Li Hongbo is a Beijing based artist that creates surprising and unusual works from paper. A book editor and designer, Li Hongbo began collecting and experimenting with paper and was inspired by traditional Chinese toys and festive decorations known as ‘paper gourd'. Created from a stack of interconnected sheets of paper, Li Hongbo realized the simplicity of their ‘honeycomb' composition and the boundless possibilities of their shape and properties. Thousands of sheets of paper are glued to create a large block. The artist carves into this block with an electronic saw to create a form that can be outstretched like an accordion, transforming the work into something completely different.
Li Hongbo has been the subject of major exhibitions inducing a recent solo show ‘Irons for Ages, Flowers for Days' at the SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah. Other solo exhibitions include ‘Li Hongbo - Out of Paper' Kunstverein Ludwigsburg and ‘The World - Li Hongbo New Works Exhibition,' Found Museum, Beijing. In 2012 Li Hongbo's ‘Ocean of Flowers' was exhibited as part of the 18th Biennale of Sydney's on Cockatoo Island. Thousands of brightly coloured flowers create a sprawling landscape, though when the flowers are flattened they are revealed as weapons such as pistols and AK 47's.
Li Hongbo's work is included in numerous private collections and the White Rabbit Collection, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing and Found Museum, Beijing. Dominik Mersch Gallery presented in 2012 his first solo exhibition in Australia, investigating the circle of life, from birth to death.
1974
Born in Jilin, China
1996
Bachelor of Arts, Fine Arts Department of Jilin Normal University, Jilin, China
2001
Master of Fine Art, Folk Art Department of Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
2010
Master of Fine Art, Experimental Art Department of Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
Lives and works in Beijing, China
Selected Solo Exhibitions
2016
Textbooks, Klein Sun Gallery, New York, NY, USA
2015
Irons for the Ages, Flowers for the Day, SCAD Museum of Art, Savannah, GA
2014
Li Hongbo: Tools of Study, Klein Sun Gallery, New York, USA
Shadow of Knives, Contemporary by Angela Li, Sheung Wan, Hong Kong
2013
Li Hongbo - Out of Paper, Kunstverein Ludwigsburg, Ludwigsburg, Germany
2012
Pure White Paper, Dominik Mersch Gallery, Australia.
A Tree Mizuma & One Gallery, Tokyo, Japan
Self, Schoeni Art Gallery, Beijing, China
2011
The World - Li Hongbo New Works Exhibition, Found Museum, Beijing, China
Selected Group Exhibitions
2016
The Exhibition of Annual of Contemporary Art of China 2014, Beijing Minsheng Art Museum, Beijing, China
On Paper Supreme 2016, National Exhibition Center 2H Museum, Shanghai, China
TRANS-DESIGN 2016 Shanghai Art & Design, West Bund Art Center, Shanghai, China
Echo of Civilization Crossing Dunhuang, Imperial Ancestral Temple Museum of Art, Beijing, China
Dunhuang - Song of Living Beings, Shanghai Himalayas Museum, Shanghai, China
"Children of Hangzhou: Connecting with China ," Young At Art Museum, Davie, FL
"Summer Group Show," Contemporary by Angela Li, Hong Kong
"KNOCK ON WOOD," Magda Danysz Galleries, Paris, France
"From the Peony Pavilion," Suzhou Jinji Lake Art Museum, Suzhou, China
"Mostra Internazionale di Architettura," Palazzo Zen, Church Santa Caterina, Venice, Italy
"New Creatures," OCT Art & Design Gallery, Hua Museum, Shenzhen, China
TAKE ME OUT, Chi K11 Art Museum, Shanghai, China
"Truth," Madgda Danysz Gallereies, Shanghai, China
"All rivers run to the sea, one thousand cliffs stand tall - the songzhuang artistic spirit as a community of values," Eastern District Songzhuang Art Center, Beijing, China
2015
River Festival, Asian Civilizations Museum, Singapore
CODA Paper Art, CODA Museum, Apeldoorn, The Netherlands
TA Era, Times Art Museum, Beijing, China
Forever Young, Asia University Museum of Modern Art, Taichung, Taiwan
Metaplasia - La China Ardente: Monumental Contemporary Sculptures, Anciens Abattoirs, Mons, Belgium
Wiedergeburt der Unsterblichkeit-Zeitgenössische Kunt aus China, Museum Angerlehner, Thalheim bei Wels, Austria
FLOW_1: Italian and Chinese Contemporary Art in Dialogue, Palladian Basilica, Vicenza, Italy
Artisan & Craftsmanship 4: Exhibition on Installation Art, Yuan Art Museum, Beijing, China
2014
Pulp Culture: Paper is the Medium, Morris Museum, Morristown, New Jersey, USA
Once Upon a Time in Asia: The Story Tree, ACM Asian Civilisations Museum, Singapore
Over the Edge: Paperworks Unbound, Williamsburg Art & Historical Center, Brooklyn, USA
Stacked & Folded paper as Sculpture, The Dennos Museum, Traverse City, USA
The 12th National Exhibition of Experimental Art, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
Experimental Art, Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum, Beijing, China
Re-Modernization: The 3rd Documentary Exhibition of Fine Arts, Wuhan Art Museum, Wuhan, China
Chinese Pose: The 3rd China Sculpture Exhibition, Shangdong Art Museum, Shangdong, China
"Paper - Existence," Tianjin Art Museum, Tianjin, China
"Chinese Contemporary Youth Sculpture Exhibition," Chinese Sculpture Institute Arts Department in Luodai, Chengdu, China
"Encountering: New Art on the Silk Road," Xinjiang Biennale," Urumqi, China
2013
CODA Paper Art 2013, Coda Museum, Apeldoorn
"PaperWorks: The Art and Science of an Extraordinary Material," Berkshire Museum, Pittsfield, MA, USA
Hot Pot: A Taste of Chinese Contemporary Art, Brattleboro Museum & Art Center, USA
Transformation - A Perspective of Contemporary Art, 53 Art Museum, Guangzhou, China
Freeze Frame Moments - 2013 Young Artist Invitational Exhibition, Nan Art Museum, Guangzhou, China
Insightful Charisma, Shanghai Himalayas Museum, Shanghai, China
Tan Wei Guan Zhi, Wu Niu Visual and Packing Institute Visual Arts Museum, Chengdu, China
Art Sanya, The Forbidden City at Yalong Bay, Hainan, China
Shenzhen Chinese Ink Painting Biennial, Guan Shanyue Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
Datong 2nd International Sculpture Biennial, He Yang Museum, Datong, Shanxi, China
Evolution - Imagery, Jingren Paperlogue & Artron, Beijing, China
"Confronting Anitya," Palazzo Michiel, Venice, Italy
2012
All Our Relations, 18th Biennale of Sydney, Australia
Research Exhibition on Post-70's Generation Artists Jianghan Star Plan, Wu Han Art Museum, Wu Han, China
The Start of a Long Journey: The Collection of Excellent Graduate Works from The Central Academy of Fine Arts (2009 - 2011), Art @ Golden Square, London, UK
1st Xinjiang Biennale, Xinjiang International Exposition Centre, Urumqi, Xinjiang, China
"Ctrl + N: Non-Linear Practice," Gwangju Museum of Art, Gwangju, South Korea
"Material Object," Eli Klein Fine Art, New York, NY
2011
Start from the Horizon: Chinese Contemporary Sculpture Since 1978, Sishang Art Museum, Beijing, China
Material - Object, EK Projects, Beijing, China
Experimental Art, Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum, Beijing, China
2010
The Big Bang, White Rabbit Collection, Sydney
Journey of a Thousand Miles, Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum, Beijing, China
Object Energy, Found Museum, Beijing, China
Tien Kung Kai Wu, Deshan Art Space, Beijing, China
I'm on the Road to..., Mizuma & One Gallery, Beijing, China
2007
The Desire for Material Welfare & No Wants, Jin Du Art Center, Beijing, China
Shared Time and Space, K Space, Beijing, China