Li Ran
Li Ran’s practice ranges across multiple media from installation, performance and writing, to video and painting, with utilization of archival photos, staged photography, vocal mimicry, and sound performance. In recent years, he has been researching into stage art, make-up design, and the production of translated foreign films, in the context of modern China. Simultaneously, he has curated a collection of case studies of the 1930s, featuring the work of satirical cartoonists, leftist and authors of the “Mandarin Ducks and Butterflies” literary school, all of whom in a complex social background. These endeavors connect with the diverse circumstances of those “humble intellectuals” in present-day art industry, and serve as a rich and personal response from the artist.
Li Ran was born in Hubei, China in 1986. He moved from Beijing to Shanghai in 2018. He graduated with a BFA from the Oil Painting Department from the Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in 2009. In 2015, Li held a solo exhibition at OCAT Contemporary Art Terminal (OCAT), Xi'an, China. His single-channel video work was screened at the Institute of Contemporary Arts (ICA), London and The Jewish Museum, New York. He has exhibited in group shows at UCCA Edge, Shanghai, China (2023); Art Sonje Center, Seoul, Korea (2022); He Art Museum, Shunde, China (2022); Sifang Museum, Nanjing, China (2021); OCAT Contemporary Art Terminal, Shanghai, China (2021, 2019, 2014, 2013); Inside-Out Art Museum, Beijing, China (2020); HOW Museum, Shanghai, China (2019); Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA), Beijing, China (2017); Centre Pompidou, Paris, France (2017); Museum of Contemporary Art and Design (MCAD), Manila, Philippines (2016); OCAT Contemporary Art Terminal, Shenzhen, China (2016, 2013, 2012, 2011); NTU Center For Contemporary Art Singapore (CCA), Singapore (2015); Wattis Institute for Contemporary Arts, San Francisco, USA (2014); Haus der Kulturen der Welt (HKW), Berlin, Germany (2013); basis door actuele kunst (BAK), Utrecht, Netherlands (2013); Contemporary Arts Museum Houston (CAMH), Houston, USA (2012) and other venues. His works were featured in Montreal Biennale (2014); Biennale of Moving Images, Geneva (2014); 4th Moscow International Biennale for Young Art (2014); 2nd CAFAM Biennial, Beijing (2014), 4th ‘Former West’ Project, Berlin (2013), 9th Gwangju Biennial (2012), and 7th Shenzhen Sculpture Biennale (2012). Li was awarded the ‘Best Artist Award’ at the Moscow International Youth Art Biennial in 2014 and was nominated for the ‘Future Generation Award’ by the Pinchuk Arts Center in 2017.
Li Ran
Flaneur
2024
Oil on Canvas
50 x 50 x 5 cm
19 5/8 x 19 5/8 x 2 in
Li Ran
Double Cooked Writing
2024
Oil on Canvas
130 x 100 x 5 cm
51 1/8 x 39 3/8 x 2 in
Li Ran
There Is A Degenerate In Bed
2024
Oil on Canvas
150 x 180 x 4.5 cm
59 x 70 7/8 x 1 3/4 in
Li Ran
You Who No Longer Believe in Community
2023
Oil on Canvas
180 x 150 x 5 cm
70 7/8 x 59 x 2 in
Li Ran
The Humbles
2023
Oil on Canvas
180 x 150 x 5 cm
70 7/8 x 59 x 2 in
Li Ran
The Sudden Death of Animality
2023
Oil on Canvas
170 x 140 x 5 cm
66 7/8 x 55 1/8 x 2 in
Li Ran
The Night in the Wrong Seat
2023
Oil on canvas
160 x 150 x 5 cm
63 x 59 x 2 in
Li Ran
Returning to The Crossroad
2022
Oil on canvas
160 x 200 x 5 cm
63 x 78 3/4 x 2 in
Li Ran
Standing in the Haze
2022
Oil on canvas
200 x 160 x 5 cm
78 3/4 x 63 x 2 in
Li Ran
Waiting for the Advent
2022
Oil on Canvas
100 x 100 x 5 cm
39 3/8 x 39 3/8 x 2 in
Li Ran
Cure
2021
Oil on canvas
160 x 130 x 5 cm
63 x 51 1/8 x 2 in
Li Ran
Another Distressed Person
2021
Oil on canvas
70 x 100 x 4.2 cm
27 1/2 x 39 3/8 x 1 5/8 in
Li Ran
Where Are My Shoes?
2020
Oil on canvas
150 x 120 x 5 cm
59 x 47 1/4 x 2 in
Li Ran
The Most Abstract Paragraphs
2021-2022
4K single-channel video with colour and sound
39 min 06 sec
Li Ran
Somewhat Abstract, Somewhat Realistic
2019
Dual-channel HD video installation, black and white & color, 4.0 stereo channel
4 min 55 sec & 4 min 50 sec
Li Ran
New Neighbor
2019
Installation, wood & metal frame structure, stainless steel anti-skid board, marbling wallpaper, literature & ready-made comprehensive materials
600 x 400 x 400 cm
Exhibition view of The Racing Will Continue, The Dancing Will Stay, 2019, Times Museum, Guangzhou, China
Li Ran
Persona Swap
2017-2019
Synchronous dual-channel 2K video, black and white & color, 4.0 stereo channel
15 min 30 sec
Li Ran
Waiting for the New Suit
2017
Installation, plaster sculptures, 500 x 150 x 180 cm
HD Single-channel video, No sound & Black and White, 39 min 26 sec
Li Ran
Night of Patmos
2017
Sound, black and white, single channel HD video
20 min 30 sec
Exhibition view of Clod Night, 2017, UCCA, Beijing, China
Li Ran
Life of the Pilgrim
2017
Sound & Black and White and Color, HD single-channel film
33 minutes
Li Ran
It is not Complicated, A Guide Book
2016
Color and sound, dual-channel HD video installation
18 min 28 sec & 7 min 50 sec, size variable
Exhibition view, 2016, Aike Dellarco West Bund space, Shanghai, China
Li Ran
Same Old Crowd
2016
Black & White HD four-channel synchronized videos with sound
15 minutes, size variable
Exhibition view, Aike Dellarco West Bund space, Shanghai, China
