Qu Leilei

In this Chinese name, the family name is Qu.

Qu Leilei (曲磊磊, born 1951)[1] is a contemporary Chinese artist currently based in the UK.

Qu grew up in China during the Cultural Revolution and spent some time forced in to hard labour as his parents were branded capitalists .[2] Later, he served as an art director at China Central Television.[2]

In 1979, as one of the founding members of the avant-garde "Stars Group", together with, Wang Keping, Ma De Sheng, Mao Lizi, Huang Rui, Li Shuang, Ah Cheng and Ai Weiwei,[3][4][5] Qu took part in the first exhibitions of contemporary art in China.[2]

After Qu left China, he relocated to London to practice his art, lecture and exhibit internationally.[3] His paintings were exhibited at a solo display in the Ashmolean Museum at Oxford in 2005,[3] the first time in the Ashmolean that a show was devoted singly to the work of a living artist.[4][5] He has also had a solo exhibition at Beijings National Gallery. His works have been exhibited by the British Museum and the V&A in London. His work at the British museum is now part of their permanent collection and this was marked with a symposium about himself and the Stars movement and his work.

Also in 2005, he was one of three finalists for the Arts Council England "Pearl Award for Creative Excellence".[5]

  1. ^ Yung Chang. (1996) Preface to A Visual Diary Archived 29 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine reproduced at redfern-gallery.com. Retrieved 19 March 2008.
  2. ^ a b c James, Nicholas P. (12 November 2007). Small Histories. United Kingdom: C.V./Visual Arts Research. ISBN 978-1-905571-51-2., p. 60
  3. ^ a b c Embassy of the People's Republic of China in the UK. (16 June 2005) The Music of Ink: Chinese arts ancient and modern, Special event on Chinese Culture in British Museum Archived 25 October 2007 at the Wayback Machine chinese-embassy.org.uk. Retrieved 19 March 2008.
  4. ^ a b Asian Nouveau. (24 May 2005) New work by Qu Lei Lei at the Ashmolean Archived 5 September 2008 at the Wayback Machine. asiannouveau.com. Retrieved 19 March 2008.
  5. ^ a b c Arts Council England. (2005) 2005 finalists: Pearl Award for Creative Excellence Archived 7 October 2006 at the Wayback Machine pearlawards.org.uk Retrieved 19 March 2008.