Making New Forms: Li Yuan-chia and Friends
Our West Court Gallery is hosting a free display celebrating experimental artist Li Yuan-chia (1929-1994) as part of a Kettle’s Yard exhibition dedicated to his work founding the LYC Museum and Art Gallery.
The Kettle’s Yard exhibition is the first to celebrate artist, poet, and arts organiser Li, whose LYC Museum and Art Gallery (1972–1983) had a profound impact on the history of British art. The West Court display, open every day from 10am to 6pm*, will be dedicated to Li’s calligraphy and works on paper made throughout his career.
An important artist of the mid-century avant-garde, Li experimented with ink painting, calligraphy, kinetic sculpture, photography, and performance. The LYC Museum, which he opened in Cumbria in 1972, offered more than 300 artists an experimental space for showing and making art. At both Kettle’s Yard and West Court, Li’s work is displayed in relation to artists in the network he established at the LYC and contemporary practitioners working in his spirit.
*The exhibition will temporarily close from 22 December 2023 – 1 January 2024 inclusive.
Exhibition supporters and symposium
The exhibition has been organised by Kettle’s Yard with the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, London, and will be accompanied by a new illustrated publication with essays by the exhibition’s curators Hammad Nasar, Sarah Victoria Turner, and Amy Tobin.
It will further be accompanied by a public programme including screenings, performances and a symposium realised in collaboration with the Paul Mellon Centre for Studies in British Art, Wysing Art Centre, and Jesus College Cambridge.
Many thanks to the alumni and supporters of the arts exhibitions programme at Jesus College.
