Graduation Year

2026

Document Type

Open Access Senior Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelor of Arts

Department

Art History

Reader 1

Patricia Yu

Reader 2

Michelle Oing

Abstract

The global visibility of contemporary Chinese art has been formed by politically legible or culturally identifiable styles, which often explicitly reference social critique, political history, or traditional Chinese visual elements and media. Because of the rapid expansion of the global art market, these visual identifiers quickly became the most effortless and efficient determinants for an artwork’s representativeness of the contemporary Chinese art scene. This framing undeniably helped international audiences to establish a recognizable narrative, but has also narrowed the range of practices that define the field. This thesis argues that Zhou Li’s abstract practice expands the boundaries of what contemporary Chinese art can include. Through a close analysis of artworks from her most recent solo exhibition, Closest Yet Farthest (ShanghART 2025), alongside earlier artworks in her career, the study examines how Zhou Li’s material experimentation, color strategies, and transnational formation challenge institutional and market-driven expectations that often define Chinese contemporary art through political legibility or cultural symbolism. By situating her work within broader artistic networks and examining its reception in exhibitions, galleries, and collections, the thesis demonstrates how Zhou Li offers an alternative possibility of artistic identity grounded in abstraction and global circulation.

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