Liu Jianhua: In Terms of Porcelain

Chinese artist Liu Jianhua’s exhibition ‘Between’ at Pace Gallery in London expresses the abstract idea of the relationship between the works and the space, the viewers, and between two different cultures of tradition and modernity through a selection of porcelain installation and objects.

In his work, the Shanghai-based artist places strong emphasis on form and material to the point of standing away from prevailing tendencies in contemporary art, such as social commentary and narrative approaches. With a “no meaning, no content” approach to art, Liu focuses on form and methods of industrial production in making artwork, in which he transforms paper, leaves, bones and ink drops into fragile and at times surreal porcelain sculptures.

The artist’s ‘Blank Paper’ series, included in the exhibition, consists of white porcelain rectangles, which at first glance appear to be blank sheets of paper. Upon closer inspection, the viewer becomes attuned to a surreal atmosphere that vibrates from the coiled corners of the fragile ceramic sheets. In ‘Trace,’ Liu appropriates a Chinese calligraphic stroke and reproduces it repeatedly in black trails of porcelain. The work treats the white walls like a blank canvas, which stand to support his porcelain brush strokes.

Liu Jianhua’s practice is rooted in industrial methods of ceramic production, through which he became accustomed to working in the medium of porcelain. Born in 1962, Liu was trained by his uncle since the age 14 in the imperial kilns of the Jingdezhen province in China. He studied sculpture in the Jingdezhen Pottery and Porcelain College, and has been a professor in the sculpture department of the Fine Arts School of Shanghai University since 2004.

Liu Jianhua – ‘Between’ at Pace London, UK, on 5 November–23 December 2015.