“Flowing Fire” takes its name from two elements in Li Binyuan’s work, embodying the pervasive spirit and imagery that fills the entire exhibition.

Unlike most artists, Li Binyuan creates many of his works at night, where faint flames become sacred light illuminating different places, giving his work a uniquely romantic and poetic aura.”Blue Mountain”(蓝山) plays on the sound of “Lan Shan”(阑珊), representing both his literal hometown-Lan Mountain in Yongzhou, Hunan Province-and a broader symbol of distant, mystical blue mountains, echoing the artist’s distinctive way of living between home and the faraway.

In 2015, Li Binyuan set out in search of a more nomadic lifestyle, eventually settling back in his hometown, Lan Mountain, in recent years. It was around this time that he developed his unique artistic style, moving away from socially oriented themes to deeply personal moments: his hometown of Lan Mountain, his mother, his late father, the rivers and bamboo groves of his childhood, or the gentle breeze-all of these began to appear frequently in his works.

The exhibition follows this thread, showcasing works by Li Binyuan related to night fire, the rivers of his hometown, Lanshan, and his travels in Yunnan. In some ways, these works are “autobiographical,” filled with experiences unique to him: the land left by his father, the imagination sparked by art; the bridges over rivers, the experience of wandering in distant places; the secrets of childhood, the deeply buried joys of life, and the enduring bond with his hometown. These narratives, along with the highs and lows of Li Binyuan’s life, form a backdrop for his work, which is imbued with a love for memories. Even his once“real” world is entrusted to us in a rare, heartwarming way.

The changes in place, environment, and nature have always been among the most important sources of inspiration for Li Binyuan’s work, determining the initial emotionall impulse behind an “action” or “event.” We might also describe this in terms of sensory details: wind, snow, rain, rippling water—these elements act like prisms, refracting changes in Li Binyuan’s emotional world. As a result, his work carries a timeless detachment and deep affection, a unique sense of time that belongs to naturalism.

“Power” is another central theme in Li Binyuan’s work. Sometimes it takes the form of gravity in nature, the pull of the Earth’s core, the force and surge of flowing water, or the swaying and extinguishing power of wind. But it always manifests in ways that are either “resisted” or “cherished.” For example, Li Binyuan may protect a sacred flame as he ascends a mountain in the wind. In the same river from his hometown, he might use his easel to attempt to block the flow of water, or he may repeatedly swim upstream, using his body as a bridge across a waterfall, to interrupt the water’s rush. These human-powered forces are both acts of resistance and romanticism in the face of imbalance. In them, we also see the artist’s strength of belief, his resolve. And what supports these actions is not merely Li Binyuan’s body in the face of nature, but the imagination and possibilities that art grants him in life.

In contrast to his personal story, Li Binyuan’s emotional narrative reflects a shared sense of time and empathy: Over the past two decades, urban expansion and the ubiquitous spread of modernity have intensified the tension between us and nature, between us and the land. The relationship between our bodies and nature has already changed, as noted in the exhibition article for Li Binyuan at MoMA PS1: “To place one’s spirit in the mountains and rivers, or to find one’s past in familiar yet strange lands. The unattained and the lost, the hope to merge with and the longing for what remains-but the constant is the body’s yearning to establish a connection with the land in the journey of life. This is a unique sentiment in the Chinese emotional landscape, a deep attachment.”