Zhou Li, Landscape of nowhere: Water and dreams No.1, 2022mixed media on canvas, 250 x 600 cm 

Kerlin Gallery is delighted to announce the first solo exhibition in Ireland by the Shenzhen-based artist Zhou Li. Having lived in Paris from 1995, Zhou returned to China in 2003, where she has been the subject of critically-acclaimed museum shows including the Yuz Museum, Shanghai (founded by the late Budi Tek, a champion of Zhou's work), the Hive Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou and Pingshan Art Museum, Shenzhen. She now returns to Europe with two simultaneous solo exhibitions at Chateau La Coste, Aix-en-Provence (12 June – August) and Kerlin Gallery, Dublin (2 July – 20 August), as well as a major presentation by Kerlin Gallery at Art Basel (16–19 June, Hall 2.1, Booth L15).

Zhou Li, Landscape of nowhere: Water and dreams No.6, 2022mixed media on canvas, 160x130cm

Zhou Li, Landscape of nowhere Water and dreams No.7, 2022 mixed media on canvas, 194x180cm

Zhou Li creates paintings, sculptures, installations and public art using mixed media, including oil paint, washes of ink, charcoal and cotton cloth. Her lyrical abstract painting capture her acute sensory observations of the world: lightness and shadow, solidity and dissolution, the sense of being. Building upon the history of European painting and the central tenets of traditional Chinese art (Qiyun, or atmosphere; brush stroke; colour and structural arrangement), Zhou Li harnesses both traditions to develop a distinct painterly language. Her paintings look towards nature as a starting point, but are imbued with a sense of much more: every brush stroke on the canvas is driven by her persistent query and pursuit of being.

About the exhibition

Dates: 2 July–20 August, 2022

Venue: Kerlin Gallery

Courtesy of the Artist and Kerlin Gallery.