“FLOWERS on the Field Paths: The Art of Li Lei” was recently unveiled at the Art Center of Jing’an Sculpture Park, and will run through May 16.

The exhibition features a cluster of Li’s abstract canvas art and contemporary ceramic works and installation.

“Each work could be appreciated separately, while at the same time they could be viewed together all as one big art piece,” Li said.

Li, one of the nation’s top abstract artists, started to explore the abstract art in 1995.

Unlike his peers, Li prefers to fuse a narrative title on his canvas, unwittingly guide a viewer’s imagination toward a concrete yet distant world, as seen in “The Fireworks of Pompeii” and “My Amazon Forest.”

The artist established a strong personal style of juxtaposing two canvases adjacent to each other. He usually paints carefree and in wild strokes in lines, dots or geometric patterns, with brilliant hues on the first canvas but a mono-colored one with slightly different shades, next to the first. Such arrangement of the abstract canvas renders a special visual experience to viewers, reminiscent of “fire” and “water.”

Another highlight goes to Li’s recent contemporary ceramic productions. For example flower petals softly “melting” on a mug. Here, the artist abandons the stereotypical image of China ceramics and its familiar aesthetic taste of ceramics. Here they are treated as a genre the artist adopts, like fabrics and paints. They no longer appear to be shining, beautiful and elegant, but a bit rough and coarse, as if ceramics could also wither and fade.

Visitors can also find Chinese ancient poems screened on a wall at the exhibition, echoing with the messages that the works radiate.

The underground exhibition space at Jing’an Sculpture Park is dominated by a bunch of long colored fabric strips hanging down from ceiling to ground, creating a poetic ambience to the space.

Dates: Through May 16 (close on Mondays), 10am-6pm

Venue: Art Center of Jing’an Sculpture Park

Address: 500 Beijing Road W.