Exhibition Information：
Topology Of Bronze Ware- Exhibition Of Zhu Zhenhong‘s Works（Qingdao）
Artist：
Zhu Zhenhong
Curator：
Lin Zhu
Producer：
Wang Fang
Coordinator：
Zhao Xinyu
Opening time：
2:30 PM, August 8, 2025
Duration：
2025年08月08日 - 2025年09月08日
Venue：
Gallery 1,DCA·Exit V Museum,No.122-1,Zhuzhou Road,Laoshan District,Qingdao City
--- Foreword ---
Topology of Bronzeware
By Lin Zhu
With a 5,000-year history of human activity and as the capital of thirteen dynasties, Luoyang boasts an irreplicable richness of historical heritage and regional development. Since ancient times, it has enjoyed an innate, unparalleled advantage: a convergence of vibrant cultural activities, a concentration of master craftsmen, and the inheritance of exquisite craftsmanship. It comes as no surprise, therefore, that a suburban village like Yanjian Village—starting from its early focus on the research of cultural relic restoration techniques—has evolved into a world-renowned industrial base for crafting bronzeware artifacts.
Bronzeware Visible Along the Way in Yanjian Village, a Suburb of Luoyang
Zhu Zhenhong’s Qilin series of bronze works was created with the assistance of local craftsmen and technical methods from this area. Each piece in the series may simultaneously incorporate combinations of food vessels, ritual implements, musical instruments, or weapons dating from the Shang and Zhou dynasties to the Qin and Han dynasties; alternatively, it may feature a splicing of the iconic forms of Sanxingdui artifacts with those of the Qin and Han dynasties, or even integrate modern civilizational elements into the traditional craftsmanship. Ultimately, however, every work takes shape as a complete object that boasts a unique visual aesthetic and bears the distinct characteristics of an "unearthed cultural relic" (bronzeware).
Bronzeware in the Workshop
In the context of Eastern culture, human understanding of bronzeware always points to the divinity and authority of the ritual vessels from the Shang and Zhou dynasties. It stirs the imagination of divine consciousness and unconsciously inspires a sense of awe. Even at a glance, the newly "unearthed" bronze artifacts crafted by Zhu Zhenhong with modern restoration techniques evoke a sense of shock and reverence as if encountering something mystical. This fully demonstrates that in the course of the development of scientific and technological empiricism in human civilization, the memory of distant deities has never faded away.
Teacher Zhu Zhenhong and the craftsmen at the workshop site
From Classic of Mountains and Seas to legends of successive dynasties, the qilin is a composite creature embodying physical traits of multiple animals, including "a sheep’s head, an elk’s body, wolf’s claws, dragon’s scales, and an ox’s tail". As the foremost benevolent beast, it serves as a symbol for humans to pray for blessings and seek spiritual sustenance.
Zhu Zhenhong’s bronzeware series named Qilin not only appropriates this iconic image to offer a critique of real-world phenomena, but also embodies the artist’s personal aspirations and intentions. Exquisitely crafted, these bronzeware pieces are essentially "pseudo-sacred artifacts" bearing the characteristics of cultural relics. In these works, the logical threads of time, space, and historical narratives are transformed into a topological folded narrative. The accuracy of their shapes and patterns, juxtaposed with the dislocation of contextual information, mirrors the difficulty we face today in distinguishing truth amid an overload of information sources—revealing the surreal, magical essence of reality through intuitive sculptural language.
When we set aside our scrutiny of the details, the complete form of each vessel reverts to the totemic symbolism of an "ancient relic", evoking reverence for the divine origin and reflecting the compassionate warmth of the present world.
Bronzeware in the Workshop
Art has always been sensitive to the changes of the times and responded directly to them. Whether we acknowledge it or not, we have already entered the age of intelligence. AI calculates and intervenes in human activities at a breathtaking speed, rendering the traditional humanistic and ethical evaluation of the meaning of life fragile in the face of the bioethics between carbon-based and silicon-based life forms. At the same time, however, geopolitics and economic activities exert an increasingly complex impact on everyone's living conditions. Where should we go from here? This is an agonizing choice that humanity, as a species, faces today.
When we look at Zhu Zhenhong’s Qilin series, the juxtaposition of reality’s absurdities and the unity of its spiritual orientation reflects his own directional choice in seeking spiritual solace amid the perplexities of the present. Is this choice correct? Should we, as humans, turn back to the divine or move closer to silicon-based intelligence? The answer lies with each individual. The inspiration offered by Zhu Zhenhong’s works is merely a case that raises questions—but at the very least, it reminds us that the questions have already emerged. And that in itself is a good thing.
--- Selected Works ---
Qilin No.13
Height: 60 cm
Material: Bronze
Year: 2025
Qilin No.11
Height: 72 cm
Material: Bronze
Year: 2025
Qilin No.8
Height: 73 cm
Material: Bronze
Year: 2025
Qilin No.19
Height: 133 cm
Material: Bronze
Year: 2025
--- Artist ---
Zhu Zhenhong
Independent Artist
Art Chronology2013: Solo Art Exhibition, Jingdezhen Contemporary Art Museum, Jingdezhen, China2016: Beyond Imagination – Zhu Zhenhong Glaze Painting Solo Exhibition, Manet Art Space International Art Center Museum, Beijing, China2016: Dazzling Colors – Zhu Zhenhong 2016 Ceramic Art Solo Exhibition, Jingquan Fortune, Shanghai, China2017: Dazzling Colors – Solo Art Exhibition, Armani Art Apartment, Chengdu, China2017: Zhu Zhenhong Ceramic Art Solo Exhibition, Trump International Tower, Vancouver, Canada2018: Zhu Zhenhong High-temperature Kiln Transformation Works Solo Exhibition, Powerlong Museum, Shanghai, China2018: Dazzling Colors – Zhu Zhenhong High-temperature Colored Glaze Solo Exhibition, Fuzhou, China2021: Relics – Zhu Zhenhong Solo Exhibition, Jingdezhen Jingtao Factory, Jingdezhen, China2021: New Porcelain Language·Zhu Zhenhong Contemporary Ceramic Art Exhibition, Qingdao International Art Biennale, Qingdao Art Museum / Dechang Art Modern Art Space, Qingdao, China2022: The Spirit of Porcelain·Jingdezhen International Ceramic Art Biennale, Art Museum of Jingdezhen Ceramic University, Jingdezhen, China2022: Winner of Kito Award, The Spirit of Porcelain·Jingdezhen International Ceramic Art Biennale2022: Connection – China-Europe International Young Artists Exchange Exhibition, Qingdao Publishing Art Museum, Qingdao, China2023: Natural Growth·2023 (Qingdao) Annual Art Documentary Exhibition, Theme Exhibition of Qingdao International Art Biennale (V Exit Art Museum, China)2024: Unconventional Utensils·Zhu Zhenhong, Dechang Art·V Exit Art Museum, Qingdao, China
