Liu Jianhua 刘建华
From ArtSpeak China (ASC) Wiki
Liu Jianhua is a sculptor and installation artist. The porcelain-trained artist began working in the porcelain factories of his native Jiangxi province before leaving to study sculpture in Jingdezhen. Liu's oeuvre ranges from small, porcelain figures of scantily clad, headless women to a model of the Shanghai skyline built out of poker chips and dice. Recently, Liu's work has turned to contemporary issues of urbanization and rapid development in China's cities.
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[edit] Date & Place of Birth
Liu Jianhua was born in 1962 in Ji’an, Jiangxi Province, China.
[edit] 
Liu Jianhua, "Dream", 2006Childhood & Family
At the age of 12, Liu was sent to work with his uncle, a Chinese arts and crafts master, in the city of Jingdezhen, China's capital of ceramic production since the Song Dynasty.[1] By the age of 15, Liu was working within the porcelain factories in Jingdezhen.
[edit] Education & Development
From 1977 – 1985, Liu was employed by Jingdezhen Pottery and Porcelain Sculpturing Factory, Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province, China, moving on to study in the Fine Arts Department of Jingdezhen Pottery College until 1989. There, he majored in sculpture.
[edit] Art
Liu’s work reflects his unique and highly specified training as a porcelain-artist and sculptor. His works often deal with his own interpretations of China’s emergence as the “factory floor” of the world.[2] Through installations and sculptures that include assembly lines, mountains of electronic waste and broken porcelain fragments, Liu incorporates the excess garbage from China’s factories into many of his works.
Liu’s move to Shanghai also had an important influence on his artistic focus, prompting his creation of works that raised questions about the consequences of development, modernization and urban construction. The ever-changing skyline of Shanghai has also served to influence and inspire Liu’s recent work.[3]
[edit] Emergence & Reception
In the early 1990s, Liu first became known for his brightly colored, headless and armless porcelain female torsos, posed in sexually charged postures on large traditionally patterned plates. Dressed in tight-fitting Qipao dresses, the women serve as a comment on the anonymous and exploitable exoticism once associated with China in the West.
As his career progressed, Liu turned more toward large-scale installations that focus more on the conceptual dimensions of the work rather than their material constructions.
[edit] Secondary Activities
Liu serves as an associate professor in the Sculpture Department of the Fine Arts School of Shanghai University. He lives and works in Shanghai.
[edit] Awards & Honors
2nd Prize, Exhibition of Yunnan Arts, Yunnan, China (two times)
Creative Prize of the Yunnan Literal Arts, Yunnan, China
Imiaapion Award, Chinese Modern Arts CCAA[4]
[edit] Exhibitions
Liu's sculptures and installations have been exhibited on a global-scale, in solo, group, and biennial exhibitions. For Liu's CV, Click Here.
[edit] Gallery Affiliations
Hanart T Z Gallery. Hong Kong, China
Shanghai Gallery of Art, Shanghai, China
Beijing Commune, Beijing, China
[edit] Acquisitions & Auctions
Liu’s marketable works, including porcelain and sculptures, have been sold for impressive sums at auction houses around the world. For Lin’s Resale Record, Click Here
[edit] References
China Art Book. Eds. Uta Grosenick and Caspar H. Schübbe. Cologne, Germany: DuMont Publishers, 2007.
- ↑ http://www.china.org.cn/culture/2008-11/10/content_16740546.htm
- ↑ http://www.artzinechina.com/display_vol_aid517_en.html
- ↑ China Art Book. Eds. Uta Grosenick and Caspar H. Schübbe. Cologne, Germany: DuMont Publishers, 2007.
- ↑ http://www.culturebase.net/artist.php?1487
[edit] Links
http://www.artzinechina.com/display_vol_aid517_en.html
http://www.culturebase.net/artist.php?1487
http://www.china.org.cn/culture/2008-11/10/content_16740546.htm
88MoCCA - The museum of Chinese contemporary artrt on the web: Liu Jianhua
