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Mu Li

Mu Li works in a personal genre he calls “community-based art,” engaging diverse groups of people—such as students in a program for troubled youth in Shanghai—to share ideas about the arts and their lives. This conceptual artist based in Shanghai earned his B.A. degree from the Suzhou School of Art and Design and an M.F.A. from Tsinghua University’s Academy of Fine Arts. His current project involves working with kindergarten students for whom he will be publishing a textbook to introduce them to artists including Andy Warhol, Joseph Beuys, and Nam June Paik. The Van Abbe Museum in the Netherlands has engaged him for a conceptual piece enlist the participation of his hometown community, a poor farming village in northern Jiangsu Province. In the U.S., Mu Li plans to continue a project called My Questions one-on-one conversations with audiences about the personal and private dilemmas haunting many artists, such as “Am I a talented artist?” and “Can I afford to have a child?” After having discussed these issues with hundreds of people in China and meticulously documenting the process, he is now considering how to present this project for public appreciation. To that end, the ACC awarded Mr. Li a five-month grant to participate in a residency program at the International Studio and Curatorial Program (ISCP) in New York.

Grants Awarded

to take part in a residency program at the International Studio and Curatorial Program

Events