[Photo/China Daily]

In 2010 and 2011, his works managed to rake in millions at auctions in Beijing. Among his fans are former International Olympic Committee chairman Antonio Samaranch and American businessman George Soros.

His artistic creations cover a myriad of themes, including rural women, soldiers, literary giants and central government leaders.

"Li is a unique case in the contemporary art scene. His art successfully crosses the traditional and the vanguard. It easily takes viewers on an inner journey back in history," said the exhibition's curator, Zhu Qingsheng, an art professor with Peking University.

One of Li's most controversial works is Heaping Clouds and Snow, which he created in 2006. It is a portrayal of a half-naked Dowager Empress Cixi, one of the most powerful and controversial female figures in Chinese history.

Li says he is happy that no one questions his current work.

"The public is becoming more open-minded and tolerant of fine art experiments," Li says. "On the surface, my works are about history and politics, but they are actually all about human nature and love."

Li has prepared a series of Mao Zedong's portraits as the centerpieces. He said that to understand Chinese history and China today, "one has to understand Mao and his impact on people and society".

Li says that he decided to explore the subject of Mao Zedong after he read Edgar Snow's book Red Star over China in the 1980s. He was deeply moved by Mao's story and decided to tackle the subject as a long-term mission.

Another eye-catching showpiece is Grand Forbidden City, which took Li six years to conceive and materialize.

Instead of a conventional, colored-copper miniature of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing dynasties' royal compound, Li has divided the palace grounds into several parts and displayed them on iron tables, complete with random visitors and scaffoldings to give a sense of reality.

If you go:

10am-5pm, until Dec 30.

Zero Art Center, Zhongyi Street, 798 Art Zone, 4 Jiuxianqiao Lu, Chaoyang district, Beijing.

010-8456-5808