t her latest exhibition in Auckland, Li-Ming Hu welcomes visitors into a theatrical set modelled after her home studio in New York City, filled with real debris and fake objects remade in gaudy pink and purple faux fur. For the opening performance, Li-Ming impersonated the exhibition’s curator, reenacted a dodgy online masterclass for artists called “Three Steps to Getting More Shows”, and performed the show tune . Such absurdity is Li-Ming’s home turf. In the past, she’s danced around in baggy underpants wearing a Judith Collins face mask, created sniffable art for dogs, and staged a 24-hour telethon. Beneath the humour is her serious awareness of what it means to produce culture. Following her success as and , Li-Ming focused on her art practice, using her familiarity with the entertainment industry to deconstruct pop-culture conventions. In 2017, she moved to the US, where she completed an MFA at the Art Institute of Chicago and was selected as a Breakout Artist by the Chicago arts magazine . She now lives in New York City, but is visiting home for the Te Tuhi exhibition (with Kah Bee Chow and Yuk King Tan).
