PASSAGES: Sculpture by Liu Shiming celebrates the art of noted sculptor Liu Shiming (1926-2010), in a retrospective of works spanning six decades of artistic inquiry. From 1950 – 2008, PASSAGES brings to light one of China’s first generation of truly modern sculptors, schooled in both ancient and traditional Chinese art and restoration techniques, and at the same time, influenced by Western artists such as Auguste Rodin and Henri Matisse. Liu’s work successfully married these two disparate worlds. Liu Shiming was one of the first 20th century Chinese sculptors to emerge from the generation trained in traditional and folk techniques after the founding of the People’s Republic, particularly Han dynasty folk clay sculpture traditions. Early in his career, Liu left Beijing to study the lives of working people in the provinces, hence the preponderance of representations of the quotidian – fishing, bicycling, shopping, and parenting.
PASSAGES is divided into five themes that preoccupied him during his lifetime: Origins, Portraiture, Laboring, Children and Families, and Nature. A primal love of clay and its plastic qualities forms the basis for these work that have been cast in bronze. Two ceramic works in their original form have been included in the exhibition. Direct observation from life informs his fluid drawings, created spontaneously on scraps of paper, backs of envelopes, calendar pages, and almost anything at hand. Liu’s oeuvre is distinctly humanistic in familiar portraits of families, along with others relaxing, drinking, conversing, and reading. Modest, yet masterful, Liu’s works are both unsentimental and universal. By merging folk techniques with modernist ideas about the human form, he created a completely new genre. This unique perspective brings a freshness and a lively dialogue to what sculpture can ultimately be.
This exhibition would not have been possible without the generous financial support of Mr. Liu Wei and the Liu Shiming Art Foundation. The museum also acknowledges the generosity and support of Queens College President Frank H. Wu, Macaulay Honors College (CUNY) Interim Dean Dr. Vanessa K. Valdés, theBLANC Art Space, Liu Shiming Sculpture Museum at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, The Friends of the Godwin-Ternbach Museum, and Kupferberg Center for the Arts.