Unique art can be found everywhere. It is not hard to find art that fascinates us, but some artists go beyond what we expect. And Li Hongbo is one of those.
One of the most powerful things a piece of unique art can do is surprise us. Most often, any surprises we find in art are subtle and only realized after careful study. On the surface, the piece of art may appear to be normal, but once we begin looking at it further, we notice little details that do not fit into what we know as normal, such as an odd turn of phrase, an unexpected chord progression, or the use of a certain color where it does not belong. These subtle surprises can evoke images, memories, and emotions, but, just as art is subtle so too is the image, the memory, or emotion. I enjoy this type of art very much, but there is another kind I like even more.
Several years back, I was at an art museum with a friend. In this art museum there is a location that always has a different exhibit. Most of the time it is modern, abstract art that isn’t too my taste, but on this day, my friend and I were presented with a wall of straws. Though this may seem like a boring exhibit, the artist had made it look like there were clouds made from straws even though there were no straws sticking out to make the cloud shapes. Somehow, the artist was able to trick the eye into believing the straws bulged out. This artist’s name is Tara Donovan, and she focuses on using every day material to create her art. (You can look at some of her pieces of art here https://www.pacegallery.com/artists/111/tara-donovan or here https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSCSnKqBNHg )
More recently, I have run into another artist whose work surprises me even more. Li Hongbo is a Chinese artist who creates his pieces out of paper. His busts generally look like classic art when you see them. They are very detailed and often stoic. And perhaps the best part of his art is not how it surprises you but that it seems so ordinary when you first see it. For those of you who are familiar with his work, you already know what he is about. For those of you who aren’t, check out this video.
or this one
Li Hongbo has created something of value both to the artistic and regular community, and in the same way his art appears normal when you first see it, he has made it out of something entirely ordinary as well: paper.