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.

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darren1650@gmail.com

Statement

My research-based practice centers around interdisciplinary scientific and queer thought, rooted in learnings from my undergraduate studies, autotheoretical methods, and computation as experimental apparatus.

From an evolutionary and ecological perspective, the human body has become a cybernetic ecosystem, where survival demands our biological systems to adapt to / embed / utilize technological advancements and neoliberal, capitalist, and governmental power structures. Combining computational methods and intuitive creative expression to visually (de)construct and distort the human form is an attempt to represent the dissolved body as both a product of these power structures and a site of resistance to them.

My current focus is on the representational entanglement of organic, technological, and digital. Planetary-scale computation (for example, social media, AI) and its cybernetic feedback systems do not only reflect reality, they actively construct it. Has our digital embodiement become an essential component of our physical, biological, physiological, psychological agency and autonomy? I hope to capture a fleeting formfulness that mirrors the relational interweaving of our bodily perceptions—after all, the dissolved body is an armour, (de)constructed and constantly modified to maintain personal agency over external forces.

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 (upcoming) 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.