Elay Li

1985, Azerbaijan

Elay Li was born in 1985 in Nakhcivan, Azerbaijan.

His main artistic destination is monochrome painting. In his artworks, he maintains figurations on the border of the invisible by studying the distribution of colour and the reflection of light on canvas. Elay Li does not paint in terms of transparencies and nuances, but controls the exact intensity of the brush stroke with which he delicately distributes and combs the colour, achieving a visual resonance on the surface. The light emphasises the textures and depth of the material, creating volumetric perceptions that shape characters, animals and objects.

He started his studies in 2002 at Nakhchivan State University and later enrolled at the Azerbaijan Academy of Fine Arts in Baku, where he graduated in 2010. In 2013, he decided to continue refining his studies and chose to move to Italy. After various artistic experiences in Bari and Naples, he aimed for Milan, where he enrolled at the Brera Academy of Fine Arts and obtained a Master’s Degree in Painting in 2017.

Ambivalence, 2021

Ambivalence 2021

100x100cm olio su tela

Dual spirit 2021

80x160cm olio su tela

Secrecy Drink 2021

35x45cm olio su tela

Previous exhibitions

Elay Li.
La critica GART.

Elay Li
Francesca Carbone

Elay paints people absorbed in performing common actions, such as having a drink in this case, in an almost a-temporal condition that gives them a certain sacredness; they seem to define themselves as contemporary symbologies.

all artists

Elay Li does not paint in terms of transparencies and shades, but controls the exact density of color and intensity of brushstroke. 

He represents fragments of experience torn out from context. Too many details of specific circumstances or situations are never given, so his works preserve the profound power to influence the imagination of the viewer. 

Elay’s painting is fulfilled by painting the canvas with a single color, it may be blue, magenta, yellow, orange or gray, which is delicately combed to achieve a visual resonance on the surface. Light highlights the textures and thicknesses of matter, creating volumetric perceptions that configure characters, sometimes objects or animals. 

He reworks the theories that gave birth to monochrome drafting last century, looks at Malevich, Rothko, then Klein, Castellani, and finds an evolution: “the huge void” has finally been filled. The figurative soul finds space in the monochrome.

Francesca Carbone

Would you buy any artist work?

Write to us for more information.

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
int(1774)

All works

sunset 2020

110x160cm olio su tela
Ambivalence, 2021

Ambivalence 2021

100x100cm olio su tela

Dual spirit 2021

80x160cm olio su tela

Voyage in time 2020

90x90cm olio su tela

Secrecy Drink 2021

35x45cm olio su tela

Subscribe to our
mailing list

You will receive updates on our artists, exhibitions, events, and more.

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.