Making New Worlds – Textiles Weaving Art & Life
‘It keeps you looking!’ a visitor to Making New Worlds, Li Yuan-chia & friends, at Kettle’s Yard remarks. She’s gazing at textiles that span the wall (Gallery 2), whose painted markings resonate with repeating patterns that at first appear symmetrical. ‘They are almost disturbing, you expect them to be symmetrical, but they aren’t,’ her friend is also captivated.
These are textiles made by Chinese artist Li Yuan-chia, during his time based in Cumbria, UK, often given away as gifts to friends, with a spirit of goodwill and generosity, who used them as draft excluders. The markings are red, a symbol of life; at their centre, circles full of dots – Li’s signature markings, relating the individual to the cosmos, material to immaterial.
Image: Installation view of ‘Making New Worlds: Li Yuan-chia & Friends’ at Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, 11 November 2023 – 18 February 2024. Photo: Jo Underhill.
This sense of energy that permeates Kettle’s Yard, is electrifying, with works infused by the spirit of one of the twentieth century’s most influential, but overlooked radical artists, Li Yuan-chia (1929-94). Famous for his ‘radical hospitality’ (Nick Sawyer) and warm spirit, Li once said: ‘I want to put my whole heart into my art and then give my art to everyone – my friends and my enemies’. One of China’s earliest pioneers of abstract art, part of the 1960s avant-garde in London and founder of legendary LYC Museum and Art Gallery (1972-83) in Cumbria that in its time attracted thousands of visitors and became a ‘nodal point’ of creative energy.....
These are textiles made by Chinese artist Li Yuan-chia, during his time based in Cumbria, UK, often given away as gifts to friends, with a spirit of goodwill and generosity, who used them as draft excluders. The markings are red, a symbol of life; at their centre, circles full of dots – Li’s signature markings, relating the individual to the cosmos, material to immaterial.
Image: Installation view of ‘Making New Worlds: Li Yuan-chia & Friends’ at Kettle’s Yard, Cambridge, 11 November 2023 – 18 February 2024. Photo: Jo Underhill.
This sense of energy that permeates Kettle’s Yard, is electrifying, with works infused by the spirit of one of the twentieth century’s most influential, but overlooked radical artists, Li Yuan-chia (1929-94). Famous for his ‘radical hospitality’ (Nick Sawyer) and warm spirit, Li once said: ‘I want to put my whole heart into my art and then give my art to everyone – my friends and my enemies’. One of China’s earliest pioneers of abstract art, part of the 1960s avant-garde in London and founder of legendary LYC Museum and Art Gallery (1972-83) in Cumbria that in its time attracted thousands of visitors and became a ‘nodal point’ of creative energy.....
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