Where Is the Cat

The cats in Benny’s works are free and cunning, carrying a certain distance.

They are unconstrained travellers, moving across varied settings. At times, they appear among the hill towns of Göreme in Turkey:

Or slip into Van Gogh’s painted bedroom, leaving behind a gentle, endearing presence:

Where inspiration leads, there are no boundaries. Moving through the world with a roaming ease, drifting as if above the clouds, yet leaving no trace behind. At times, one simply chooses to “mao (cat)” oneself away:

The artist constructs scenes in which the cat is absent, leaving a sense of suspension and inviting audiences to search for its trace. Here, the object becomes the cat. Neither entirely self nor entirely cat, it is no longer clear which is which.

The boundary between human and cat begins to loosen. It is within this ambiguity that Benny projects human experience, emotion, and the subtle textures of worldly life onto the figure of the cat. By allowing cats to speak for human affairs, a quiet smile emerges, and the world itself seems, momentarily, more intelligible.

Echoes of a Golden Era

The world of cats is intertwined with human stories. The exhibition’s second section, “Echoes of a Golden Era,” presents a selection of letters, gifted artworks, and archival images that Benny has preserved over many years. Together, they trace his friendships and exchanges with leading figures from the arts and cultural world, while also evoking the energy and vitality of Hong Kong’s cultural “Golden Age” of the 1980s and 1990s.

As a firsthand witness to this era, Benny draws on his keen observation and distinctive cultural position to capture fleeting moments, preserving them and allowing them to resonate in the present.

When a familiar melody begins to play, people often find themselves humming along without noticing. Popular culture works precisely in this way, as a kind of emotional adhesive.

From the postwar baby boom generation onward, Hong Kong’s popular culture took shape with economic growth. Nourished by encounters between Chinese and Western influences, and by local creativity, it gradually built a shared emotional memory across generations. Benny recalls a time when even “stars” were addressed with the warmth reserved for family members: “Fa Jai,” “Wai Jai,” “Gor Gor.” Popular culture was not confined to the screen. It was woven into everyday life itself. Through image after image, moments of longing, excitement, and youth have been preserved by the camera, becoming the most vivid footnotes to the “Golden Years.”

On this ever-shifting land of Hong Kong, figures of legend have never been in short supply. Beyond the stars who shone in popular culture, the city has also nurtured a generation of cultural figures marked by exceptional talent and presence. Benny was held in high regard by Jin Yong, who invited him, at a young age, to join the arts supplement of Ming Pao. From that moment, a bond formed that would last for many years.

This exhibition presents a selection of rare documents, including letters, manuscripts, and calligraphy sent by Jin Yong to Benny. Jin Yong’s final calligraphic work, a fourteen-character inscription, reads like a distillation of a lifetime devoted to the martial-arts imagination, its strength of character and breadth of spirit fully contained within.

For the learned literati, insight into life is found in every gesture, whether in movement or repose. This exhibition also presents works once collected by Jin Yong, including a remarkable Landscape After Old Masters by Pu Ru from the early 1930s. Through this work, audiences are offered a glimpse into the sources of creative inspiration that shaped Jin Yong’s practice.

“Long parted from famed mountains, I return to them in dreams. Whenever I think of old friends, I take up a book.” In 1992, Huang Yongyu inscribed this poem as a gift to Benny Li, carrying within it the quiet depth of a literati’s affection, expressed through art and remembrance. Popular culture rises and falls with the tide. What Benny has collected, written, and borne witness to is not merely the fleeting shimmer of the city, but an ongoing continuum of youth, friendship, and memory. Times change, and brilliance shifts, yet the world remains boundless. Benny Li’s story continues to be written.

Where Is the Cat? The Art and Life of Benny SY Li

Exhibition
26 February - 13 March
Monday to Friday 10am - 6pm
Saturday 12noon - 6pm
Closed on Sunday

Bonhams Hong Kong
10/F Six Pacific Place
50 Queen's Road East

Contact us
+852 2918 4321
Cp.hk@bonhams.com