Li-Hill is a multi-disciplinary artist originally from Toronto and currently based in Brooklyn. Wishing his craft, he employs painting, illustration, stenciling, and sculpture in addition to being a master muralist of course. With a degree in Fine Arts, Li-Hill’s diverse works range from smaller multiples to gargantuan murals that explore industrialization, scientific breakthrough, man versus nature and information saturation. He incorporates salvaged objects and unconventional materials to form complex multi-layered pieces that are as striking as they are intriguing.
The artist’s official statement says of this work and ethos: “Li-Hill attempts to decipher the complexities of the rapid development in our modern age. Through the western gaze, Li-Hill points to the devastating effects of capitalist culture on the individual psyche, his work serves as a template for the ramifications felt on a global scale. The work mirrors the perception of the westerner attempting to comprehend, disentangle and redress. Born out of suppression, it becomes a manifestation portraying the skewed image of the imprint our culture has globally. To create these complex images, Li-Hill blurs the lines between the imposed disciplines of the art world such as graffiti, graphic design, painting and drawing to disrupt the concepts of what is considered high and low-brow art. Through the storm of imagery and density there is also a beauty that surfaces from this fragile balance. Inspired by the precariousness of the work on the street, ephemerality is injected into the core of the work, furthering its unsettling nature.”
Based on current research in Grenoble (situated in the Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes region of southeastern France) this powerful and super-charged piece hones in on the environmentally focused innovation hub that the city has become, thanks to remarkable scientific discoveries.
Grenoble sits at the foot of Mount Rachair and lies along the rushing Isère River, and the city’s advantageous location has allowed for quantum leaps in the utilization of early Hydrological Energy. The sweeping figures in ‘Process of Acceleration’ allegorize the technological advancements of humans through time and in this case, the procedure of pulling the water from neighboring rivers to harness energy.
At the top of the mural sits an architectural drawing of a particle accelerator, The ESRF: European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble. This stands for the current process of particles being accelerated at the speed of light to create powerful x-rays used to examine matter on a molecular level.
A pursuit in understanding the world around us is crucial to create change, but how this knowledge is used and what change is created is the constant friction of civilization, an aspect reflected within the expressions of the mural’s figures.
Tiny fragments of the ESRF are embedded within this mighty mural. The longest beam line in the drawing is of the actual research station, ID21 Li-Hill’s idea for this was inspired by a scientist he met on a visit to the ESRF, Marine Cotte. Marine uses powerful beams created from particle acceleration to study the degradation process of paint on artworks. She had the sagacious idea of offering Li-Hill two yellow samples from her study of Van Gough’s famous “Vase with Fifteen Sunflowers” to subtly integrate into the mural: furthering a connection to the ESRF site and the two-way road of artwork, investigating scientific pursuits and scientific pursuits investigating art.
Aaron Li-Hill: website | facebook | instagram
Grenoble Street Art Festival: website | facebook | instagram
