Li Hongwei Solo Exhibition at the University of Kentucky
Artwork by Alfred University alumnus Li Hongwei '07 (MFA, ceramic art) will be presented in a solo exhibition entitled "Brilliant Illusions: Crafted Forms by Li Hongwei" from January 18 through June 4, 2022, at the University of Kentucky Art Museum.
Artwork by Alfred University alumnus Li Hongwei '07 (MFA, ceramic art) will be presented in a solo exhibition entitled "Brilliant Illusions: Crafted Forms by Li Hongwei" from January 18 through June 4, 2022, at the University of Kentucky Art Museum.
Li explores the “the interfacings between light and form, reflection and reality, tradition and transformation,” says guest curator Dr. Andrew Maske, associate professor of Asian art history at UK and a specialist in the history of ceramics. “He manipulates iconic ceramic modes from China’s ancient past to create sculpture that expresses the concept of balance, flow, and beauty.”
Stuart Horodner, director of the University of Kentucky Art Museum, states Li "is adept at combining qualities of formal rigor and playful experimentation, conditions that might seem irreconcilable; but in his singular vase forms and carefully calibrated arrangements of porcelain and stainless steel solids, there is a reverence for the past and a willingness to push order and balance to the brink. His work allows for intimate and active looking, as legacies of craft from Asia, Europe, and North America mingle in robust ways."
Born in Tangshan, China, in 1980, the artist now divides his time between Beijing and New York. Li holds a bachelor’s degree in sculpture from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing and a master’s in ceramic art from the New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. His work has been collected internationally by institutions that include the Art Institute of Chicago, the British Museum, Harvard Art Museums, the Israel Museum, and the National Art Museum of China.