The End of 2012, Ed. 2/3

Artist: Liu Jianhua

Year: 2016
Material/Technique: Porcelain
Dimensions:  252 x 522 x 3 cm

Traditional “ice-crack” pattern window panes often found in Chinese gardens are the inspiration for Liu Jianhua’s The End of 2012. In the garden this crosshatch lattice divides the outside from the inside, garden from urban setting, and reality from the imaginary. In shattering this lattice the artist breaks down established boundaries, encouraging viewers to disengage themselves from the conundrum of daily life and conventional ways of thinking. Positioned at the Novartis’ campus entrance, the work introduces the company’s guiding attributes of experimentation, openness, and inclusivity to its visitors.

Artist

Liu Jianhua (Ji’an 1962-) has been working in dialogue with the tradition of porcelain since graduating from the Jingdezhen Pottery & Porcelain College in 1989. He is currently a professor in the Sculpture Department of the Fine Arts School of Shanghai University. 

He is one of China’s best-known contemporary artists who experiments with comprehensive materials and mixed media. His porcelain and mixed media works reflect the economic and social changes in China. 

Liu’s work has been exhibited and collected widely including The Victoria and Albert Museum, London; Art Gallery of New South Wales, Sydney; Asian Art Museum, San Francisco; Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York; the Yuz Museum, Shanghai, Tate Modern, London, Center Pompidou, Paris; Museum Moderner Kunst Stiftung Ludwig, Vienna; Irish Museum of Modern Art, Dublin,  and the Marseilles Museum of Contemporary Art, among others.