Artist Biography (CV & 中文简历）
Lily Xiying Yang and Honglei Li (杨熙瑛, 李宏磊)
are new media artists from Beijing, currently based in New York City. Since
2005, they have been working under a collective name Lily & Honglei. Their
creativity aims at developing new artistic expressions through integrating traditional
art forms such as painting and Chinese folk art with digital language. By
utilizing online virtual world and digital animations, Lily & Honglei's
work are devoted to the reinterpretation of Chinese folklore traditions that
remain highly relevant in reflecting on the current globalized culture and
society.
Lily & Honglei actively engage in a wide range of new media art events,
including 'Fluid' New Media Art at Queens Museum of Art, NY; FILE - Electronic Language International
Festival in Brazil; 404 international festival of electronic art; Video Channel: CologneOff V - "Taboo;" Boston Cyberarts 10th Festival; performances and presenations at Eyebeam Art + Technology Center, New York; "Art & Communication"
in Museum of Ara Pacis at Rome, Italy; "@" exhibition curated by
New Media Caucus at the National CAA 2009; 5th FONLAD - Digital Art Festival Guarda/Portugal; ImageRadio 2008 New Media Festival in Netherlands; SIGGRAPH Slow Art Gallery in LA; ElectroFringe
Festival of Electronic Arts & Culture in Australia; MICROWAVE - New Media Arts Festival 2009 - Hong Kong/China; Digital Arts + New Media exhibition at Emergence Gallery of Duo
Multicultural Art Center NYC; "Virtual Art" exhibition
invited by Broadway Gallery NYC; 10th International Salon de Arte Digital Maracaibo/Venezuela, Museum of Contemporary Art de Zulia Maracaibo; The 6th. Festival “Without Border Exhibition - Conjunction, ” University of Maine, among many others.
Lily & Honglei also present their work in a series of lectures, penal
discussions and conferences, including "Navigating Cyberworlds: Creative
Practice in Virtual Reality" panel discussion hosted by Boston Cyberarts
2009 at Boston University, "Second Llife Performance" at Eyebeam Art & Technology Center in NYC; presentation at "Upgrade! Boston" curated
by Turbulence.org at CAVS in MIT, lecture "DSL Collection + DSL Cyber
MoCA" at Steinhardt School in New York University, presentation of "Learning
Objects and Media Education in the 21st Century" at UMass Instructional
Technology Conference in MA, lecture "Fine Arts Films" at CVPA in
University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, presentation "Experimental New
Media" at Axiom Gallery in Boston. Their artworks and articles have been published
on many art magazines in both print and online versions, those include a monograph "Fine Art Film" published in Germany; "Foreignness
and Translation in New Media" in Media-N Spring Edition 2009 by New Media
Caucus, IL; "TransForm" International New Media Art Exhibition Catalog; "Friction Research - Investigating Ruptures in the Art Political
Grid" in Nictoglobe 2009 Spring issue in Amsterdam, Netherlands; “Traversing
Sweet Illusions” in HyperArtSpace published by Boston Cyberarts Festival;
"Forbidden City" in ACM magazine, New York, NY.
Their media solo exhibitions include, "Wall & City- Virtual World
Performance and Multimedia" Exhibition at Monash University in Australia;
"Land of Illusion - Chinese Folklore and Digital Media" Exhibition
at American Library Association in New York; "Forbidden City - Digital
Multimedia" Installation Exhibition at University Gallery at University
of Massachusetts Dartmouth; "Prosperity - Experimental Animation"
Exhibition at Artworks! Gallery in City of New Bedford, Massachusetts; "When
the Fiction Becomes True - Experimental Video" Exhibition at College
of Visual & Performing Arts Gallery, Massachusetts Dartmouth. Lily &
Honglei held their solo painting exhibitions at Western Returned Scholars
Association (WRSA), China; "Emerging" painting and mixed media exhibition
in Kiel, Germany. Their paintings and new media artworks are collected by
galleries and individuals internationally.
Lily & Honglei both studied fine arts in China and continued their education
in art in America. Lily Xiying Yang received her MFA in Digital Media in College
of Visual and Performing Arts in UMass Dartmouth in 2008, while Honglei Li
received MFA in Painting in CVPA Massachusetts Dartmouth. Lily taught digital
art and design in Emerson College and UMass Dartmouth, Honglei teaches traditional
Chinese painting in Massachusetts College of Art and Design, previously taught
drawing courses in UMass Dartmouth. Lily & Honglei also work as cultural
activists, bloggers and curators dedicated to enhancing new media art exchanges
Chinese and international artist communities. They founded "Land of Illusion"
project in Second Life in 2007, a platform generating virtual-world performance
and exhibitions for contemporary art and cultural studies through cross-continent
collaborations on the Internet. In 2008, Lily & Honglei launched NY Arts
New Media & Net-Art platform affiliated with NY Arts Magazine. In 2009,
Lily & Honglei collaborate with DSL Collection of Chinese contemporary
art to launch DSL Cyber MoCA (Museum of Contemporary Arts) in Second Life
virtual environment. Since 2007, Lily & Honglei have curated several new
media art exhibitions and screening series focusing on globalization's impact
on culture and society.(see Media Gallery for more details)
Website:
http://lilyhonglei.com
Blog:
Chinese
Folklore in Digital Arts
Network:
"Land
of Illusion" Net-Art
New Media Platform:
Cyber Museum of Contemporary Art
Lily & Honglei presenting Chinese Folklore in New Media Art,Center for Advanced Visual Studies, MIT. 2009
"Land of Illusion" and "Peacock Flies Southeast" Film Screenings at Duo Multicultural Art Center, East Village NYC.2009
(above) Virtual Art Exhibition in Broadway Gallery NYC, Sponsored by World Art Media & NY Arts Magazine. 2009
(above) Solo exhibition Forbidden City in University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, College of Visual and Performing Arts Gallery. 2008
(above) Lily & Honglei's Forbidden City in SIGGRAPH Art Gallery, LA. 2008 (with music composers David Williams, Nickolas Thibault)
(above) Experimental New Media exhibition at Axiom Gallery, Boston. 2007. (with curators and artists)
Lily & Honglei's Solo Exhibition - Prosperity in "Artworks!" Gallery, MA. 2007 (painting & video installation)
(above) Lily & Honglei's Solo exhibition When the Fiction Becomes True, with faculty and friends by the screening room, College Visual & Performing Arts Gallery, UMASS Dartmouth. 2006
Solo Exhibition with painting and mixed-media artworks, Kiel, Germany. 1994