Li Tianbing
Born in 1974 in Guilin, China, Li Tianbing studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he formed a unique visual language to express his own cultural origins. Fusing traditional Chinese techniques with Contemporary Western references, Li does not limit himself to a single style in order to explore the boundaries of the medium.
Works
TIANBING LI – THE CHILDREN’S PROJECT
Biography
Born in 1974 in Guilin, China, Li Tianbing studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he formed a unique visual language to express his own cultural origins. Fusing traditional Chinese techniques with Contemporary Western references, Li does not limit himself to a single style to explore the boundaries of the medium.
Born in 1974 in Guilin, China, Li Tianbing studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts in Paris, where he formed a unique visual language to express his own cultural origins. Fusing traditional Chinese techniques with Contemporary Western references, Li does not limit himself to a single style to explore the boundaries of the medium.
This approach also reflects the artist’s cultural background, rooted in the Eastern philosophy that all things are in a constant state of flux. The ongoing advancement of the “self” thus finds its reflection in Tianbing Li’s ever-changing artistic expression. On a personal level, the paintings offer an intimate portrait of a fantasized childhood, where fiction and fantasy seamlessly merge. Being an only child in China was a condition shared by many children of his generation, a deeply lonely experience with profound psychological effects. Consequently, the artist often sought refuge in his own imagination, inventing games inhabited by fictitious characters. Li‘s poetic childhood portraits reached their most vivid expression in 2006 with the introduction of an imagined brother to his painterly repertoire. Later works depict the artist accompanied by a host of brothers and playmates, which have come to form a complete yet entirely ‘imagined’ family album. On a general outlook, Li’s work articulates the shared loss of a generation that grew up under an authoritative government exercised at its most personal level. Moreover, his compositions interweave the dualities present in China today: East and West, communism and capitalism, ancient culture and modern consumerism. The artist quickly gained international attention exhibiting worldwide, i.e. at Stephen Friedman Gallery in London, L&M Arts Gallery in New York, and Galerie LOFT in Paris.
Exhibitions
Career
Solo exhibitions
2020
Li Tianbing: A Selection of Recent Artworks, Cuturi Gallery, Singapore
2019
Urban Scene, JD Malat Gallery, London, UK
Art Central 2019, Mazel Gallery, Hong Kong’s Central Harbourfront, Hong Kong
ZONAMACO 2019, JD Malat Gallery, Mexico City, Mexico
Solo exhibitions
2020
Li Tianbing: A Selection of Recent Artworks, Cuturi Gallery, Singapore
2019
Urban Scene, JD Malat Gallery, London, UK
Art Central 2019, Mazel Gallery, Hong Kong’s Central Harbourfront, Hong Kong
ZONAMACO 2019, JD Malat Gallery, Mexico City, Mexico
2018
Sea of Desire, Fondation Carmignac, Île de Porquerolles, France
2017
MICROCOSM/MACROCOSM, Pearl Lam Galleries, Singapore
2016
Introducing new exclusive works by Li Tianbing, ArtAndOnly, Geneva, Switzerland
2015
Li Tianbing. Journey of the Lone Monkey, Pearl Lam Galleries, Singapore
Lumière: Seeing in New Light, Kashya Hildebrand, London, UK
2014
Flux, Art Plural Gallery, Singapore
2012
Stephen Friedman Gallery, London, UK
2011
A Game as a Pretense of Being, Hong Kong Art Center, Hong Kong
2010
Childhood Fantasy, Contrast Gallery, Shanghai, China
2009
ADAA Show, L&M Arts Gallery, New York, USA
2008
Me and my Brother, L&M Arts, New York, USA
2007
Galerie Albert Benamou, Paris, France
Galerie Loft, Paris, France
Espace 1789, Saint-Ouen, France
2006
Beizitou, Kashya Hildebrand Gallery, Switzerland
Galerie Deborah Zafman, Paris, France
Brand New Works, Kashya Hildebrand Gallery, New York, USA
2005
Musée de Gajac, Villeneuve, France
Li Tianbing, Galerie Loft, Paris, France
Li Tianbing, Galerie Loft, Barcelona, Spain
Li Tianbing, Galerie Debora Zafman, Paris, France
2004
Kashya Hildebrand Gallery, New York, USA
Galerie French-Made, Munich, Germany
Galerie Albert Benamou, Paris, France
2003
Galerie French-Made, Munich, Germany
Galerie du Crous, Paris, France
2002
Galerie Donzé Vansaanen, Lausanne, Switzerland
Galerie Grande Masse des Beaux-Arts, Paris, France
2001
Galerie Les Créations du possible, Paris, France
2000
Musée Marzelles, Marmande, France
1999
Église de Laroque-Timbaut, France
Église Sainte Foy de Pujols, France
Société Générale, Villeneuve-sur-Lot, France
1998
Église Saint-Pierre d’Orival-et-Donjon, France
École Polytechnique, Paris, France
Group exhibitions (selection)
2025
Autumn Selection, Galerie Loft, Paris, France
2021
2021 Summer Show, Cuturi Gallery, Singapore
2020
The Contemporary Human Condition, JD Malat Gallery, London, UK
2019
Seattle Art Fair, JD Malat Gallery, Seattle, USA
Summer Time, Mazel Gallery, Brussels, Belgium
2018
Made in Asia, Opera Gallery, New York, USA
Absorption as a Way of Seeing, Pearl Lam Galleries, Hong Kong
2016
Us is Them, The Pizzuti Collection, Columbus, Ohio
Chinese Whispers. Recent art from the Sigg Collection, Kunstmuseum, Bern, Switzerland
2015
Who’s Afraid of Picture, École supérieure d’art et de design, Grenoble, France
2014
Mind-Beating: China Millennium Monument, Contemporary Art Museum, Beijing, China
2013
Mind-Beating, 55th Venice Biennale, Venice, Italy
Biennale d’Issy, Musée de la Carte à jouer, Issy-les-Moulineaux, France
2011
Surreal versus Surrealism in Contemporary, Instituto Valenciano de Arte Moderno (IVAM), Valencia, Spain
2008
Art Basel Miami, L&M Arts, Miami, USA
Wind in the Branches, Art Sénat, Paris, France
Sport in Art, Today Art Museum, Beijing, China
2007
Museum of Contemporary Art, Shanghai, China
National Museum of Fine Arts, Beijing, China
LOCAL – The End of Globalisation, Sala Canal Isabel II, Madrid, Spain
2006
Mickey in All Its States, Artcurial, Paris, France
5th Asia Pacific Triennial, Queensland Art Gallery, Brisbane, Australia
Art L.A, Galerie Deborah Zafman, Los Angeles, USA
Art Brussels, Galerie Loft, Brussels, Belgium
Long March Capital, Long March Space A, Beijing, China
2005
Nature Détournée, Institut de France, Munich, Germany
Art Brussel, Galerie Loft, Brussels, Belgium
“EXPO.- Chinese Photo”, Galerie Loft, Paris, France
2004
FIAC, Galerie Albert Benamou, Paris, France
State of Art, Galerie Guislain, Paris, France
Parallel World, Passage Choiseul, Paris, France
Premier Prix Antoine Marin, Galerie Municipale Julio Gonzalez, Arcueil, France
Art Miami, Miami, USA
5th Shanghai Biennale Techniques of the Visible, Shanghai Art Museum, China
Beijing International Art Expo, International Exhibition Center, Beijing, China
2003
Biennale d’Issy (Winner Prize), Issy-les-Moulineaux, France
Not Just Anywhere, Right Next Door, Couvent des Cordeliers, Paris, France
Kashya Hildebrand Gallery, New York, USA
Power of the Public Realm, 25000 Cultural Transmission Center, Beijing, China
2002
Première Vue, Passage de Retz, Paris, France
Kashya Hildebrand Gallery, Geneva, Switzerland
Salon de la Jeune création, Paris, France
1999
Salon Novembre à Vitry, Vitry-sur-Seine, France
Institut de France, Paris, France
Museum of Modern Art, Dubrovnik, Croatia
Mestrovic Pavilion, Zagreb, Croatia
1998
Salon Grands et jeunes d’aujourd’hui, Paris, France
Galerie Progrès, Belgrade, Serbia
École Polytechnique, Paris, France