LI Yuan-Chia

Li Yuan-chia was born in Guangxi, China, in 1929, and ranks among the most exceptional, original, and radical Chinese artists of the post-war era. Having studied art in Taiwan during his early years, he became one of the pioneering modernists of Chinese abstract painting in the 1950s. In 1957, alongside artists such as Ho Kan, Hsiao Chin, and Hsia Yan, he co-founded the Ton Fan Art Group, a pivotal movement that catalyzed the development of modern art in Taiwan. In the 1960s, Li relocated to Europe, spending time in Bologna, Italy, and London, UK. After leaving London in 1968, he settled in Cumbria in northern England. There, within his own farmhouse, he established the LYC Museum & Art Gallery, an independent space where he curated exhibitions for over 300 artists across more than a decade while continuously producing his own visual art and poetry.
Li’s artistic practice revolves around the core concept of the “Cosmic Point,” spanning diverse mediums including painting, sculpture, installation, photography, and participatory art. For Li, the “Point” represents both the origin and the end of all creation, serving as a metaphysical marker of his own life journey while inviting viewers to invest their own subjective experiences. Embracing a radical simplicity, he firmly believed that "the simpler a thing is, the more likely it is to be misinterpreted, yet its beauty is inseparable from its simplicity." His late works capture a complex emotional landscape of rage and despair juxtaposed with joy and beauty—unfolding a profound existential theater that balances optimism against pessimism, joy against misery, conviviality against loneliness, and spirituality against materiality.
Li participated in the 4th and 5th São Paulo Art Biennial in 1957 and 1959, respectively. His major solo exhibitions in recent years include Viewpoint: A Retrospective of Li Yuan-chia (Taipei Fine Arts Museum, 2014) and Li Yuan Chia (Wen Xin Art Institute, Taipei, 2025–2026). Selected landmark group exhibitions include: From China to Taiwan: Pioneers of Abstraction, 1955–1985 (Museum of Ixelles, Brussels, 2017); Speech Acts: Reflection-Imagination-Repetition (Manchester Art Gallery, 2019); Art Histories of a Forever War (Taipei Fine Arts Museum, 2021); Radical Landscapes (Tate Liverpool, 2022); and Making New Worlds: Li Yuan-chia & Friends (Kettle’s Yard, University of Cambridge, 2023–2024).
His works are represented in the permanent collections of prestigious international institutions, including Tate Britain (London), M+ Museum (Hong Kong), Wen Xin Art Foundation (Taipei), the National Taiwan Museum of Fine Arts (Taichung), and the Taipei Fine Arts Museum (Taipei), among others.