Making New Worlds: Li Yuan-chia and friends
The exhibition retraces Li’s commitment to fostering creativity, his interest in play and his investment in new ways of being in the world. Through the LYC, Li showcased Roman artefacts, works by major figures of British modernism, local artists and contemporary practices including kineticism, land art and video. The LYC’s children’s room provided a place for young people to experiment with art making, while craft workshops played host to communities of making. Much like Kettle’s Yard, the LYC also had a library, a garden, and spaces to socialise, transforming how we encounter art.
The exhibition puts the LYC into conversation with Kettle’s Yard. Both projects evolved over time, with collections (in the case of Kettle’s Yard) and exhibitions (in the case of the LYC) being shaped through friendships and personal affiliations, including with the artist Winifred Nicholson, who was an important presence at both the LYC and Kettle’s Yard.
Li’s practice – as both artist and organiser – is at the centre of the exhibition, along with those artists he exhibited at the LYC and those who were part of the cosmopolitan networks he enabled and enriched. Making New Worlds will also include works by contemporary artists reflecting on the afterlives of Li’s work in the present.
The exhibition retraces Li’s commitment to fostering creativity, his interest in play and his investment in new ways of being in the world. Through the LYC, Li showcased Roman artefacts, works by major figures of British modernism, local artists and contemporary practices including kineticism, land art and video. The LYC’s children’s room provided a place for young people to experiment with art making, while craft workshops played host to communities of making. Much like Kettle’s Yard, the LYC also had a library, a garden, and spaces to socialise, transforming how we encounter art.
The exhibition puts the LYC into conversation with Kettle’s Yard. Both projects evolved over time, with collections (in the case of Kettle’s Yard) and exhibitions (in the case of the LYC) being shaped through friendships and personal affiliations, including with the artist Winifred Nicholson, who was an important presence at both the LYC and Kettle’s Yard.
Li’s practice – as both artist and organiser – is at the centre of the exhibition, along with those artists he exhibited at the LYC and those who were part of the cosmopolitan networks he enabled and enriched. Making New Worlds will also include works by contemporary artists reflecting on the afterlives of Li’s work in the present.
Artists on show
- Aaron Tan
- Andy Goldsworthy
- Anna Brownsted
- Audrey Barker
- Barbara Hepworth
- Ben Nicholson
- Bettina Fung
- Charwei Tsai
- Claire Langdown
- David Butler
- David Medalla
- Delia Derbyshire
- Dom Sylvester Houédard
- Donald Wilkinson
- EJ Hooper
- Elsa Stansfield
- Grace Ndiritu
- Hsiao Chin
- Ian Hamilton Finlay
- Kate Nicholson
- Li Yuan-Chia
- Liliane Lijn
- Lygia Clark
- Madelon Hooykaas
- Mira Schendel
- Naum Gabo
- Ovidiu Maitec
- Paul Neagu
- Shelagh Wakely
- Thetis Blacker
- Vassiliakis Takis
- Winifred Nicholson
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