Richard Saltoun Gallery's presentation focuses on two pioneering international artists of Chinese origin, Rosa Lee and Li Yuan-Chia, whose respective practices fuse Western and traditional Eastern influences to push the boundaries of abstract art.
Hong Kong-born artist and feminist theorist Rosa Lee (1957–2009) was one of the most influential figures operating in the UK in the 1980s & 90s. She created a new type of decorative abstraction within the UK that dismantled the hierarchy of fine art over craft. Her ornate canvases are heavily layered with skeins of paints in wave-like forms, creating optical illusions. She was inspired by Bridget Riley’s work, the writings of Jacques Derrida as well as traditional Chinese calligraphy.
Li Yuan-Chia (1929-1994) was one of the founders of Chinese abstraction and a key member of the Ton Fan group in Taiwan; the Il Punto movement in Italy; and London's Kinetic movement. His creative scope encompassed ink painting, oil, monochromatic painting, conceptual art, photography and mixed media, including sculpture, environmental art and participatory installations. The featured artworks encapsulates Li’s famous visual invention of the 'Cosmic Point'; “the origin and end of creation”, a mark that conjures up infinite space. Pushing (1967)–2 round-shaped photos and 3 hand-written white discs of poems on a red background–shows how Li’s idea of the Point extended to photography and poetry; while in Cosmic Point Multiples (1968), the Points become magnetic discs that can be rearranged across coloured plates painted in his four icon colours.
The booth will feature additional works by Andy Warhol and Richard Lin.
