Reclaiming Splendor: Ceramic Design by Chunmao Huang,
Featuring the First Lady of China’s Banquet Ware
September 20 – December 30, 2010
Opening Reception: Thursday, September 20, 5 – 8PM
Alfred Ceramic Art Museum at Alfred University
The Alfred Ceramic Art Museum announces a major new exhibition of porcelain tableware from China, which has never before been seen in the United States. In 2016, China’s premier ceramic designer Chunmao Huang created banquet ware for Peng Liyuan, the First Lady of China. At her request he designed her banquet ware for the G20 summit, which was held at a historically distinguished restaurant on the shore of Hangzhou, China’s famous West Lake. Turning her favorite color turquoise into a glaze, Chunmao Huang used this color to inspire his invention of a spectacular ensemble of porcelain recalling the past glories of Chinese ceramic history. As a result, he has introduced to the world a provocative and beautiful new assessment of the art of ceramic design.
Chunmao Huang writes: “For the First Lady’s banquet ware, I strove to develop the model in a soft, delicate, rich, and variable way. For the weight, hardness, motion, and priority of design, I work like a pianist composes music, making sure there is tone, melody, climax, and subtlety.”
Also on exhibition as part of Reclaiming Splendor, designed by Chunmao Huang: banquet ware for Xi Jinping, the President of China, for the BRICS summit 2017, the First Lady of China’s banquet ware for the BRICS summit and the now often recognized porcelain tableware – thanks to a photo of President Obama enjoying the banquet – that Chunmao Huang designed for the Asia Pacific Economic Conference, APEC 2014, held in Beijing.
Chunmao Huang is a 2003, MFA, graduate of the School of Art and Design, Division of Ceramic Art, New York State College of Ceramics at Alfred University. In addition to being China’s leading ceramic designer, he currently is the chair of the ALFRED-CAFA Ceramic Design for Industry Program, a collaborative educational initiative between Alfred University and the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China.
