In 2023 Lee Ufan Arlemyself House Guerlain join forces to create the Art and Environment Award, which will be awarded each year to a project that focuses on the rich and diverse relationship between artistic creation and the environment and which will gain international prominence. Arts and Environment Award is based on the complementary philosophies that characterize Li Wufang’s work and Guerlain’s commitment, offering a space for reflection focused on dialogue, creation and openness to the world. By awarding the winners with a residency and exhibition at Leigh Houphan Arles, the Art and Environment Award is committed to enhancing the artist’s work by increasing its visibility through the joint support of two fundamental realities. With the same sensibility to support and convey artistic skills, and the same commitment to art and the environment, Lee Houphan Arles and the House of Guerlain strive to encourage the creation of altruistic and responsible works of art that open up new dialogues with nature.
Li Wufang’s work aims to bring the three cultures together. The universal concept of meeting and dialogue is at the heart of the work of this multifaceted artist who is also a painter, sculptor, poet and philosopher. Born in the heart of the seventies, Li Wufang’s work soon questioned the repressive nature of contemporary art, largely self-centered and subservient to the artist’s ego. Taking a contrasting approach to leaving a mark or imposing one’s vision, and adhering to an aesthetic that does not take into account the environment, Li Wufan seeks to give new meaning to the outside world and place this concept at the center of his artistic research.
Always a patron of the art of its time, Guerlain has collaborated with many artists and experienced craftsmen from the beginning, constantly renewing its support for art and design. Since the founding of the House in 1828Artists, illustrators and decorators, as well as sculptors and photographers were able to take part in this great creative dialogue.