LI LIHONG

Born in 1974 in Jingdezhen, a city that has been considered for centuries as the world capital of porcelain, LI LIHONG started his training of the arts of ceramics at a very young age under the supervision of the great master Qin Xiling. Even if his work finds inspiration in the traditional royal porcelains, that have made the reputation of his village, Li Lihong conceives his works with a completely contemporary approach. He reinvents Chinese porcelain in a radical manner; after having taken in all the different international influences that the Chinese assimilated after the implantation on their territory of worldwide firms such as Coca-Cola or Mac Donald’s in the 1980’s.

Biography

Born in 1974 in Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province, China, Li Lihong graduated in 1996 from the Academy of Arts and Design, Tsinghua University of Beijing, and then in 2005 earned a MFA in the Jingdezhen Ceramics Institute. He is now himself professor of Chinese porcelain work at Fudan University in Shanghai, living and creating in this city.

A skillful Chinese ceramic artist, he comes indeed from a village well-known for the production of the Royal china porcelain for hundreds of years, where he learned the art of ceramics alongside the Grand Master Qin Xiling. Li Lihong gives a contemporary touch to traditionally painted china, mimicking the shapes of recognizable brands’ logos. His statement is univocal and strong : Western consumerism, in a globalised form, has become integrated into Chinese culture which is in struggle to preserve its integrity and savoir-faire.

However, the tedious and difficult process of production and the fine detailing on the painted glazes counter this blatancy. Li Lihong explores this contrast, a very contemporary Chinese attitude toward the traditional arts. Moreover, the frailty of his artworks and the preciousness of their material add another contrast to the cheapness and ephemerality of mass production and consumption.

Li Lihong has been showing his work regularly in China and other Asian countries for many years, in ceramics exhibitions and at biennials, as well as in many personal or collective exhibitions around the world.

Career

EXHIBITIONS (SELECTION)

2020
Li Lihong Solo Show, Galerie LOFT, Paris, France

2019
Marc Leuthold & Li Lihong: Hand & Machine, Art Labor Gallery, Shanghai, China
Art & Peace – The Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Works of Art, Museum Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa
Contemporary Ceramics Biennale, Zhuzhong Museum, Beijing, China
Linxiang International Wood Firing Ceramic Camp, Lincang, China
Young Art Fair, Shanghai Exhibition Centre, Shanghai, China

2018
Five at Nine, Hollis Taggart Contemporary, New York, USA
Consumption Era - Solo Exhibition, 3D Printing Center, Jingdezhen, China
Art & Peace – The Exhibition of Contemporary Chinese Works of Art, Mall Gallery, London, UK

2017
Exposition d'ouverture du Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts Art Museum, Shanghai, China
10 Years of Love, Art Labor Gallery, Shanghai, China
Gold, Opera Gallery, Dubai, United Arab Emirates

2016
Earth, Fire and Life: Six Thousand Years of Chinese Ceramics, Maxwell Museum of Anthropology, Maxwell, USA

2015
Vigor - China, Art Labor Gallery, Shanghai, China
Selection from our Contemporary Collection, Hollis Taggart Contemporary, New York, USA
Art Wynwood, Miami, USA

2014
When Disney meets Contemporary Art, HOW Museum, Wenzhou & Guangzhou Baiyun International Convention Center, Canton, China
Summer Contemporary, Hollis Taggart Contemporary, New York, USA
Art Wynwood, Miami, USA
Art Southampton, New York, USA

2013
I Love Shanghai, Art Labor Gallery, Shanghai, China
Expressions of my City, Lane Crawford, Shanghai, China
Contemporary Ceramics Exhibition, 1895 Art and Creative Park, Nantong, China
Nirvana, Shangdong Contemporary Art Center, Nanjing, China
3 Artists Porcelain Exhibition, Jingdezhen, China
The New Blue and White, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston, USA

2011
The Armory Show, New York, USA
SOFA New York, New York, USA
High 5 - Five Years of Art Labor, Art Labor Gallery, Shanghai, China

2009
Breaking the Mold, Dennos Museum, Traverse City, USA
Art Paris, Paris, France

2008
367 Art Group: Performance Art, Zendai Museum of Modern Art, Shanghai, China
Li Lihong Solo Show, Galerie LOFT, Paris, France
SOFA Chicago, Chicago, USA
Asian Contemporary Art Fair, New York, USA
Art Rotterdam 2008, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

2007
Merry Christmas - China. Solo Show, Art Labor Gallery, Shanghai, China
China Now, Canvas International Art, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

2006
Shanghai Biennale: Hyper Design, Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Shanghai Art Fair, Shanghai, China

2005
Beijing International Art Biennale, Beijing, China
The New Ceramic Speech, Guandgong Museum of Art, Guangdong, China
Annual International Biennial World Ceramics, Icheon, South Korea

2004
Ceramics Exhibition, Fuping City, China
The Contemporary Ceramic Art Work Exhibition, Jingdezhen, China

PUBLIC COLLECTIONS

Guangdong Museum of Art, Guangzhou, China
Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai, China
Bank of Singapore, Singapore
Victoria & Albert Museum, London, UK
Durham University Museums, Durham, UK
Fidelity Corporate Art Collection, USA
Brigham Young University Museum of Art, USA