Museum of Contemporary Art, Taipei

Reality Impalpable, the largest solo exhibition of the young artist Li Hui yet held, was planned by Nai-ming Cheng – an active curator and art critic on both sides of the Taiwan Strait. The exhibition presents twelve representative works of Li Hui from his multifaceted creations over the past five years. Also depicted is the development of the artist's creative style and its relationship with ideological and social contexts. It is well known that the first decade of the twenty-first century marked a transition period during which China’s economy took off as its social environment was radically transformed. The once traditional and closed society received a great quantity of foreign information, spreading an atmosphere of instability that continuously conflicted with the values of the population. China’s development and transformation over the last decade, whether in economy, culture or arts, could be described as a cyclical phenomenon of “expansion and compression.” Reality Impalpable is an artistic portrayal of this peculiar era in which Li Hui lived, and a reflection of his pursuit of eternity through art. Li Hui specializes in working with symbols and physical objects to construct a visual and spiritual stage that condenses social affinities and the atmosphere of an era. His creations feature diverse media and multifaceted content, and are built upon a variety of expressive forms. The artist’s works emphasize the rapid rise of China in recent years, offering a perspective of empathy and criticism toward consequential phenomena such as social mobility, an expanding desire for consumption, cultural compression and entanglements of human nature. As a result, the artist adopts the different roles of observer, sympathizer and critic. For this exhibition, Li Hui created new works according to the spatial distribution and environmental atmosphere of MOCA Taipei, and inserted mechanical and sound elements in them. Through new creations, the artist hopes to sustain a continuous cycle of self-questioning and answering problems such as: “How do form and media operate?” “How can one balance art in its pursuit of depth and expansion of definition?” and “How does art transcend everyday language?” It is the artist’s principle that every solo exhibition must be a milestone in artistic creation. Li Hui specializes in working with symbols and physical objects to construct a visual and spiritual stage that condenses social affinities and the atmosphere of an era. His creations feature diverse media and multifaceted content, and are built upon a variety of expressive forms. The artist’s works emphasize the rapid rise of China in recent years, offering a perspective of empathy and criticism toward consequential phenomena such as social mobility, an expanding desire for consumption, cultural compression and entanglements of human nature. As a result, the artist adopts the different roles of observer, sympathizer and critic. For this exhibition, Li Hui created new works according to the spatial distribution and environmental atmosphere of MOCA Taipei, and inserted mechanical and sound elements in them. Through new creations, the artist hopes to sustain a continuous cycle of self-questioning and answering problems such as: “How do form and media operate?” “How can one balance art in its pursuit of depth and expansion of definition?” and “How does art transcend everyday language?” It is the artist’s principle that every solo exhibition must be a milestone in artistic creation.