Chinese contemporary artist Bai Ming wants to address ‘a common misconception of Chinese art’ in his new exhibition
- A major retrospective of Bai Ming’s 30-year career that features mostly ceramics is being held at the National Museum of Modern Art in Rome until June 30
- Bai says he wants to show that innovation and individuality are part of Chinese culture, and that traditional art is still relevant to today’s world
One recent evening in Rome, around 200 VIPs crowded into a section of the National Gallery of Modern and Contemporary Art for the opening of Bai Ming’s solo exhibition.
The professor of ceramic design at Tsinghua University’s art school has long maintained an active studio practice alongside his teaching role at one of China’s top tertiary institutes.
This retrospective of his 30-year career in the Italian capital, titled “At the Crossroads of Worlds”, promises to reveal the “enduring beauty and relevance of Chinese cultural traditions”, according to the gallery’s new director, Renata Cristina Mazzantini.
Meanwhile, a video introduced Bai as someone embodying the essence of Zen, Taoism and Confucianism – a perfect package of Eastern mysticism.
There is indeed a strong sense of cultural lineage and historical references among the 80 pieces on show – mostly ceramics but with paintings, too.
For example, The Wall of Scrolls (2022) is made up of around 200 ceramic cylinders of the same dimension stacked together to form a low wall of varying heights.
