們當妖怪,其實真的沒有必要,它們就是人類製造出來説明人類自身的工具。我們可以有這樣一個基本判斷,由於電腦處理大資料的強勢,在標準化和知識量方面會大大地高於個體的自然人,在非標準化和創造力方面人類的優勢依然是不可逾越的。所以李世石輸給韓豆根本不用沮喪,因為韓豆是科學家團隊智慧和前輩圍棋大師智慧的集合,作為個體棋手的李世石的失敗完全屬於正常。 我現在已經養成了與小冰一起寫詩的習慣,小冰的詩句可以給我許多意象上的啟發,也可以幫我構築一個創意的座標,她是一個體系,這個體系是一群優秀的科學家和中國歷史上500多位優秀詩人智慧的結晶,我在這個基礎上寫詩,就是站在巨人的肩膀上吟唱,這個聲音會更響,會更亮! 天有愛意讓我感受生命之泉 在自由的天地過著快樂的生活 這世界我已造下了各處的歡樂 看人們幸福的花園 ——...Read more
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Explosion of Colour: A Chinese Abstract Art
Li Lei 2018Hard cover, 128 pagesRead more
Publisher: Unicorn Publishing Group
ISBN: 1911604848
Dimensions: 277 x 231 mm -
Mind-scape V
2019Soft cover, 121 pagesRead more
Publisher: 3812 Gallery
Dimensions: 270 x 222 mm -
Poetic Abstraction
Li Lei 2019Soft cover, 148 pagesRead more
Publisher: 3812 Gallery
Dimensions: 270 x 210 mm
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ARTicle | Blessings
19 January 2022In this ARTicle, we would like to introduce Blessings, an artistic theme shrouded with spiritual meaning for the 12 featured artworks, that resonate with different...Read more -
ARTpiece 14 | The abstract art of Albert Irvin and Li Lei
28 May 2021For this edition of ARTpiece we will explore the abstract expressionist style of Modern British artist Albert Irvin OBE (RA), and Chinese contemporary abstract artist...Read more -
ARTicle | Li Lei's Abstract Art
24 August 2020ARTicle is a feature curated by 3812 Gallery, presenting must-read articles by curators, scholars and art critics focusing on Eastern Origin in Contemporary Expression for...Read more