Li Lei was born in October, 1965 in Shanghai, China. Currently he is the Deputy Director of China Art Museum, Shanghai and a Professor at Tongji University, previously also Li Lei was the Executive Director of Shanghai Art Museum and Executive President of Shanghai Oil Painting & Sculpture Institute.
Li Lei embarked on the practice and research of Chinese Abstract Art from 1996, striving to combine the essence of Chinese culture with an international abstract visual art language, and develop a new proposal for Chinese abstract art. His main works include the series Dhyana Flower, Jiang Nan (Memories of South), Drunken Lake, Shanghai Flower, and Flame of Pompeii. He has held solo exhibitions in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong, China, and has also exhibited widely in America, Germany, Holland, and Belgium.
Li Lei has also been the founder, and organizer of several major art projects, including the Shanghai Youth Biennale, the annual fair ART Shanghai, the biennial Shanghai Abstract Art Show, and also presided over the organization of Shanghai Biennale.