Darren Guo Li (b. 2002, Saskatoon, Canada) is a Chinese-Canadian artist and scientist. He obtained a Bachelor’s of Science from McGill University where he studied Quantitative Biology.

— Instagram —
— Linkedin —
darren1650@gmail.com

Statement

My research-based practice is rooted in interdisciplinary scientific and queer thought, combining learnings from my undergraduate studies with autotheoretical methods navigating my queerness as Chinese diaspora.

Queerness can be viewed both as an identity or state of being outside heteronormative bounds but also, argued by ethnic queer theorist José Esteban Muñoz, as an existence in the not-yet-here, as a stepping out from the past in an orientation toward a queer futurity of infinite potentialities (Muñoz, 2009). Queerness’s intersection with ethnic and minoritarian embodiements and lived experiences enables new agency in our potential to reconfigure self-hood beyond hegemonic ideologies and systems (Muñoz, 2009).

On the other hand, from an evolutionary and ecological perspective, the human has become a cybernetic ecosystem, where survival demands our biological systems to adapt with technological advancements and neoliberal societal, natural, and computational systems of power.

My practice aims to (de)construct, (re)configure, and (re)represent the ethnic queer body and its embodied identity as both a product of these systems of power and a site of resistance to them, and, ultimately as an active agent of change within the larger discourses of planetary computation, climate change, and techno-ecological futures.

My current focus is on the queer body and its ideological and representational entanglements with Chaos Theory and New Materialist theory. Chaos theory studies the beautiful, complex, and random patterns of unpredictable mathematical systems, like ecosystems, the human brain, or the stock market. New Materialism argues the relational, metaphysical co-becoming of entities, human and non-human, in interconnected chaotic systems. In my new painting direction, Fugitive matter, I hope to explore the queer body and its agency as a coupled chaotic system, one which exists fluidly and interconnectedly with others and within the chaotic systems it inhabits: social, natural, computational. Through mixed-media painting, I would like to depict the mysterious, complex, and chaotic fluidity of the body and its identity; the freedom which emerges out of ones rejection of rigid heternormative codes; the potentialities of compassion and hope that emerge from ones connections with others, both human and non-human; the empowerment of movement, dance, and gesture in transforming and reclaiming ones bodily agency and identity.

CV
Education
McGill University, Montreal, QC, Canada, 2020 - 2024
B.Sc. Quantitative Biology | Minor: Business Strategy
University College London, United Kingdom, Study Abroad 2023

Residencies
GlogauAIR, Berlin, Germany — January - March 2025
Openbach, Paris, France — November - December 2024

Public Exhibitions
2025 Open Studios — GlogauAIR, Berlin, Germany, [group exhibition]
2025 Boy — The Ballery, Berlin, Germany, [group exhibition]
2024 Openbach Resident’s Exhibition — Openbach Gallery, Paris, France, [group exhibition]
2024 Liminal Spaces — McGill Fine Arts Commission, Montreal, Quebec, Canada , [group exhibition]
2024 The Healing Exhibit — McGill University Photography Students Society x McGill Arts Collective x McSway Poetry Collective, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, [group exhibition]
2022 McGill Arts Collective Annual Exhibition — McGill Arts Collective, Montreal, Quebec, Canada, [group exhibition]

Publications and Press
2025 MOTION. The Emerging Art-Scientist. volume 1 — creMAP, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
2025 GRAIN, volume 1, issue 3 — MAI/SON, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
2023 “McGill and AI: Student artists paint a picture of emerging landscapes”, The Tribune, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
2022 “McGill Arts Collective champions collaboration in the campus art scene”, The Tribune, Montreal, Quebec, Canada

Artist Organications
2022 McGill Arts Collective, Montreal, Quebec, Canada | Co-Founder
McGill University’s first multi-disciplinary arts organization with the purpose of fostering a community built on cross-medium dialogue, experimentation, and collaboration. Helping to bridge the gap between McGill’s burgeoning fine arts scene and the wider Montreal scene.