A new documentary film, 'All and Nothing,' profiles the life and legacy of Chinese artist Li Yuan-chia, who founded the influential LYC Museum and Art Gallery in rural Cumbria, England, in 1972. The film, directed by Liao I-ling and Chu Po-ying, uses his abstract art and archival materials to trace his journey from China and Taiwan to Italy and London, before he settled in Brampton.
The film highlights Li's profound, community-focused impact, as he largely set aside his own practice to run the LYC, staging numerous exhibitions monthly that prioritized local and grassroots artists over the metropolitan art market. His gallery became a transformative hub for participatory and emancipatory creativity in a remote English region, cementing his legacy as a cultivator of an alternative art scene far from commercial centers.