“Made in Prison” is part of Boers - Li Gallery’s research project into the roots of contemporary art in China, initiated with “Out of the Box” (2011) showing historical video works of the first generation video artists in China, followed by “Breaking Away” (2011) and “Zhang Wei, The Abstract Paintings 1979–2012” (2012), two exhibitions dedicated to the rise of abstract art in China. “Made in Prison” and next year’s first exhibition ”Art before 1985” both focus on the roots of Chinese contemporary art before the so-called “New Wave”. The tiny “oil pastel” works of Kang Wanhua (Beijing 1944)--most of them smaller than a playing card--take a unique position in the art of the seventies: They were made during his imprisonment in the midst of Cultural Revolution, when there was strict control over all productions of art. That these works were made in prison and, even more exceptional, that they found their way out, make these works of extraordinary interest to Chinese art history. These survived paintings, which documented the artists’ imagination under restricted living conditions, are rare documents of Chinese cultural heritage.