Kettle’s Yard, one of the museums of the University of Cambridge, is hosting an art exhibition titled “Making New Worlds: Li Yuan-chia & Friends (創造新世界：李元佳與他的朋友們).” It showcases the artworks of Li Yuan-chia (李元佳, 1929-1994), one of Taiwan’s earliest pioneers of abstract art and conceptual art, and reveals the influence of his eponymous LYC Museum & Art Gallery on the art scene in the U.K.
Inaugurated on Nov. 10, this exhibition is running until Feb. 18, 2024. It recorded an estimated 500 visitors during the opening day.
Li Yuan-chia was born in Guangxi, China, and moved to Taiwan after the Second World War. He received art education in Taipei and eventually became one of the founders of Ton Fan Group (東方畫會), a widely influential modern art organization in Taiwan’s visual art history.
In addition to showing the artistic works of Li and his peers, this exhibition also invited three contemporary artists to create new pieces and retell the stories of Li and the U.K. They include Aaron Tan from Singapore, Grace Ndiritu from the U.K., and Tsai Char-wei (蔡佳葳) from Taiwan.
Director Chen Bin-chiuan (陳斌全) of the Cultural Division of the Taipei Representative Office in the U.K. pointed out that Kettle’s Yard and Paul Mellon Centre For Studies in British Art have been working for many years with scholars Hammad Nasar, Sarah Victoria Turner, and Amy Tobin to stage this exhibition. It aims to guide British audiences to a renewed understanding of Li Yuan-chia and the profound impact that he has created in the art scene of the U.K., he added.
During the exhibition, Kettle’s Yard also presents other events such as video screenings, art performances, and seminars. For more information, please visit the Kettle’s Yard’s website.