Born: 1966 Hong Kong
Year of Migration to the UK: 1970
Biography
Photographer and interdisciplinary artist, Dinu Li was born in Hong Kong (now, Hong Kong, China) in 1966. He immigrated to England with his family as a young child. The family first settled in the north east in Sheffield and then moved west to Manchester. Li developed an interest in art from a young age. Regular visits to Manchester's Whitworth Art Gallery during his school years began his fascination with historic paintings, with the Dutch Baroque painter Johannes Vermeer holding a special place among his artistic influences, a passion that continues to shape his work. Li also became interested in photography as a child when he would alter family photos that were placed on his mother's dressing table. Around the age of 20, he found inspiration in the photography project Exiles (1988) by the Czech-French photographer Josef Koudelka and the publication In Flagrante (1988) which contained a body of work by the Manx photographer Chris Killip. Subsequently, he gained a formal qualification in photography, gaining a BA Photography from Liverpool’s John Moores University in 2001.
Li's artistic practice often entails visiting specific locations to begin a project, exploring the locale's history and pertinent details. This research is then integrated into his art, generating fresh insights through the establishment of patterns, rhythms and compositions. His methods frequently involve translating or re-envisioning texts, utilising graphic visuals, architecture, film, and photography, as well as orchestrating varied interpretations of historical events. His oeuvre includes moving image, photography, sculptural assemblages and performance. The themes he explores encompass migration, portraying individuals who typically shun identification, and questioning the reliability of both human and photographic memory. He also explores cultural expressions within daily life, shedding light on the commonplace and uncovering the unseen. He frequently uses archives as foundational elements for his projects, employing a research-driven methodology, focused on adaptation and transformation, while also questioning the document as a cornerstone of research.
Li’s projects intertwine migration with themes of representation, memory, and translation. Li’s Secret Shadows photograph series (2002) engages with ideas around illegal migrants employed in Chinese restaurants across London. His photobook The Mother of All Journeys (2003–07) documented a journey he took with his aging mother to her former homes across the UK, Hong Kong, and in rural China, while exploring the role of photography in shaping personal memories. Press the Star, Then Say Hello (2006) features portraits of immigrant customers in Manchester’s internet booths, calling loved ones in their home countries, thus capturing the dichotomy of their physical presence and mental dislocation. In We Write Our Own History (2017), he worked with activists from the 2014 Hong Kong Umbrella protests, covertly recreating their alternative memories using everyday objects. The Anatomy of Place (2007–2017) is the title of a film trilogy, comprising: Ancestral Nation (2007),Family Village (2009) and Nation Family (2017) which all offer distinct interpretations of the Chinese word ‘country’. Family Village draws inspiration from a Sichuan town mirroring Dorchester's architecture. For this film he also reinterpreted a 1950s Chinese comic and mixed it with Mandarin versions of songs from Willy Wonka & the Chocolate Factory, ultimately creating a fictional story based on the real experience of his relative who worked for the Chinese sociopolitical movement, the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution.
In 2023 his exhibition A Phantom's Vibe was presented at esea contemporary in Manchester. This sculptural assemblage merged ideas from the artist's Hong Kong street market childhood with a rediscovered Caribbean reggae song, initially mistaken for Chinese folk. The work fused diverse elements such as pompoms, hair extensions, and Union Jack tarpaulin, while broadcasting dub tracks from car radios. Li’s use of found materials from various sources underlined a narrative of cultural fusion and identity. This series not only bridged cultural divides but also highlighted underrepresented histories, offering a complex commentary on contemporary identity and cultural interplay.
In addition to exhibiting nationally and internationally, Li is active in other spheres in the UK’s art world. In 2015 he was appointed Senior Lecturer in BA Photography at Falmouth University. He previously held the position of Lecturer at the University of Chester. In 2019 he won the Exeter Contemporary Open Art Award for his film Nation Family and in 2022 he received The Henry Moore Foundation Artist Award. Li also regularly participates in conferences and talks. In 2017 he presented a paper at the Urban Encounters conference held at Tate Britain. Dinu Li currently lives and works in Cornwall, UK. In the UK public domain his work is held in the V&A Collection and the Wellcome Collection in London.
Related books
- Sacha Craddock, Michael McMillan, Wenny Teo, and Xiaowen Zhu, A Phantom's Vibe, exh. cat. (Manchester: esea contemporary, 2023)
- Martin Parr and Gerry Badger, The Photobook: A History, vol. III (London: Phaidon, 2014)
- Louise Clements, Carol Yinghua Lu and Katie Hall, Dinu Li Selected Works 2009-2010 (Derby: QUAD Publishing, 2010)
- Ying Kwok, 21: Discussions with Artists of Chinese descent in the UK (Manchester: Chinese Arts Centre, 2008)
- Yeuk Ling Li, Lisa Le Feuvre and Mark Sealy, The Mother of all Journeys: Dinu Li (Stockport: Dewi Lewis, 2007)
- Melani Keen and Eileen Day, Necessary Journeys (London: Arts Council England, 2005)
- Dinu Li, The Chinese Art Book (London: Phiadon, 2003)
- Jon Barraclough, Deborah Chan and Wing-Fai Leung, Ten Thousand Li – Chinese Infusion in Contemporary British Culture (Liverpool: Centre for Art International Research, 2002)
Public collections
Related organisations
- Falmouth University (Senior Lecturer )
- Liverpool John Moores University (student )
- The Henry Moore Foundation (award recipient )
- University of Chester (Lecturer )
Related web links
- Alice Maude-Roxby & Dinu Li: The Performance Document: Assimilations of Gesture and Genre
- Dinu Li: A Phantom's Vibe
- Dinu Li: Artist Talk for esea contemporary
- Dinu Li: Art Radar Asia
- Dinu Li: Danielle Arnaud
- Dinu Li Explores Chinese Propaganda Films
- Dinu Li: Falmouth University
- Dinu Li: nr.world
- Dinu Li: Official Page
- Dinu Li: photography-now.com
Selected exhibitions
- A Phantom's Vibe (solo exhibition), esea contemporary, Manchester (2023)
- The Anatomy of a Place (solo exhibition), Look Photo Biennial, Birkenhead Market, Wirral (2019)
- Exeter Contemporary Open (group show), Exeter Phoenix, Exeter (2019)
- As if I Were a River (solo exhibition), Danielle Arnaud Gallery, London (2018)
- Flow - Asian Art Activism, Raven Row, London (2018)
- Nella Mia Fantasia (solo exhibition), ICIA, Bath (2012)
- PhotoIreland (group show), Irish Museum of Contemporary Art, Dublin (2012)
- Yesterday is History (solo exhibition), Tomorrow is Mystery, QUAD, Derby (2010)
- The Mother of all Journeys, Amelia Johnson Contemporary, Hong Kong (2009)
- Press the star, then Say Hello (film projection), Manchester Art Gallery, Manchester (2008)
