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It has been 3 years since Schoeni Art Gallery presented Li Gui Jun's last solo exhibition. In Li Gui Jun's 3rd solo exhibition with Schoeni Art Gallery, there will be 18 of his new works on show.

Li Gui Jun was born in Beijing in 1964 and graduated from the Central Academy of Fine Arts - Beijing, under the tutelage of Jin Shan Yi and Yang Fei Yun. Li Gui Jun has painted adolescent girls exclusively for over 15 years and he takes Chinese girls as the medium because they are brought up in a simple and disciplined environment that they live in their own world, a pure and loving dreamland and in that period between childhood and adulthood, physically and psychologically, they are like a bud ready to blossom. His girl next door series brings the viewer into his inner self to find a moment of silence far removed from the daily pressure.

The most striking feature of Li Gui Jun's figurative works is their understated senses of drama. In each portrait of a young girl, Li focuses on a moment of their daily lives. Some are simply occupied with their hair, as girls always do and others are simply getting ready for the day. His full-length model lying down dreaming in an antique bed make the transition to the modern world and embraces all their dreams and desires. The milky skins of the girls are another feature of the paintings. Li Gui Jun has a fine eye for detail, as seen in the meticulous rendering of the girls' vibrant dresses.

In order to achieve aesthetic excellence, Li Gui Jun has spent all his time and energy on colour, composition, structure, and particularly on the planning and manipulation of each and every detail. In this sense, every work of Li's is not a result of spontaneity. Every one of his works is a design of precision. To arrive at a composition of a painting, the arrangement of a plant, matching of a pattern on a dress, down to the tiniest details are arranged after much contemplation, consideration and study. For each painting, he not only prepares a lot of sketches and photos, but also selects models of different characteristics. The whole painting is carefully considered though the posture and expression may be captured spontaneously at the last moment. He has stressed that what he wants in his painting is not just the sum of the preparation work, but a real artistic transcendence. He cannot put into words how this transcendence come about, but usually after undergoing through a painful struggle, before he is dried up, what he looks for - the right feeling - will come, giving him the happiest moments of his life.

Li Gui Jun is a pioneering artist from China who has managed to take traditional portraiture beyond its former boundaries. Every aspect of Li Gui Jun's art is beautiful.

Li Gui Jun will be present at the opening of his exhibition on 31 October 2002 at Schoeni Art Gallery.

More about Li Gui Jun