Li Xubai moved to Hong Kong in 1979 where he edited art magazines. In 1996 he moved to Canada and now lives in Toronto. Li taught himself Western-style painting then in the 1960s, studied classical Chinese literature, poetry and landscape painting. His signature works are landscapes inspired by old masters like Gong Xian (1618-1689) but Li’s contemporary versions have no specific relationship to any geographical site. His paintings are flat, usually created with dry brushes to project different densities and a pixilated effect similar to digitised media. He writes poetry on his paintings in traditional Chinese literary and classical art patterns yet the inscriptions are about his cultural identity in a foreign land.
Li’s work is found in the following public collections – Hong Kong Museum of Art, Chinese American Fine Arts Society and Asian American Broadcast Network both in Boston. He was also included in the Hong Kong Biennales of 1996 and 2003.
