Guanghui Chen was born in Shanxi and completed his BFA at Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute and his MFA at Alfred University, USA. He is currently the Head of the Ceramic Faculty at Shanghai University. Major shows include “Ceramics Tomorrow” at the 60th Faenza Biennial, Italy, “Zagreb Ex-Tempore” in Croatia, “Floating Africa” Solo Exhibition at Assilah Contemporary Art Centre, Morocco, “Cont(r)act Earth”1st Mid China International Ceramics Biennale Zhengzhou, Henan and “Encountering Arts of Asia” Victoria Memorial Hall, Calcutta. In the UK he has exhibited in Cheltenham Art Gallery & Museum, Bristol Museum & Art Gallery and The Potteries Museum & Art Gallery, Stoke-on-Trent.
He says of his work:
My work is considered as to dissolve what has been named as ceramics, or to dissolve the existence of the artist who was understood to make and have signed his or her name afterwards. My vision of clay works are clay and fire self-formed containers. I like the director Kubrick’s space scene. I think this self-formed container (which doesn’t belong to anybody) is closely related to the earth and body, but also with religion in the concept of Messiah time. This body of work is not only to remember events, but also to dismantle oneself. It’s also an object that has been weathered and constantly formed, and the body becomes a container in the last concept of time. Therefore, as a genealogical lineage case analysis, the container connects body and history. It should reveal a body full of history and destroy the history of the body.
