In celebration of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China, exhibition "Implements of Ingenuity - An Exhibition of Modern Chinese Ceramic Art" is displayed at the Capital Museum from June 8, 2019 to August 8, 2019 in Beijing.

Here is the review and the introduction:

Location: Room M, ground floor, Capital Museum

Exhibition Area: 600 m2

Exhibit Number: 114 pieces/sets

Time: Saturday, June 8, 2019 - August 8, 2019

Foreword

Only when a person settles down can he bear the heart of benevolence.

–The Book of Changes: Appended Explanations

Once a band of wandering hunter-gatherers, human beings eventually settled down on a piece of land to start an agricultural life.

Living off the land, people planted various crops, raised livestock of all sorts, and fabricated necessary implements and tools to help in their daily living.

From nomad to settler, from pottery to porcelain, time witnessed the development of man as they progressed from barbarism to civilization.

Ceramic art, from its early beginnings to its current form, has always pursued the path of exploration and innovation.

People have always believed that craft is the basis of ceramics, art the soul, technique the means, and beauty the essence.

Returning to nature, life and simplicity are the artistic origins of ceramics and also the core of human nature in art.

Unit 1 Interest and Charm (36 pieces in total)

Interest and charm have always occupied an important position in the development and transformation of ceramic art. Ceramics were originally meant to be practical objects. On that basis, artists from ancient times to the present-day have been pursuing beauty with a focus on its interest and charm. With the blending together of the fresh breath of life and a spiritual ink style, the vivid landscape and idyll coexist with the tranquil aesthetic artistic conception. Whether it is the chilly plum or soaring bamboo, the magnificent pine or upright cypress, the luxuriant flowering crabapple with a singing warbler perched atop, or peach blossoms outside the bamboo groves on a moonlit night by the spring river, they all embody the poetic and picturesque pursuit of a better life.

Unit 2 Naturalness (25 pieces in total)

Zen thought and the philosophical concept of naturalness, simplicity and tranquility in ancient China, when reflected in ceramic creations, are the ultimate pursuit of purity, elegance, tranquility and harmony. When the inner expression of simplicity, abstraction and concepts are transformed into free and easy artistic creation, ceramics’ vitality and connotation   come into being. “From a wine pot amidst the flowers, I drink alone without partners.” Isn’t it the identity of object and self as well as the creation of utmost harmony that compels poets to pursue the drinking of wine?

Unit 3 Lifelikeness (29 pieces in total)

The artistic concept as traditional ceramic art develops into modern ceramic sculpture is becoming increasingly individualized and diversified. Art derives from life. In artwork creation, the life experience, artistic perception and aesthetic taste of the creator decides its line are natural and smooth or winding and simple, its colors are bright and unrestrained or graceful and restrained, or the form is focused on the aesthetic atmosphere or the recording of facts. “It begins with the similarity in form and ends with the similarity in spirit”, and “Physical form gives birth to spirit”. This is the artistic appeal generated by lifelike ceramic sculpture.

Unit 4 Change

Modern ceramic art, featuring the liberation of personality, the inheritance of tradition and the mixture of multiple elements, emphasizes and reproduces the traditional style of ceramic culture while enriching it with innovative ideas. Against the historic backdrop of conflict, collision and integration, modern ceramic art is increasingly inspiring people to think and discover, giving life unlimited enthusiasm and motivation.

Epilogue

Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, dramatic changes have taken place in China's ceramic industry. The ceramic industry has gradually moved from a complete manual mode of production to industrialization. The kilns and crafts with traditional features have been restored and carried forward. In addition, as modern ceramic design continues to develop, a number of ceramic artists have appeared. After the 1990s, modern ceramic art, as a new art form, gradually became popular in China, further enriching and developing China’s ceramic culture.

This exhibition displays the works of more than 100 ceramic art masters in China. Once they choose their career, they dedicate their whole life to the mastery of their craft. Over the years, they have worked conscientiously and diligently, honing their craft in silence, combining various techniques, bringing traditional techniques into full play. They repeatedly firing the clays, actively exploring new ways, and pursuing the spiritual realm of perfection and beauty.

There is never an end to improving and perfecting an art form. Let’s pay honor to the creators and to the new era!

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