Li Shan

1942

Heilongjiang , China

A founding member of the Political Pop movement of the 1990s, Li Shan is internationally known for his iconic portraits of a youthful exuberant Mao Zedong set against colourful backdrop, and usually accompanied by a lotus flower. Artists of this genre experienced China’s dramatic transformations and social upheaval during the 1980s and 1990s, recycling images of party propaganda from their youth. Born in 1942 Heilongjiang Province, Li grew up during the rise of the Chinese Communist Party. After studying at Heilongjiang University in 1963 he pursued further studies at the Shanghai Theatre Academy in the Department of Theatre Design in 1964-68 specialising in oil painting. Significantly, during the late 1970s, he became actively involved in the Shanghai contemporary art scene and participated in several exhibitions featuring the new generation of Chinese contemporary artists –what would become known as the 85 New Wave Movement artists. In 1993 his works were featured at the 45th Venice Biennale.

Alisan Fine Arts began representing Li Shan in the 1980s and showcased his work in three important exhibitions at the Hong Kong Arts Centre. First, as part of the landmark group exhibition A State of Transition: Contemporary Painting from Shanghai in 1987. Then in 1994 the gallery organised a solo exhibition of Li’s early pre-political pop artworks, and in 1997 included his paintings in the group show Chinese Abstraction and Beyond.

He has had solo exhibitions at MoCA@Loewen, Singapore, and Museum of Con-temporary Art, Taipei. Important group exhibitions include Inside Out: New Chinese Art a travelling exhibition organised by the Asia Society, New York in 1998-2000; 85 New Wave: The Birth of Chinese Contemporary Art at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing in 2006. His works have been collected by the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art; Fukuoka Asia Art Museum, Japan; Long Museum, Shanghai; Heilongjiang Museum; Shenzhen Art Museum; M+, Hong Kong; Yuz Foundation, Jakarta; Uli Sigg Collection, Switzerland.

BIOGRAPHY
1942   Born in Lanxi County, Heilongjiang Province, China
1963   Studies at the University of Heilongjiang, China
1964-68   Studies at the Shanghai Academy of Drama, Arts Department (oil painting), Shanghai, China
1969   Works in a military farm in Zhejiang Province, China
1985-94   Lecturer at the Art Research Institute, Shanghai Academy of Drama, Shanghai, China
Currently living in Shanghai, China

SELECTED SOLO EXHIBITIONS
2017

Li Shan Solo Exhibition: PSA Collection, Power Station of Art, Shanghai, China

2014

Extension Expansion, MoCA@Loewen, Singapore

2012

Reading Li Shan, Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei, Taiwan

2006

The Pumpkin Project - Li Shan & Zhang Pingjie Bio-Art Exhibition, ShanghART Gallery, Shanghai, China

2005

The Early Works (1980s) of Shanghai Avant-garde Artist: Li Shan, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong

2002

Reading, ShanghART Gallery, Shanghai, China

1994

Building the Rouge Empire, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong

1990

Shanghai Academy of Drama, Shanghai, China

SELECTED GROUP EXHIBITIONS
2025

Eight Immortals Crossing the Sea: The Eight Dimensional Crossing of Eastern Mysteries, So Time Art, Shanghai, China

2021-2022

M+ Sigg Collection: From Revolution to Globalisation, Sigg Galleries, M+, Hong Kong

2020

Waves and Echoes, A Process of Re-Contemporarization in Chinese Art Circa 1987 Revisited, Inside-Out Art Museum, Beijing, China

2019

Future and the Arts: AI, Robotics, Cities, Life - How Humanity Will Live Tomorrow, Mori Art Museum, Tokyo, Japan
The Return of Guests, Power Station of Art, Shanghai, China
Then, White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney, Australia

2017

Art and China after 1989: Theater of the World, Guggenheim Museum, New York, USA
The Bond of Arts: Duolun International Contemporary Art Exhibition, Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China
The Reason Why Classic Is, Artron Art Center, Shenzhen, China

2016

Alisan Fine Arts: Celebrating 35 Years of Promoting Chinese Contemporary Art, Hong Kong Central Library, Hong Kong
Chinese Whispers: Recent Art from the M+ Sigg Collections, Kunstmuseum Bern, Bern, Switzerland
New Capital: Huang Yu Collection Exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Art Chengdu, Chengdu, China

2015

Nonfigurative, Shanghai 21st Century Minsheng Art Museum, Shanghai, China

2012

Important Contemporary Chinese Artists, Alisan Fine Arts, ARTHK12, Hong Kong Convention & Exhibition Centre, Hong Kong
Living·Being: Sino-Dutch Contemporary Art Exhibition, Songzhuang Art Center, Beijing, China

2009

Shanghai Tang 1979-2009, Shanghai, China
Yi Pai - Century Thinking A Contemporary Art Exhibition, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China

2008

Accumulations–The Spirit of the East, Asia Art Centre, Beijing, China
Blackbridge 08' Contemporary Art Exhibition, Art Gallery Blackbridge, Beijing, China

2006

85 New Wave - The Birth of Chinese Contemporary Art, Ullens Centre for Contemporary Art, Beijing, China
Strategy on Paper - Works on Paper Invitational Exhibition, Square Gallery of Contemporary Art, Nanjing, China

2004

The Wall-Reshaping Contemporary Chinese Art, Albright-Knox Art Gallery, University Buffalo Art Galleries, Buffalo, New York, USA; Millennium Art Museum, Beijing, China

2003

Dajia-Studies on Design from Contemporary Art, Museum of Fudan University, Shanghai, China
Open Sky: Grand Opening of Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai Duolun Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China

2002

Paris-Pekin, Espace Pierre Cardin, Paris, France

2000

Gallery Artists: Gu WEnda, Wang Tiande, Li Shan, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong

1998-2000

Inside Out: New Chinese Art, PS1, Asia Society Galleries, New York; Contemporary Art Centre, Long Island City, New York, USA; San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Asian Art Museum of San Francisco, CA, USA; Museo de Arte Contemporaneo, Monterrey, Mexico; Tacoma Art Museum and the Henry Art Gallery, Seattle, WA, USA; Hong Kong Museum of Art, Hong Kong

1997

Chinese Abstraction and Beyond, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong

1994

Art Taipei, Alisan Fine Arts, Taipei World Trade Centre, Taipei, Taiwan
Sao Paulo Biennial, Sao Paulo, Brazil

1993

45th Venice Biennial, Venice, Italy
Chinese Art: Post-1989, Marlborough Gallery, London, UK

1992

Begegnung mit den Anderen, Projektgruppe Stoffwechsel, Dokumenta Kassel und Hamm; Munich; Germany

1989

7 Modern Painters from the People's Republic of China, Galerie Werner Melletin, Cologne, Germany

Contemporary Chinese Art, China Art Museum, Beijing, China

1988

2nd Concave/Convex Installation Exhibition, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China

1987

A State of Transition: Contemporary Painting From Shanghai, Alisan Fine Arts, Hong Kong Arts Centre, Hong Kong

1986

1st Concave/Convex Installation Exhibition: Ding Yi, Li Shan, Yu Youhan, Xuhui Cultural Centre, Shanghai, China

Grand Opening Exhibition, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China

1983

Stage '83: Painting Experiments, with Leng Hong, Zhang Jian-Jun, Fudan University, Shanghai, China

1982

Painting the Chinese Dream: Chinese Art 30 years after the Revolution, Smith College, Northampton; City Hall, Boston; Brooklyn Museum, New York, USA

1978

Yallay Gallery, Hong Kong

SELECTED PUBLIC COLLECTIONS
San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, San Francisco, USA
Uli Sigg Collection, Switzerland
White Rabbit Gallery, Sydney, Australia
Fukuoka Asia Art Museum, Fukuoka, Japan
Yuz Foundation, Jakarta, Indonisia
Shanghai Power Station of Art, Shanghai, China
Long Museum, Shanghai, China
Heilongjiang Museum, Heilongjiang, China
Shenzhen Art Museum, Shenzhen, China
M+, Hong Kong