Many artistic phenomena were often unnoticed when they occurred, but through the passage of time, new perspectives on past artistic phenomena can be gained and more in-depth interpretations can be made especially in new cultural and academic contexts. Such perspectives and interpretations are useful for us to view the value of artistic creation from a macro perspective and are helpful in promoting thinking about the development of art today.

Mr. Liu Shiming is a sculptor trained in the art education of New China. Led by the new Chinese art with new cultural ideals and artistic concepts that present the new appearance of the times, he casts many sculptures expressing the realities of life and production, especially those of the ordinary workers, which reflects the tradition of the sculpture education at CAFA in rigorous modeling and pursuit of inner quality, and reveals that he, as a person from the working people, praises and eulogizes labor in his art. Liu’s indifference to fame and perseverance in in-depth exploration leads him to his inner world. He returns to the soil of native culture, where he absorbs the strengths of folk sculpture, and observes and feels the unadorned life and customs of the countryside, thus showcasing new variations and individuality in artistic themes and sculptural language. In a large number of his clay sculptures, the joy of life, the sensuality in kneading, and the warmth of clay are interwoven into a unique sculptural gesture, which is peculiar to him.

In the study of Liu’s sculptural life, we see the important value of his exploration and creation in the “Chinese methods”, which focuses on the folk sculptural traditions and on the return and refinement of the aesthetics of folk sculpture, where the unique artistic methods of traditional Chinese sculpture can be observed. With the establishment of Liu Shiming Sculpture Museum, his exhibition is of great academic significance for the presentation and study of Liu’s sculpture. The curator, Mr. Cao Qinghui, places Liu’s sculptures at the starting point of the generation of Liu’s sculptural language by restoring the cultural contexts, which allows us to see the evolution of Liu’s “methods”, to appreciate the meaning of his sculptures, and to ponder over the modernization of traditional sculptures.

Fan Di’an
President of the Central Academy of Fine Arts
Chairman of China Artists Association
December, 2019.