Vanguard Gallery

Joy Li was born in 1999 in Gansu, China. She currently lives and works in Shenzhen, China.

She obtained her BFA degree in Interdisciplinary Sculpture with a Theater minor at Maryland Institute College of Art in 2021. She will be attending MFA Sculpture program at Yale School of Art in 2024.

Her works include sculpture, performance art, theater, video, and music, exploring the tension of interactions between objects, emotions, and relationships. In her works, she reinterprets objects and bodies to magnify the allure and danger inherent in everyday items, allowing the audience to re-experience and interact familiar things in unfamiliar ways.

Education:

2026 Yale School of Art, New Haven, CT
Master of Fine Arts, Sculpture

2021 Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD
Bachelor of Fine Arts, Interdisciplinary Sculpture

Selected Solo Exhibitions
2024
Gas Station X, Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai, China
Icarus’ Wings, Guangdong Times Museum, Guangzhou, China

2023
Green Water, LINSEED, Shanghai, China
Golden Lines and White Lightings, Aranya, Chengde, China

2022
Salomé, 33ml OFFSPACE, Shanghai, China

2020
Collective Dreaming, BBOX, Baltimore, UK
Selected Group Exhibitions
2025
Birth of Poetry, THE SHOPHOUSE, Hong Kong

2024
Porsche Young Chinese Artist of the Year Nominees’ Exhibition, Shanghai Exhibition Center, Shanghai, China
Torsos in Rain: Post Hit-and-Run, New Uncanny Gallery, New York, NY, United States
Four Winds: a Different Perspective on Southern Art, Guangdong Contemporary Art Center, Guangzhou, China
Open the Door, Gallery func, Shanghai, China
At the beginning, you find nothing there, Petitree, Shenzhen, China
Embodies Rituals, Guangdong Times Museum, Guangzhou, China
After Human: Marks of the Beasts, Tomorrow Maybe, Hong Kong, China
The Nostalgic Collection, Tree Art Museum, Beijing, China

2023
moments that home came into establishment, Third Street Gallery, Shanghai, China
Tie Up, Mugyewon, LINSEED, Seoul, South Korea
Performance / Theater
2024
Wings of Icarus, Guangdong Times Museum, Guangzhou, China
Sliver Monster, Tomorrow Maybe, Hong Kong, China

2023
This Performance Is a Form of Refusal, UCCA GALA, Shanghai, China
Hunter, Tree Art Museum, Beijing, China
Hunter, The 11th UP-ON International Live Art Festival, Chengdu, China
Golden Lines and White Lightings, Aranya, Chengde, China

2020
Collective Dreaming, BBOX, Baltimore, MD, United States

2019
26th Benefit Fashion Show: Catalyst, Falvey Hall, Baltimore, MD, United States

2018
You’ll Never Meet Mac DeMarco, BBOX, Baltimore, MD, United States
Award / Fellowship / Residency
2025
Porsche Young Chinese Artist of the Year Award

2024
Skowhegan School of Painting & Sculpture, Madison, ME, United States

2023
10th XINHUO Performance Art Festival + Residency, Chongqing and Chengdu, China

2021
Guerrilla War NO.5, Pararailing, Shanghai, China

2019
Micro-Grant, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD, United States
Distinguished International Student Award, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD, United States

2018
Foundation Departmental Recognition Award, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD, United States

2017
Internl Award of Excellence, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD, United States
Academic Honors Scholarship, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD, United States
C. V. Starr Scholarship, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD, United States
Thalheimer Scholarship, Maryland Institute College of Art, Baltimore, MD, United States
Selected Press
Interview, Numéro China, 2024 Fall Issue
Art Merged into Human Being by Wearable Sculpture, “LEADING EDGE”section, BBART, vol.23
‘Collective Dreaming’ in the Time of COVID-19, by Laurence Ross, BmoreArt: https://bmoreart.com/2020/03/collective-dreaming-in-the-time-of-covid-19.html