Li Ran's LA Solo Show at Lisson Gallery Features Paintings Merging Religion, Politics, and Cultural Critique
Li Ran, an artist from Shanghai, launched his inaugural solo exhibition at Lisson Gallery in Los Angeles, running from June 27 to August 23, 2025. The exhibition, titled "The Signs Are Present," showcases 2024 paintings that draw inspiration from both Eastern and Western religious beliefs as well as Hollywood zombie films. Li's artistic repertoire encompasses installation, performance, writing, video, and painting, frequently infused with sociopolitical insights. Key works include "It's Sorcery! Not Romance, And Not Revolution," which references the "tang ping" youth movement in China, and "Reunion in Paradise," which nods to Mao Zedong's "Hundred Flowers" campaign. "They Wash Feet But They Don't Bond" portrays isolated figures, while "That Empty Tomb" features a skull. Li questions the foundations of philosophy and art, proposing Cartesian doubt as a means to uncover truth.
Key facts
- Li Ran's first solo show at Lisson Gallery Los Angeles ran from June 27 to August 23, 2025.
- The exhibition "The Signs Are Present" features paintings created in 2024.
- Li Ran is a Shanghai-based artist working across installation, performance, writing, video, and painting.
- His work incorporates references from Eastern and Western religions to Hollywood zombie movies.
- Li reads the Bible daily as an entry point to mysticism, despite China's promotion of atheism.
- The painting "It's Sorcery! Not Romance, And Not Revolution" references Egon Schiele and China's "tang ping" youth movement.
- "Reunion in Paradise" includes withering flowers that may allude to Mao Zedong's 1956–57 "Hundred Flowers" campaign.
- The exhibition explores themes of doubt, anxiety, and critique of art communities through works like "That Empty Tomb" and "They Wash Feet But They Don't Bond, They Are Fellows But They Don't Trust."
Entities
Artists
- Li Ran
- Egon Schiele
- Van Gogh
- Hans Christian Anderson
- Mao Zedong
- Jennifer S. Li
Institutions
- Lisson Gallery
- ArtAsiaPacific
Locations
- Los Angeles
- United States
- Shanghai
- China