SIMPLE PLEASURES: LI JIN WITH ROGER LAW
4 May – 17 Nov 2024
Gallery 11, ground floor
Admission is FREE
'We are good friends and share the same path in art'
– Letter from Li Jin to Roger Law, 2003
This exhibition showcases work by the contemporary Chinese ink master Li Jin – his first solo show in the UK – alongside a selection of drawings and ceramic work by the British caricaturist Roger Law and some of their correspondence. The two artists have been friends for many years.
Both share a sense of humour and sharp observation in their artistic endeavours and appreciation of each other's art.
Active since the 1980s, Li Jin is best known for his playful and witty depictions of the sensory pleasure of the ordinaries, which subvert the classical themes of an ideal, elegant, and serene life in Chinese literati painting. Li Jin often accompanies his artworks with calligraphy of Buddhist texts.
Nude Bathing, Li Jin, c. 2001 © 李津工作室 Lijin Studio / Ashmolean Museum
Sleeping Figure, Li Jin, c. 2001 © 李津工作室 Lijin Studio / Ashmolean Museum
Monk (from the back), Li Jin, c. 2001 © 李津工作室 Lijin Studio / Ashmolean Museum
After producing his acclaimed satirical show Spitting Image for more than a decade, Roger Law moved to Australia in the late 1990s and discovered Li Jin's work through Australian art dealer Ray Hughes, with whom he travelled to China to meet Li Jin. They have since formed a lasting friendship.
Header image: Cool and Sleek (detail), Li Jin, 1998 © 李津工作室 Lijin Studio / Ashmolean Museum
