A MAJOR exhibition of the work of a Chinese artist who lived near Brampton for more than 20 years has begun in Cambridge.

Li Yuan-Chia moved to Cumbria in 1968, having grown up in Guangxi in China and had previously spent periods of time living in Italy and London.

After living for two years near Lanercost, Li purchased a derelict farmhouse at Banks on Hadrian's Wall from the artist Winifred Nicholson.

He converted the farmhouse at great personal expense into the LYC Museum and Art Gallery, and this was opened in the 1972.

The museum and gallery soon became a favourite location for artists to display their work and over the years it hosted big names such as Andy Goldsworthy, David Nash, Rosie Leventon, Rose Frain, Kate Nicholson and Bill Woodrow.

The LYC was well known for having a world-famous artist working there, alongside a children’s class and its legacy still lives on for many artists.  

“Despite his lack of official recognition, and his independent way of doing things, Li was not a self-absorbed or maverick figure,” said a spokesperson for the Li Yuan-Chia foundation.

“His concerns were central ones in the 20th century avant-garde. What is the value of art, what is it for, who is an artist? Can art give an account of our place in the universe? Can it help us to live? Li was constantly reflecting on questions such as these, in both his visual art and his writing.” 

The exhibition, held at Kettle’s Yard in Cambridge, retraces Li’s commitment to fostering creativity, his interest in play and his investment in new ways of being in the world.

Li’s practice – as both artist and organiser – is at the centre of the exhibition, along with those artists he exhibited at the LYC and those who were part of the cosmopolitan networks he enabled and enriched.

The exhibition, entitled “Making New Worlds”, will also include works by contemporary artists reflecting on the afterlives of Li’s work in the present.

The exhibition will last until February 18.