Zhao Kun
Ceramic Sculptor · Jingdezhen
Zhao Kun, born in 1968 in Huainan, Anhui Province, graduated from the Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute. She is currently a Jiangxi Provincial Ceramic Art Master, a Jingdezhen Intangible Cultural Heritage Inheritor, and one of Jingdezhen's "3+1+X" designated talents.
She is a member of the China Arts & Crafts Society, a member of the Jiangxi Artists Association, an individual director of the Zhongshan Painting Academy of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang (RCCK) Central Committee, vice-president of the Jiangxi RCCK Zhongshan Painting Academy, a director of the Jingdezhen Artists Association, a guest professor at Jingdezhen Ceramic University, the Ceramic Art Research Institute of Communication University of China, and Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts, and the founder of Zui Ni Zhai Ceramic Art Studio.
Her works mostly take animals as their subject, combining a wide range of clay bodies and techniques to render natural, innocent, and earthy forms in the freehand spirit of Chinese xieyi painting. She has received dozens of awards, held numerous solo exhibitions, and her works are held by museums, galleries, and private collectors.
Solo Exhibitions
"Urban Spirits" — Zhao Kun Art Exhibition · Wuhan Tiandi Yifang Art Museum
"Promise of the Jungle" — Zhao Kun Ceramic Sculpture Exhibition · Jingdezhen Imperial Kiln Jingxiang Art Museum
"Escape the City — Natural Spirits" Zhao Kun Ceramic Sculpture Exhibition · Shanghai Yuhong Art Gallery
"Polar Spirits" — Zhao Kun Sculpture Art Exhibition · Shanghai Art Fair
Zhao Kun Ceramic Sculpture Art Exhibition · Shangkun Shangci Art Museum, Shanghai
Source · Image — Zhao Kun Ceramic Sculpture Solo Exhibition · Nanchang University Art Museum
"Clay Unfurled, Spirits Written" — Zhao Kun Ceramic Sculpture Solo Exhibition · Shanghai International Art Fair
Selected Group Exhibitions
Yiyi — Sanbao Famous Porcelain & Jingdezhen Resident Artists Exhibition · Jingdezhen
Contemporary Ceramic Art Invitational Exhibition · CAA Curatorial Committee, Jingdezhen Ceramic University
China–Italy Cultural Exhibition · Jingdezhen
May Flower National Women Ceramicists Exhibition · Jingdezhen
"Focus and Resonance" — 2014 Beijing International Sculpture Exhibition · Beijing Aoga Art Museum
"Visual China · Dunhuang on Porcelain" Chinese Ceramic Art Exhibition · Carrousel du Louvre, Paris
CHINA: Contemporary Ceramic Alchemy · Nanjing University of the Arts Museum
First Jiangxi Art Biennial · Nanchang
First 791 Art Grand Exhibition · Nanchang
Asia Galleries Art Fair — China · Japan · Korea Masterworks Exhibition · Shanghai
Curated "He · Hui — Jingdezhen Sculpture Art Exhibition" and Shanghai Tour · Jingdezhen, Shanghai
"Era · Impressions" — 2008 Chinese Contemporary Artists' Studio Special Invitational · Shenzhen
First Jiangxi Artists Association Ceramic Art Exhibition · Jingdezhen
99' Beijing Welcoming the Millennium Ceramic Invitational · Beijing
Netherlands Century Ceramic Conference Works Exhibition · Amsterdam
First Chinese Modern Ceramic Art Exhibition · Shanghai
Ministry of Culture "Land of Porcelain — Contemporary Chinese Ceramic World Tour" · Beijing
Awards
Silver Prize, 10th National Ceramic Art Innovation Competition
Gold Prize, First Jiangxi Art Biennial
Gold Prize, China Top 10 Ceramic Masterworks Selection
Gold Prize, First 791 Art Grand Exhibition
Best Craft Award, China Arts & Crafts Hundred Flowers Awards
Special Gold Prize, 5th Shenzhen Cultural Industries Fair
Gold Prize, China Collectors' Favourite Arts & Crafts Master Selection
Gold Prize, 9th China Arts & Crafts Master Masterworks Expo
First Prize, First Jiangxi Artists Association Ceramic Art Exhibition
Public & Institutional Collections
"Monkey" — collected by Jingdezhen Ceramic History Museum
"72 Ceramic Processes — Stone Crushing" — collected by Jingdezhen Ceramic History Museum
"Guardian Deity" — collected by China Arts & Crafts Museum
"Urban Spirits — Deer Calling" — collected by Ministry of Culture's China & Foreign Arts & Crafts Museum
"The Fisherman" — collected by Jiangxi Provincial Museum
"Mother & Child Goat", "Wolf" — collected by the Ministry of Culture
"Mother & Child Toad" — collected by Yihukuan (Shanghai) Ceramic Art Museum
Publications & Articles
"Zhao Kun Ceramic Sculpture" — by Zhao Kun, Jiangxi Fine Arts Publishing House
"Decorative Sculpture" — Zhao Kun, second editor, Beijing Arts & Crafts Publishing House
"Appreciation and Collection of Famous Jingdezhen Porcelain" — co-authored by Zhao Kun and Hu Cunxi, Shanghai Cidian Publishing House
"Urban Spirits: A Cry from the Body" — included in "Chinese Women's Culture", edited by Wang Hongqi
"On the Craft Aesthetics of Modern Ceramic Art" — China Ceramics (Art Edition)
"Women as Porcelain" — China Ceramics (Art Edition)
"Zhao Kun Speaks for Herself" — Contemporary Ceramic Art (Vol. 3)
"On Folk Art and Ceramic Creation" — China Ceramics (Art Edition)
"The Spirit of the Era in Modern Ceramic Art" — Second Prize, Jiangxi Ceramic Art Education Essay Competition