Feng Li | Pig

FENG LI
Pig

2017 – 2025

Born in the Year of the Pig, Feng Li explores the arbitrary line between “livestock” and companionship through a deeply personal lens. His work stems from a 2017 incident where his wife rescued a pig abandoned at an airport security checkpoint. While the public saw an “adorable” novelty, Li understood the reality that no pig remains small forever. Having watched his grandfather work at a meat processing facility, the artist once viewed pigs solely as a resource within the human food chain. However, daily cohabitation revealed a being that is highly intelligent, socially responsive, and remarkably fastidious. Despite the logistical challenge of the pig reaching 100 kilograms, his family chose to integrate the animal into their home permanently.

This household also includes five cats and a rescued parrot that appeared by what Li calls “quiet synchronicity”. Li believes these animals engage with humans intentionally, offering a bond rooted in mutual regard. He recounts how his parrot spontaneously began calling him “Dad,” highlighting a profound and reciprocal dependence. 

Ultimately, this exhibition serves as a testament to the moral significance of the creatures we share the earth with. By documenting his life with these “others,” Li invites viewers to reconsider their own ethical responsibilities toward nonhuman life.

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» GET TO KNOW THE ARTIST «

Born in 1971 in Chengdu, Sichuan Province of China, Feng Li is a self-taught artist.

Feng’s photos are all fortuitous encounters with the unlikely cast of reality that’s taken center stage in his native city of Chengdu.  He has an eye beyond the norm and a vision that detects the very spectacle of the mundane everyday.  To Feng Li, girls in mini skirts, old ladies in fake fur, misbehaving kids, wandering homeless and all these characters on the street are in their own way playing different roles in this great fiction of ordinary life.  May he be photographing a sedative congress or moving freely through the weekend crowd, Feng Li has constantly nourished his single, unique and plethoric series ‘White Night’ since 2005.

Feng Li has been internationally recognized including receiving the Jimei x Arles Discovery Award at Jimei x Arles International Photo Festival in 2017, Best Photographer Prize at Jinan International Photo Biennale in 2012 and Grand Jury Prize at the 8th Lianzhou Lianzhou Photo Festival in 2012.  He’s also participated in numerous group and solo exhibitions  around the world since 2007 including those at Galerie f16 (Paris), at Buchkunst (Berlin), at BredaPhoto Festival (Breda), at A4 Museum (Chengdu), at Festival Les Rencontres de la Photographie (Arles), and at China Anren Biennale (Chengdu).