The Statues of Contemporary Chinese Ceramics Strictly speaking, the contemporary ceramic art did not come into being in China until early 1980s and such institutions and ceramic regions as the former Central Academy of Art and Crafts, Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute and the ceramic production region of Guangdong province are the earliest practitioners and driving force of it, followed by Hubei Institute of Fine Arts, Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, the ceramic production region of Jingdezhen and Yixing, etc. In the course of twenty years, the first ten years saw a slow and difficult development as occasional events and exhibitions were held to draw some attention from the public. It is the second ten years, especially the last seven or eight years, that have seen some real progress for contemporary Chinese ceramics as it exerted great influence and was stimulated by a more open and tolerant environment. Various group and solo exhibitions were held in galleries one after another, widely reported by the press; Books and collections of works related to the ceramic art have found favors in the eyes of publishing houses; many of China’s most accomplished ceramists have received more attention abroad as there have been more and more international exhibitions and exchanges between Chinese artists and their foreign counterparts. At home, more and more people have devoted themselves to the ceramic art and more ceramics studios and potters workshops has been set up nationwide outside the traditional ceramic production regions; many non-art colleges have set up ceramic classes; local ceramic art organizations have not only been established, but also achieved initial success in their promotions; ceramics were included in the quinquennial National Fine Arts Exhibition; in 2004 China Ceramic Artist got off the ground. All of this shows that the Chinese ceramics has entered into a phase of rapid development. In its initial stage, the development of contemporary ceramics in China had less direct cause-and-effect relationship with the development of modern ceramics in the west, but more closely related to contemporary and modern art in China. However later on, many concepts come from or are directly quoted from “nominal definitions” of the modern and contemporary western ceramics, which have helped ceramic art establish status and win recognition in contemporary art world of China. Faced with the traditional ceramics characterized by superb skills and exquisite craftsmanship, the innovators with various ideas on the modern and contemporary ceramic art have found encouragement and spiritual consolation in some of the Western ceramic art theory and forms of art works as they continue their creative activities when they incur censure from the outside. In view of this, it was until the stage that the influences coming from the Western ceramic art began to take shape around the mid-1980s during which the ceramic art world was characterized by the style of abstract expressionism. At that time, people acquired more information from ceramic art books published in Japan than in the West as it was no easy to find new American and European originals of ceramic art books at home. Meanwhile, another group of artists began to realize the importance of their “works of originality” and new oriental style. As a matter of fact, it was a new trend of thoughts in art against the above-mentioned ceramic that had drawn on the creative experiences from the contemporary Western ceramic art and was totally different from the awakening of the idea of “oriental way” in modern Chinese art in the 1990s. At that time, most of their creations in the “oriental” styles in the ceramic art circle were represented both in their assimilations from the traditional forms and decorations of ceramics and their new forms combining these elements. The diversification and contradiction of Chinese and Western esthetics resulted in many inexplicable questions which have filled the course of modern and contemporary ceramic art over 20 years in China. Even in its initial stage, there already appeared multiple ways in the development of contemporary ceramic art, which were quite different from other forms of arts of our time: first, ceramic artists working with universities and colleges. They were more like sculptors as they worked in the form of sculpture. That was no less than a “clever choice” for those years. They acquired more and better support from their surroundings due to variability in their status and forms of works. Mr. Zhou Guozhen and Yao Yongkang from Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute are representatives of such artists. Second, ceramic artists with personal language of decorations. They began their creations by applying their decorative languages to their works and incurred less censures form various quarters. Mr. Zhu Danian and Chen Ruoju working with the Central Academy of Arts and Design were among those artists Third, well-educated potters working in ceramic production regions or artists returning to the areas after graduation from higher educations. They took direct and full advantage of good conditions in the areas in the areas and cast about for what they were interested in from fashionable production regions. They produced a group of works in “new vernacular” and “new forms” by adopting the techniques and skills of cutting, jointing, deforming and decorating. Tan Chang and Mei Wending from Foshan of Guangdong Province are the practitioners. Fourth, designers-artists working with higher education institutions directly involved in the design and creation of functional non-productive vessels. Zheng Ke, Gao Zhuang, Zhang Shouzhi and Yang Yongshan are representatives of the fourth group. The artists and initiators in the above-mentioned sects have influences on each other in styles and academic attitudes. However, their initial contributions are solid and admirable. The established aesthetics in the traditional ceramic production regions and the official attitude towards the ceramic industry and the classifications from the governments have led to a result that ordinary people may have a comparatively tolerant towards the new ideas from some categories of “pure arts”. But the public do not quite understand the new ideas in the ceramics so that the contemporary ceramic art met with more difficulties and complications than other categories of art from the very first step of development. If we take an all-round view of the current development of the contemporary ceramic art in China in our discussion, it can be divided into two parts. The one is related to the current status of the ceramic art, including that of all potters. The ceramic works in the ceramic production regions have already determined the aesthetic requirements of the public and ceramic artists themselves. Against such a background, some of ceramic art exhibitions and academic activities have neither produced any great influences, nor drawn any favors from commercial institutions. The so-called “artistic products” have a broad market. Some of the well-educated artisans with high aspirations potters who received higher education but did not continue their creative practices, or “senior masters” having professional skills become the “backbones” or “spiritual spokesmen” representing this group of ceramic artists in China. Commercial success and achievements have already become their “ultimate aim”. In their courses of progress, their occasional attempts in non-commercial creations are already praiseworthy. However, on the other hand, it is such potters who have mastered and continued the magic skills and techniques of the traditional Chinese. Taking from another point of view, they have sustained the Chinese ceramic culture and continued to prove its historical origin and profundity with their originality in skills and techniques and aesthetics. In addition, most of the ceramic works made in 1980s came from the ceramic production regions wherever authors resided in China. In this respect, potters in the ceramic production regions made their unique contributions to the development of the contemporary ceramic art in China, which have more cultural values in such a rapid development of our society at the time. However, what we have given much attention to in this article is completely academic conception concerning the contemporary art (The handmade products of the ceramic production regions and designs of housewares are not inclusive), i.e. with ceramic materials as a media and ceramic art works as a part of the contemporary art. As a matter of fact, many of annual ceramic art exhibitions, biennials exhibitions, invitations exhibitions, academic exhibitions and solo exhibitions which have been held these years should be a part of the field. The great efforts and achievements that we have made for made for these years have already drawn much attention from inside and outside the ceramic art society. As above mentioned, no great achievements were gained in the early period though the contemporary art has a history of twenty years in China. There were no more than two styles: sculpture and folk art. As both of the styles were merged with the decorative language in the most fashionable manner, they were far from any styles or schools. After twenty years, if we have a general view of the process of contemporary ceramic art, we may now perceive certain characteristics of styles and schools in the Western and Chinese art circles in the contemporary ceramic art: a combination of the ceramic art with other schools such as surrealism, super-realism, figurative and abstract, expressive and representative, minimalism, pop art, installations, conceptual art and etc.. However, the art styles and schools defined by the above-mentioned names are unable to completely cover the colorful and various postures in the contemporary ceramic art of China. In addition to classification of styles, it may be classified into such two sects of folk art and academic art and there are even more sects such as conceptual, avant-garde, designing, decorative and other. It is more important that we have the names of potters in ceramic production regions and professional ceramic artists and two categories of works as vessels and sculptures. Furthermore, we have the definitions such as functions such as functional ceramic works and non-functional ones, decorative ceramics and artistic one, etc... Some people classify ceramics by the different ways of firing, such as wood firing, salt firing, gas firing, smoke firing, electric firing, raku firing and others. There also exist the difference between pottery and porcelain, glazed and unglazed. All in all, we are unable to classify the contemporary ceramic art of China based upon the established methods of classification in other categories of art as a time-saving and effort-saving method of reference because of the complicated identities that ceramic artists have in China today and various traditional influences they have received on their aesthetics and conceptions on the ceramic art.
1. Han Meiling: famous Chinese artists, the leading designer of Fuwa, the Beijing Olympic mascot. With his reputation and personal charm, he promoted to establish the Committee of Ceramic Art, the highest academic organization of ceramic industry, under China Artists Association. In addition, he approved and raised funds for the magazine China Ceramic Artist, which has already published 13 issues till now; and he organized National Ceramic Exhibition, making ceramics enter the National Fine Arts Exhibition for the first time. 2. I Chi Hsu: Since its founding in Beijing in 1997, Ichi’s HAP has become the paradise for ceramists to gather. Since its publication in 1998, his Chinese Potters Newsletter has become a “window” for ceramists across the country to communicate and receive information more speedily. With the joint efforts of Ichi Xu, Fu Qiang and Xu Dufeng, the Fule International Ceramic Art Museums, a grand dream that Chinese ceramists have craned for years, was built in Fuping, China. He also helps China Ceramic lndustrial Association and Fuping Pottery Art Village to host this IAC General Assembly, therefore today ceramists all over the world are able to get together in this Land of Ceramics. He happily and willingly offers his international resources to Chinese ceramic community without reserve and makes extraordinary contribution to the vigorous development of contemporary ceramics with great enthusiasm and efforts in recent years. 3. Li Jianshen (Jackson Li): Since the early 1990s, he has introduced many important contemporary American ceramists to China and established Sanbao International Ceramic Art Village, an initial platform between ceramists at home and abroad, thus providing the information channel for the rapid development of contemporary Chinese ceramics in recent years. 4. Zuo Zhengyao: He organized “Feeling the mire” ---the first academic invitational exhibition of modern ceramic works in China in 1997, a watershed exhibition that marks the beginning of the modern ceramic period for China. Up to now, he has organized 10 successive academic invitation exhibitions related to contemporary ceramics, thus promoting the development of contemporary Chinese ceramics and making Guangdong one of the major provinces of modern ceramic creation. “The Annual Invitational Exhibition Series of Chinese Young Ceramic Artists” is one of the earliest and most influential ceramic art exhibitions. 5. Liu Zheng: in 1998, he organized the first “China Contemporary Young Ceramic Artists' Biennial Exhibition”, and till now this exhibition has been held for 5 times, becoming one of the most important exhibitions in contemporary Chinese community. With the joint efforts of Liu Zheng and a group of young teacher, the ceramic department of China Academy of Art has been developed and expanded. 6. Bai Ming: since 1997, he began to promote the establishment of the theoretical system of modern Chinese ceramic as well as circulation of literatures through books and other publications. In 1999, he published China’s first compilation about the status co of world ceramic with over 1,000 pictures of ceramic from all over the world, filling China’s gap in this regard. Later, he published a series of books, including The Classics of World Modern Ceramic Art, The World Modern Ceramic Art (Foreign)、（Chinese）, Today’s Chinese Ceramic Art and The Traditional Crafts of Porcelain Making in Jingdezhen, etc, among which, the last book has won the 14th China Book Awards, the highest award for Chinese books. World-famous Ceramic Artists’ Studios, published in 2005, is the world’s largest book offering all-round introduction to representative world modern ceramists, leaving a though text and picture corpus for the communication, adaptation and development of both Chinese and world ceramic art. In the same year, he became the edit-in-chief of China Ceramic Artist and continued to render contribution to the theoretical system of modern Chinese ceramics. In addition, he schemed “New interpretation of Ceramics: Works from the Academic Invitational Exhibition of Contemporary Young Ceramists”, promoting younger Chinese ceramists to step into the attention of the public and onto the platform of academic study. He also successfully planed and implemented the outdoor landscape creation camp of famous ceramists in seashore of Tianjin. During the past 12 years, he has delivered hard work, great energy and enthusiasm to the development of Chinese ceramic art and ceramic exchange at home and abroad, making special contribution to the growth of contemporary Chinese ceramic art. III Mei Jianying: As a famous ceramic art educator, he is the pioneer in introducing the advanced teaching method in ceramic education from foreign countries into China and set up the system of ceramic art studio. He has trained a great a great number of outstanding ceramic art educators, many of whom have already become the backbones of colleges. Zhu Danian: He has applied a completely new decorative language to the ceramic decorations and ceramic murals which combine dignity and elegance into an organic style. He has introduced the new decorative style in the Chinese manner. Tan Chang: By applying the styles of folk art and the cubist forms to his works, he has opened another door for ceramic artists in the ceramic production regions and established the “Foshan Style” in the ceramic art world. Zhou Guozhen: His ceramic sculptures of animals look quite different from others by applying slight decorations and freehand skills and, thus, the forms of animals have finally broken away from the subordinate status of “small gadgets”. His unique style is still far-reaching today. Mei Wending: By application of the materials and favorable conditions in his ceramic production region, he has never ceased his creative efforts in ceramics and presented ceramic works in a “new folk art” style. In the middle of 1980s, he was regarded as the representative of the new images of ceramic artists in the ceramic production regions. Li Zhengwen: The styles of his works have gone through many changes and have his skills and techniques in the long course of his creations. Without any exceptions, he has drawn continuous attentions, though not wonderful, throughout his transformations. It is his great efforts that have promoted Hubei Province to be one of the major bases of the contemporary ceramic art in China. Chen Jinhai: From the Mingei style to the freehand and symbolic style, he has endowed his works with dual properties of spiritual aspirations and visual enjoyment by applying the traditional aesthetic features and the Oriental breadth of spirit. Zeng Li and Zeng Peng: Both of them are from the ceramic production region. They are excellent in application of the new language of decoration and have merged the decorations, forms, materials and environment into a perfect whole. They are masters to decorate their works in a lyrical style. Xie Yue: From the end of 1980s to the early 1990s, a group of “grotesque” pottery sculptures closely related with the art style of Nuo Drama drew great attentions from the ceramic art circle when the folk art of Southwestern minority nationalities had a great vogue. Lü Pinchang: The series that he created in the period from the end of 1980s to the early 1990s promoted the freehand and symbolic style to be the mainstream of the ceramic art through those years and, the ceramic art drew broad attentions from art critics. Bai Lei: He is one of the representatives of contemporary ceramic art in China. “His works is simple and natural without any traces of embellishment. This is a very pure language of visual art by application of the qualities of materials.” ② Liu Jianhua: porcelain is made rich, sensitive and fragile from the special perspective of a contemporary artist. The Gaudy appearance embodies artist’s in-dept reflection of reality and with his own way, the artist brings the ceramic art into the study scope of contemporary art history in China Lu Bin: As one of the earliest professional ceramic artists, his works embodies his aspirations for the essence of beauty in the ceramic materials in his rational style. He is quite experienced in application of the skills and techniques of ceramic making and controlling the nature of clay as he promotes his “classical” complex with the objects and language of our current life. He is one of the representatives from the ceramic art world in China. Liu Zheng: The figure is his principal subject with his aim to express his spirit. Viewers are deeply impressed by his combination of grotesque forms with a psycho-analytical language. Gao Zhenyu: He has given the traditional celadon more thematic significance and added much vigour to the dignified celadon art. Zhang Wenzhi: For recent years, the great success of the impressive Foshan International Ceramic Fair has been closely linked with her great efforts and contributions. Foreign ceramic artists have got more knowledge of the ceramic circles not only in Foshan, but also in China. Xia Dewu: He has expressed the emotions between traditions and modernity, the West and the East in his forms of “head sculptures”. By application of the raku firing and wood firing, the simple-looking heads have complicated visual connotations and rich language. Pei Xueli: He constructs a specious detail of architecture in his imagination with slices and strips of pottery and porcelain clay to embody the values of memories in his recollections of old days. The forms and lines, though appearing simple and careless, actually promote the charms of clay to its utmost purity. Jiang Bo: He imitates the industrial refuse with the pottery clay in grand forms, representing the retrospection of the industrial civilization by making copies by complete handwork. Such a method catches viewers’ deliberations. It is more important that Jiang Bo deserves the name of ceramic artist for the visual beauty of his works. Bai Ming: “In 1990s, it is his functional works with which Bai Ming has established his fame as a ceramic artist.”③ “In a certain sense, Bai Ming’s creation has become a forceful guidance for localization of the contemporary ceramic art in China” ④ “For Years, Bai Ming has been in important initiator in promotion of international exchanges. As an artist, he has never ceased to provide us knowledge and information through his works and, furthermore, made a true record of the process of contemporary ceramic art with his great efforts.” ⑤ He has tried his best efforts to promote the development of the contemporary ceramic art of China by his ceramic works. Zhou Wu: From “Budhist Towers” to “Alchemy” and from throwing to mould casting, he has established his artistic style by devoting his heart to present an external expression of his inner world. Chen Guanghui: In our daily life, no other chairs look more interesting and colorful than his “chairs” created by application of many skills and techniques. He presents his comprehension of the nonmaterial spirit of mankind by his research of constructions of objects in order to interpret the essence of life with some practical functions. Xu Qun: With the unique sensitivity and intuitions of a woman, she has caught other’ interest in her “Ice Flowers” and “Vessels”, especially in her recent research on “Vessels”. She has changed the “thin” exquisiteness into “thick” connotations to endow the simple “vessels” with metaphysical significance. Wang Haichen: She tries to express her comprehensions of porcelains in the way of traditional blue-and-white and re-construct her porcelain stools so that the viewers have to re-judge the ways of their daily life. As a matter of fact, she has expressed her understanding of the ceramic art in a “cold” scoffing voice. Li Pei: Several years ago, she created the large-scale “Dongfeng Brand Wheels” and some of male ceramists were quite astonished at the hardships and toil that she experienced in her creations. For the last two years, she has devoted more efforts to merge her sensitivity and exquisiteness into her new “Shadow” series. Her treatment and application of forms have become more and more “meaningful”. Tan Hongyu: She has inherited the artistic conceptions and feelings towards the clay from her father, Mr. Tan Chang and drawn on the experiences of the decorative languages and cubism without high skills. Some forms of her works are not only beyond all expectations, but also can trace to its “origin”. Jin Wenwei: Recently, his super large vases are preeminent over those of his porcelain works characterized by exquisiteness and elegance. He “controls” the surface colors of works by his hold and resolute techniques of forming and firing before combining them with metal frames to transmit the intentions of man and objects. Ding Nanyang: He creates his unique “Twelve Animals of Years” with metal-like appearance, which are both novel and strange. It is no easy for viewers to forget the combination of twelve animals. Wei Hua: he makes the doll skills and images in Guangdong Province more modern and fashionable. Feng Shu: his post-modern style is a proper display of the contemporary art in China. The combination of stainless steel and porcelain makes both materials sensitive and expressive. The gaudy insects are the irony of current ceramic art. Peng Zanbin: high-heat vitrolite with ink and wash painting reminds people of the modern flavor in tradition. In addition to above-mentioned ceramic artists, there are many faces whose works are also stimulating and praiseworthy. We have to omit them due to limited space. Quite different from “professional” ceramists, it deserves to be mentioned that some amateurs who occasionally set their feet in the ceramic art have also created excellent works. Wu Shixiong: He has done remarkable jobs over years from sculptor, publisher to curator. For recent years, he has indulged himself in the ceramic art as soon as he turns the new page. He began with his “Status Series” in a design language to outline his “integral ideas” with pure lines. The dotted textures on the surface look like marks on marble sculptures. It is extraordinary that his research on the negative relationship in cultures and visions results in the forms in the forms with some “sexual” contents. Jing Shijian: He is good at both oil painting and ceramic art. As being well-educated, his ceramic figures have appealed to audiences. The distress and loneliness implied in forms and manners of his ceramic figures tend to arouse viewers’ natural sympathies. Yang Guoxin: He both paints oil painting and makes ceramic and he has an excellent sense in the clay. It seems that he has reached the point to merge the ceramic art and his soul into an organic whole in an instant. His works in the form of “Fossil” has drawn attentions from the people in a great manner. However, what we are more interested in his unique way of comprehension and observation of objects. Only when working with relaxation and unrestraint can excellent works be created. Sun Jiab: He is a famous sculptor so that it is natural that he plays with the clay with great facility. What we envy is that he “plays with clay” with complete freedom and relaxation. He is free and unrestrained in creation of “sketch-like” works and is preeminent above many of professional ceramists who were trained in sculpture. As a matter of fact, a new and important topic for discussion has arisen from the works of the “amateurs”, i.e. the essence of ceramics is art and the art works made of ceramic materials is at the second place. Though, as one unique category of art, there are real differences from other categories in the fields of techniques, skills and aesthetical requirements, contemporary ceramists are unable to pay such a high price if they are stubbornly stick their pursuit of the so-called “orthodoxy”. Of course, it is irrelevant to the subject. There are more major ceramic artists far beyond the above-mentioned ones in contemporary China and there must be some omissions and preconceptions. Other writers may have different selections and another way of description of “landscape” in the ceramic art world. However, we are in an eager hope that the dot composed of the above-mentioned dozens of ceramic artists will eventually become a line and even a surface. If really so, it would be really beyond our limited views. IV. 1. The artistic styles are less diversified. If we look through all of the catalogues and publications that have bee published for these years, we may have a general idea that the works in the abstract and symbolic styles or abstract expressionist style have already become the dominant mainstream of the art world. The figures in sculpture are no less than others. However, some of the familiar styles are seldom fashionable, such as pop art, extremism, rationalism, conceptualism, public art and others. The art of installations also enjoy an underserved fame. Humor, relaxation and scoffing are quite superficial. We really do not mean that the contemporary ceramic art of China has to be integrated with those “past” art styles. However, without the diversities, any category of art is not so perfect at least. 2. The cotemporary ceramic art of China lacks creativeness and vitality due its monotony in materials, glazes and firing. Chinese ceramic artists at contemporary times may be well-trained skills and techniques as their foreign counterparts. But, why have most of our ceramic artists indulged themselves in the forms and imposed a host of contents on the forms made of the clay? As a result, their works appear neither this species nor that class for they cannot bear the weight of these contents. In fact, it is only one aspect of the ceramic art to produce their works by their creativeness in forms and such an aspect may not be superior to the other aspects of materials. It works much more effectively to make full use of the glazes and firing which are unique in the ceramic art to create different art styles than to indulge themselves wholly in forms. It is in a class by itself. We believe that all of ceramic artists fully understand the problem. However, it is quite difficult to make any breakthroughs in the fields of glazes and firing and such difficulties exist in the limit of present conditions, not in the creativity of ceramic artists. The raw ceramic materials and equipment, for example, have not been industrialized in China even today. Lack of researches on such aspects will eventually lead to that there is no way to truly embody the superiority and artistic charm of ceramic of the ceramic art. 3. The contemporary ceramic art has not drawn sustained attention from the media and the public. Although there are there many ceramic art events and a great deal of catalogues, essays and collections of ceramic works for recent years, these seem nothing to do with the people outside of the ceramic art world. Some of the exhibitions went on dull and dry except the opening ceremony in which many ceramic artists had their joyous gatherings. We know that other art exhibitions had the same embarrassing situations so that it had nothing to do with the academic level of the ceramic art exhibition themselves. However, it has at least proved that the public have not fully understood the modern and contemporary ceramic art and lack the enthusiasm for attention, which is not beneficial to the development of the contemporary ceramic art in China today. Lack of great attentions from the public means lack of a great strength for caring which lead to a potential lack of collectors and consumers among the public. In the same sense, the media will not be enthusiastic about art as the public has no such requirements. Furthermore, galleries and museums will not set foot in this art market which has great potentials. There are countless galleries and museums in China today. Although most of them are undertaking the business of high-level art products and fashionable handicrafts, many of them are still seeking their by holding fast to the fields of elite art and academic art. However, there has been no gallery dealing solely with the contemporary ceramic art. It shows clearly that the gallery managers with high-level art appreciation do not think that the contemporary ceramic art looks to a bright future. Therefore, it is an arduous work to spread the knowledge about the contemporary ceramic art among the public. 4. It is apparently observed that the theoretical construction of the contemporary ceramic art has not kept up with the development of the creative activities concerned in which few of art critics and art historians have got involved. If the problem cannot be solved in a proper way, it will be surely harmful to the development of the contemporary ceramic art in China and the ceramic art world of China also appears imperfect. In promotion and dissemination of the cotemporary ceramic art of China, a few ceramists have already played the role of “art critics”, which was quite necessary at the initial stage of development. However, various problems have arisen today because it is inevitable that these ceramists, as “ceramic art professionals”, have their own preferences and sentiments and sentiments in their records and comments of the art works and ceramic artists whatever they have tried to do the work in a reasonable way of judgment. As a result, the objectivity is affected in confirmation of styles and conceptions. It has become better that one after another art critic has been involved in the ceramic art events for recent years and it will be really more significant and far-reaching if they can continue their efforts. 5. Some of ceramic works have enjoyed an undeserved reputation in learning from the traditions and use the experiences of other countries. A few ceramists have purposely transformed the ancient and folk arts in a way of deliberate misinterpretation, which, instead of infecting viewers with the artistic appeals of the traditional cultures that still exist even today, has deprived them of their confidence in confirmation of their values on the contrary. As a matter of fact, the traditions are not simply limited to appearances of any given era or works, but constitute the cultural foundations which support the existence of our nationality and, furthermore, such cultures co-exist with the nationality in its ceaseless development under the continuous influences of times and human willpower. The development of the Chinese ceramic art needs to be merged into the “new practices” of the great cultural conceptions, but not limited within the scope of simple “modern transformations”. It is the same in drawing the successful experiences of other countries, which is another aspect of same as dealing with the traditions. Now that we are not allowed to copy the traditions, we will not imitate foreign experiences either. Art is not an industrial product and creativity is one of basic properties of art. Since our emotions and attitudes towards the world are tremendously different from each other, as a media of artists’ emotions and their expressions, art works should not be the same with each other. A full understanding of other countries and a complete comprehension of the traditions will be quite beneficial to creative activities of artists themselves. Originality is simply the best. 6. The contemporary ceramic art has not really merged the mainstream of the contemporary art environment in China. For nearly twenty years, few ceramic artists have been in a great number of contemporary art exhibitions and major art events in China (except some events for these two years). It seems that the contemporary ceramic art has already become a “lonely island” on which ceramic artists have enjoyed themselves and it appears of no importance for ceramic artists whether they can be merged into the contemporary art environment in China, or not. However, the “contemporary” significance of its existence will surely be questioned if it, as a way of artistic expression and one category of art, can not be merged into the contemporary society and play its proper role in mutual involvement and construction of the contemporary culture in China just as other categories of art have already done. Now that the contemporary ceramic art is already a conception and phenomenon classified under the academic definition of “contemporary”, then, undoubtedly, it should carry forward the contemporary spirit like the other categories of art China. Such spirit means the innate conceptions and aesthetic inclinations of the mankind and the ceaseless challenges to themselves, their boundless and everlasting imaginations and new conceptions in regard with the new aesthetics and new art forms. Their questions are beneficial for thinking and exchanging of ideas in their depictions of the contemporary society. For any category of contemporary art, such spirit is no other than the essence at the contemporary age. In reality, the above-mentioned problems have arisen against the grand background that great progress has been made in the field of contemporary ceramic art in China though some of them are not so apparent. Our purpose of enumerating the facts and exaggerating some statements is not only to draw attentions and explorations from ceramists, but also prove that conceive the bright future of China ceramic art without any doubt as the contemporary ceramic art has gained great strength after twenty years of development. Furthermore, some of the problems have exactly proved the significance and value of the existence of the contemporary ceramic art of China by themselves. V. The rapid development of China’s economy has already added more colors and vitality to her culture which have become more magnanimous and dignified. What we have expressed in the ceramic art has fully proved that the great culture has preserved her best qualities of magnanimity and prosperity. The topic of this paper is limited to modern style. Modern ceramic art in China or contemporary and modern ceramic art in China is not used here so as to correspond with the division and title of time in America or Europe. In addition, the concepts of contemporary ceramic art is broader than that of modern ceramic art and is more in line with the development of ceramics in China in recent ten years. Hong Kong, Taiwan and Macao are now included in this paper. Bai Ming Jia Fangzhou, The Recommendation Remarks of Bai Lei, Literature of Fine Arts---the second special issue of ceramic art, Hubei Fine Arts Publishing House, 2001. Green Brown, The Abstract of Time, American Ceramics Monthly, 2001(12) Hang Jian, Kind Moving, The Sound of Time, Hebei Fine Arts Publishing House, 2002(6) Wayne Higby, Mutual Learning of Ceramic Art in Overseas Contemporary Ceramic Classics, Jiangxi Fine Arts Publishing House, 2002(6)
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