Have you met... Li Hongbo?

The internet and social media has not only changed the way we live but significantly changed the way we perceive art. Today's media landscape is more over-flooded with visuals than ever. Among all these stimuli it seems harder to get exposed to great artists and their art. Some art even seems to drown in the mass of eye candies and viral imagery, making it more likely to be introduced to a new friend in a bar than discovering a new artist. In my new series “Have you met...?” I seek to express me as the art lover I am and use my position to expose you to new great artists that are both masters of technique in their field and deliver a stunning message.

Li Hongbo with his work Double Face

Today I would like to introduce you Chinese contemporary artist Li Hongbo. Li Hongbo was born 1974 in Jilin, China. Nowadays, he lives and works in Beijing. He studied folk art and experimental arts at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing and later, as a book publisher and designer, occupied himself professionally with the texture of paper – with its strength and various structures.

Detail of Double Face

Yet, his main sources of inspiration were traditional Chinese toys and festive decorations, such as paper lanterns or garlands that consist of a pile of sheets connected to each other. On closer examination, he not only recognized the simplicity of its production, but also came to realize that there was a particular elasticity, strength and tenacity of the material, which consists of hexagonal cubes.

Li Hongbo's "Irons for the Ages, Flowers for the Day

As a material, paper was one of the many fruits of ancient Chinese civilization. Paper transcends the material attributes of manmade objects, since its benefit to humanity goes far beyond that of a daily necessity. Over the course of history, it has been a messenger of “culture“ for the human race.

To create a sculpture, Li Hongbo needs thousand of layers of paper that are cut into blocks, stuck together punctiformly and shifted. The artist then works the paper blocks with a wood saw, an angle grinde and in a final step, with sand paper in order to carve out the outlines and the detailed forms of the sculpture.

The paper is made into a transformable sculpture, appearing massive and at the same time fragile. His work seems figural as well as abstract, but still holds both materiality and immateriality. To Li Hongbo, his sculptures are not static figures, but are in fact transformed into living, performing tales by the artist's hand. With his language, he has succeeded in sounding out a limit of sculpting, creating works that are unique in their aesthetics, purity and fascination and are cherished all around the globe.

What do you think about it? Let me know what you think in the comments below. I'm very keen on having a sophisticated conversation.

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