Li Di graduated from the Oil Painting Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1986 and obtained a Master's degree from the Hochschule für Bildende Künste Braunschweig in 1996. He currently serves as a mentor for the Performance and Abstract Art Research Program at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, a mentor for graduate students at the School of Experimental Art of Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts, and a distinguished professor at the School of Design and Art at College of Science & Technology Ningbo University.
Li Di developed a neo-expressionist style in his early years, and later inspired by the serendipity of Chinese Zen painting, transitioning to his current pure painting that seeks single elements. Li Di's creation pursues inner sensation and intuition, focusing on the most genuine thing of painting, so that he obtains a kind of transcendental liberation from the process of painting. Li Di's painting language is of openness, and his works unite the momentary experience of individuality and the flow of true feelings. His works, which are not restrained by concepts, make the audience re-think the origin and essence of art.
Li Di has recently held solo exhibitions at the Nuremberg Drawing Biennale (Nuremberg, Germany), Tokyo Gallery + BTAP (Beijing), Whitebox Art Center (Beijing), Yuan Art Museum (Beijing), Today Art Museum (Beijing), etc. His works are collected by private collections and important institutions both domestically and internationally, including the National Art Museum of China, Central Academy of Fine Arts, Long Museum, Art Museum of Ningbo, and Yuan Art Museum.