An untitled painting by Li Yuan-Chia from 1960, brings together traditional Chinese patterns and calligraphy with modern sensibilities of abstraction. He paints dark, blurred figures that stand facing each other as though engaged in conversation. This use of elemental shapes defines Li's early interest in abstract and kinetic art, where the points and lines express movement and subvert the intricately detailed landscapes traditionally painted in Chinese art. Li began blending Asian and Western languages and techniques in 1949 when he moved to Taiwan and met the abstract artist, Li Zhong Sheng. He further went on to start the Ton Fan Collective in 1956 with seven other artists, who were particularly interested in American abstract art and establishing modern Chinese art. Together they worked on modernising ink painting and were able to host fifteen exhibitions in Taipei and Europe, in their short time together. This was the beginning of Li’s journey to harnessing the power of the community to create a new form of modern art.

Inspired by the works of Kandinsky and Piet Mondrian, Li soon decided to move to Italy to further experiment with abstraction. Bringing together the East and the West, his work focused on his interest in geometries and began being rooted in his idea of the ‘cosmic point’, which Li describes as the beginning and end of everything in life. His first solo exhibition with Lisson Gallery, London in 1967 was dedicated to this concept and developed during the years in which he founded the LYC Museum and Gallery in Cumbria, by Hadrian’s Wall, between 1972-83.

Making New Worlds is an exhibition that, much like Li’s work, relishes the collective's work. It begins with Winifred Nicholson’s Roman Road, a work that usually hangs in Kettle’s Yard’s permanent collection, but was moved to the exhibition space due to Li’s friendship with Winifred who sold him the land for the LYC. The exhibition builds on the importance of Li’s relationships and showcases not solely his work but that of his friends and contemporaries who were also working towards understanding the world around them.

The first room of the exhibition, titled Constellations of the Cosmic, looks closely at Li’s ‘cosmic point’. Li believed that since everything originated from this one point, that one dot, all facets of life were interconnected. This included art, friendship, and creativity; for him, they were all one. The exhibition uses work such as Winifred Nicholson’s painting Consciousness and Andy Goldsworthy’s ten, vintage black and white photographs, How to Make a Black Hole (1981), to mirror Li’s idea of a dot, a centre and a hole as one point of consciousness.

The exhibition expands and focuses on the many mediums and materials in which this idea of the cosmic point is echoed in modern and contemporary works. These include Madelon Hooykaas’s silkscreen print titled Four Corners of My Room (1975) and David Butler’s Searching/ Meeting/ Parting (2023), an eight-minute sound collage with field recordings and compositions by Delia Derbyshire. With this sound collage playing in the background and artwork by various artists layered on the walls, up to the ceiling, the exhibition also successfully recreates the environment Li worked to cultivate at the LYC Museum and Gallery, which was completely lost and destroyed after his passing. A space Li built with his own hands, it was viewed by some as his cosmic point, where he invited multiple voices, to create with mixed media, their outlook on life.

The exhibition culminates with a space titled LYC is Me, LYC is You, at the entrance of which is an archival photograph of Li carrying a tray of food and inviting visitors into the space. This photograph symbolises Li’s hospitality and the importance of a collective creative space to his philosophy. Through his museum, Li built an inclusive community. He would host special activities and events for children, printed free publications at his LYC Press and welcomed visitors into the kitchen for tea and biscuits. The exhibition harnesses the energy of Li’s LYC Museum and Gallery; Aaron Tan’s Kitchen Cabinet (2022) is inspired by a cabinet designed by Li and includes a projection of Li’s film onto a pan, a cup for tea and coffee and copies of the LYC’s publications. Works such as Charwei Tsai’s Ancient Desires (2023), contain several ceramic vessels containing offerings that visitors are welcome to take and are encouraged to fill with their own offerings, allowing an interactive and constantly changing artwork. Similarly, Anna Brownsted’s Drawing Machine #6 (2023) encourages visitors to readjust the machine, allowing it to create new pieces of art with its motion. 

It is this sense of experimentation and the collective that exists today at Kettle’s Yard with its contemporary exhibitions and permanent collection in the form of Jim and Helen Ede’s house. The exhibition and its space both share interweaving histories and were started to harness the power of the community to create modern art that embraced abstraction. This exhibition, co-curated by Hammad, Sarah Victoria Turner and Amy Tobin, and put together by the work of many artists, then itself represents Li’s success in creating a world of collective harmony that defies any artistic traditions or geographical boundaries. It is worth noting however, that while Kettle's Yard stands in the heart of one of the most reputed and well-maintained universities in the world, the LYC is forever lost, even though we can still see traces of it and the world Li created, all around us.

Making New Worlds will be on display from November 11 2023 - February 18 2024 at Kettle Yard, Cambridge.