ILLUSTRATED:

"Li Chen's sculptures are the kind of art that you will never forget once you have seen them. The special character and extremely powerful style exhibited by Li Chen's sculptural works have brought his viewers a lot of surprises and earned the artist prodigious and well deserved praise. The artworks are like alien artifacts from other worlds that astound one's sight; they appear like ancient classical works existing in an ethereal solitude. Li Chen's works possess a unique and self-contained sculptural world which is interwoven with energetic and full shapes, round and smooth lines and harmonious images." -Fan Di An, Director of the National Art Museum of China.

Li Chen, a contemporary sculptor born in 1963, continues to instill brand new concepts into the creation of Chinese sculptures. So far, he has held exhibitions in New York, Chicago, Miami, Houston, Paris, London, Geneva, Venice, Shanghai, Beijing, Singapore, Seoul, Jakarta and Taipei. His work has been housed by individuals and by museums in many different countries. Li Chen is one of the most important international artists at the present time. In 2007, Li has been invited to exhibit his "Energy of Emptiness" at the 52nd International Art Exhibition: La Biennale di Venezia (Venice Biennial), a highly honored academic exhibition. This has always been justifiably considered as a supreme honor. His "In Search of Spiritual Space" Solo Exhibition took place at the National Art Museum of China in Beijing, April 2008, winning him great reputation and fame. In October, 2008, Li will unveil his large-scale installation work, the brand-new series: "Soul Guardian" at the Beijing 798 Art District. The work is expected to create a vigorous dialogue between the respective merits of the traditional spirit and modern art, and to generate a breathtaking visual effect.

Li Chen has studied a variety of Buddhist and Taoist scriptures. In terms of his pursuit of artistic creativity, he uses sculptures to convey the spirit and connotations of oriental culture. Li Chen takes "Emptiness'' as a key concept in his creative aesthetics. "Emptiness" and "Void" are important ideological conceptions of Buddhism and Taoism in Chinese culture. "Emptiness" in Buddhism does not signify "Nothing", but rather a vast and quiet state of wisdom incorporating birth and death. In Taoism there is a saying: "When emptiness is crushed, the earth sinks"; it describes the utmost state of destruction and tranquility, a doctrine of changes. Li Chen's sculptures investigate the inherently creative energy of emptiness. He believes that the void is pregnant with potentialities and a divinely vital energy. Li Chen uses a spiritual style to reproduce the sense of energy and uses exaggerated and complete pitch-black substances to manifest the material spirit that attracts people. Simultaneously, the sculptures convey sweet, romantic, happy and satisfying spiritual concepts; even though some of his works are very huge, they don't appear oppressive and heavy, but rather seem to be floating ethereally in the air. The entire work exhibits the alluring ambiguity of lightness and heaviness in the sculpture, with a perfect synthesis of spiritual and material energy. Furthermore, Li Chen has achieved an artistic breakthrough in relation to the style of Buddhist sculptures over thousands of years. He changes the thick and full Tang Dynasty (A.D. 618–907) style of Buddhist sculptures and the pretty and elegant spiritual and imagist characteristics of the Song Dynasty (A.D. 960-1279) and makes the faces and lines of his sculptures extremely simple, pure and serene. He extracts the elements of China's five thousand years of history and culture, such as Chinese celestial beings, Buddha, dragons, fairy tales, folk tales, etc., to further infuse his works with contemporary artistic elements. He successfully combines classical and contemporary perspectives, making his works absolutely unique models and shapes, as he instills new life into oriental sculptures.

"I try to look for spiritual space within my works, and also hope that I can combine spirituality with art. I hope that anyone who sees my works can find and absorb the spiritual elements generated by them. Philosophy carries important meanings in my works, and I do hope that all my works can Li Chen. enrich viewers' lives."

"Cloud Glider", one of the representative works of Li Chen's Series of his "Spiritual Journey through the Great Ether", was completed in 2000. This series was inspired by Chinese aesthetics, so it generated a kind of celestial ambiance. Li Chen emphasizes the concept of a "Journey" or rather a quest, and creates an empty and clear meditative state to enable viewers to achieve spiritual serenity and relief. With a relaxed and free mind, one can face one's life with the most genuine attitude. "Cloud Glider" is also a piece of work that reflects personal life experiences and shows a genuine and deep concern for the world. The traveler stands on one foot within the loating clouds, with silver auspicious clouds in his hands, and gradually rises up to the Ether. He would like to fix the ozone layer destroyed by human beings with the auspicious clouds, and believes fervently that to cure the imperfect world, spiritual remedies are required. He looks contented, carefree and unrestrained, but he closes his mouth tightly to reflect a certain helplessness regarding the damage to the natural ecology caused by the progress of technological civilization. Li Chen skillfully molds the shapes of the sculptures and uses his innovative techniques to display the sculptures' harmony and fullness, as he elevates his work to a more sublime and spiritual level. This art signiies an internalization of aesthetics and creative power. Li Chen, with a refined artistic approach, perfectly captures and completely manifests the paradoxical dichotomy of the traveler's happy yet helpless facial expression. The pitch-black main body and the silver cloud counterpoint each other, generating a free and spiritual ambiance. Li Chen is masterful at dealing with this kind of corresponding relationship between the dualities of heaviness and lightness. The gentle and smooth silver and energy of the black are both constructive and harmonious. The silver cloud is light and ethereal, but it can irmly support the traveler who possesses the spiritual and artistic energy. In the search for spiritual serenity, the traveler, mankind, can obtain a harmonious stability within the greater context of instability or chaos. The artist's compassion, in seeking to comfort this fragmentary world with a divine vision of aesthetic wholeness, is clearly evident.