Chen Li Woodblock Prints - Reflections - PDF of catalogue

KATRINE LEVIN 

GALLERIES 

The Woodblock Prints of Chen Li 

Reflections in a Blue Lake

KATRINE LEVIN 

GALLERIES 

The Woodblock Prints of Chen Li 

Reflections in a Blue Lake

Just like writing a love letter, content 

is key; what pen you use is not 

important. Chinese art and Western 

art have different views about reality. 

But... I ignore [these] rules to create 

living artistic images. 

CHEN LI

6 

FOREWORD 

Katrine Levin 

11 

R E D U C T I O N 

WOODBLOCK PRINTING 

FROM YUNNAN 

15 

CATALOGUE OF PRINTS

CHEN LI 李貞 

FOREWORD 

Katrine Levin 

Founder, Katrine Levin Galleries 

 

Chen Li lives and works in Kunming, the capital of China’s 

spectacular Yunnan Province. Born into an artistic family 

in 1971, he grew up surrounded by the avant-garde artists 

of the post-Cultural Revolution, equally inspired by the 

works of Bruegel and de Kooning as of Guan Xiu and 

Zhao Wu-ji. 

Last year, we introduced Chen Li’s lyrical paintings in his 

first London exhibition. This time, we shine the spotlight 

on Chen Li’s extraordinary woodblock prints, made 

using a rare reduction woodblock technique developed 

in Yunnan. 

The “reduction” woodblock technique involves printing all 

of the colours from a single woodblock. Each step along 

the way destroys the previous one until the woodblock 

itself is destroyed. 

Only a single limited edition can be printed this way and 

the process can never be repeated. The technique

uses thick oil-based colours, creating relief-prints with 

a mesmerising texture. 

The artist must commit to a finite amount of prints - 

usually 20 for Chen Li - from the very first time the 

very first colour is applied to the woodblock. Since 

the process relies on printing one colour applied over 

another on the same woodblock, by the time the second 

colour is applied, the ability to re-print the first colour 

is lost. This lends a sense of urgency, commitment and 

entirety to each work, as there is simply no going back. 

Chen Li’s woodblock prints are a song of line and colour. 

Steeped in Eastern philosophy and simultaneously 

traditional, contemporary, and whimsical, the 

woodblocks are a vivid testament to his unique vision 

and abundant originality. 

freedom of his strokes and the originality of his 

compositions. His flying strokes render wind, clouds, the 

universe – transporting the viewer into the experience. 

After a turbulent youth and a near-fatal accident, Chen 

Li goes deep inside himself to find peace, harmony and 

balance. It is this that gives his works such power. 

“I paint what I feel in my heart... For this I have to face my 

past, and to have the courage to see past 

successes and failures.” 

Chen Li’s woodblock prints have won numerous national 

awards in China. His works, both on canvas and paper, 

have been placed in significant private collections in the 

United Kingdom, Italy and the United States, inspiring a 

loyal following. 

 

Chen Li defines his practice as a constant transformation, 

as a living art that while rooted in tradition embodies 

the evolution of woodcut printing and painting through 

constant innovation, defying any one style. 

The freedom of Chen Li’s thoughts is echoed in the

REDUCTION WOODBLOCK 

PRINTING FROM YUNNAN 

Reduction or ‘waste-block’ printing is a translation from 

the Chinese term, jueban 绝版 . Yunnan is one of the 

best known areas for the use and development of this 

technique. 

The technique builds up the image through a process of 

repeated cutting and printing of the same block, printing 

with a different coloured ink after each cutting. This 

process relies on printing one colour over another, and 

therefore,only the opaque oil-based inks are suitable. 1 The 

rich, oil-based inks give the prints a unique texture, similar 

to an oil painting. 

The woodblock is destroyed at the end of the process, so 

only a single limited edition can ever be made. 

1. Farrer, Anne, ed., Chinese Printmaking Today: Woodblock Printing in China 

1980-2000 (London: British Library, 2003), p. 119. 

Dr. Anne Farrer is an author, curator, and historian of Chinese painting, prints, 

and graphic art. We are deeply grateful to Dr. Farrer for presenting a talk, Texture, 

Design and Colour: the Reduction Print in Modern China on the occasion of the 

exhibition “Reflections in a Blue Lake: The Woodblock Prints of Chen Li”.

CATALOGUE OF PRINTS 

Each original reduction woodblock print is numbered 

and signed in pencil by the artist. 

Please note: the sizes given are of the image. Larger 

when mounted/framed.

Reflections in a Blue Lake, 2010 

Reduction woodblock print 

100 x 100 cm 

Edition of 12 

Edition 8/12 - £1,800 (framed)

Cool Autumn Day, 2009 


40 x 40 cm 


Edition 12/20 - £640 (framed)

Heat, 2009 


55 x 80 cm 


Edition 6/80 - £950 (framed) 

Editions 7/80, 8/80, 9/80 and 10/80 - £800 (unframed)

Untitled, 2009 


90 x 73 cm 


Editions 12/20 and 15/20 - £600 (unframed)

Human Buddha, 2009 


90 x 73 cm 


Editions 12/26, 15/26, 16/26 and 19/26 - £1,650 (unframed)

Human Buddha VI, 2009 

Reduction woodblock print, 

80 x 55 cm 



Editions 10/18 and 14/18 - £680 (unframed)

Human Buddha V, 2009 


80 x 55 cm 



Human Buddha III, 2009 


80 x 55 cm 



Human Buddha IV, 2009 


80 x 55 cm 



Universe (Road to Exploration), 2007 


50 x 40 cm 



Edition 7/50 - £650 (unframed)

Mountain Song, 2007 


46 x 33 cm 



Vase - Life of a Rose, 2005 


73 x 59 cm 



Tree of Life, 2002 


61 x 42 cm 



The Song of Rain and Fog I, 2002 


14 x 22 cm 



The Song of Rain and Fog II, 2002 


14 x 22 cm 



Chickens Singing in a Village Tree, 2002 


40 x 40 cm 



Editions 7/16, 9/16, 10/16, 13/16 and 15/16 - £570 (unframed)

A Lost Landscape, 2002 


65 x 65 cm 



Wetland and Rivers, 2001 


46 x 38 cm 



Song from the Universe, 2001 


54 x 73 cm 



A Memory of Summer, 2001 


58 x 60 cm 




Under a Moonlit Night, 2001 


40 x 40 cm 



Dancer, 2001 


65 x 50 cm 



A Colourful Village House II, 2001 


22 x 18 cm 



Old Tea Trade Road, 2000 


71 x 59 cm 



Human Body Series, 1999 


48 x 40 cm 



Dawa Mountain I, 1999 


40 x 40 cm 



Dawa Mountain II, 1999 


40 x 40 cm 



Lake Sanzhu, 1999 


40 x 40 cm 



Autumn I, 1999 

Hand-painted reduction woodblock print 

40 x 40 cm 



Source of the River, 1999 


40 x 40 cm 



Cold Mountain and Tranquil Moon, 1999 


70 x 65 cm 



Lake of One Thousand Clouds, 1999 


40 x 40 cm 



Stillness, 1999 


40 x 40 cm 



Wind Playing with the Ocean Waves, 1999 


40 x 40 cm 



Editions 6/13, 11/13 and 12/13 - £570 (unframed)

Night and New Moon, 1998 


40 x 40 cm 




Wooden Houses Street, 1991 


63 x 55 cm 



KATRINE LEVIN 

GALLERIES 

Katrine Levin Galleries showcases and promotes 

exceptional contemporary artists from places less 

explored, focusing on Southwest China and Georgia. 

The Galleries bring extraordinary artists, both emerging 

and established in their own countries, to the Western 

art scene. The artists’ cultural backgrounds provide a 

fascinating subcontext while the contemporary visual 

language creates a common bond. 

The works span figurative to abstract, raw emotion to 

symbolic storytelling. Diverse in style, all of the artists 

pursue art for art’s sake. The focus is on unique works 

that elevate the soul, bringing together innovation, 

mastery of technique, and an inner spark that we call 

talent.

Published on the occasion of the exhibition Reflections in 

a Blue Lake: The Woodblock Prints of Chen Li, 19 - 24 

February 2018 

Photographs by Jiguang Guo and Paul Tucker Photography 

Printed by Ex Why Zed 

exwhyzed.co.uk 

Cover image: 

Detail of Reflections in a Blue Lake, 2010 


100 x 100 cm, Edition 8/12 

Page 4: 

Song from the Universe, 2001 


54 x 73 cm, Edition 5/13 

Page 14: 

Dawa Mountain II, 1999 


40 x 40 cm, Edition 6/20 (detail) 

katrinelevin.com 

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reprinted 

or reproduced in any form or by any means, without 

prior written permission from Katrine Levin Galleries

Katrine Levin Galleries 

www.katrinelevin.com

Chen Li Woodblock Prints - Reflections - PDF of catalogue

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?