Lunar inspiration of jade disks,then and now

Inspired by the jade pieces in the collection of the Aurora Museum, Hao Liang’s “Circular Pond” currently on show at the museum’s jade gallery is divided into two stages.

Stage One from March 26 to late May will mainly present antique jade pieces, collotype prints, archives, documents and paintings, demonstrating Hao’s learning and thinking processes. Stage Two from late May to July 21 will feature a 4-meter long painting.

Hao has paid many visits to the Aurora Museum since 2017 and is particularly attracted to the jade ware and related antique books in the museum collection.

“I’ve always been fascinated by the shape and quality of antique jade disks. They have a variety of forms. If the width of the edge doubles that of the hole in the middle, it is called bi. And if the width of the hole doubles that of the edge, it is called yuan. But apart from the shape, what fascinates me most is the intriguing sense of delicacy,” Hao explained.

“In a book ‘Textual Research of Ancient Jade with Illustrations,’ by Wu Dacheng, scholar of Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), he wrote in the opening chapter ‘In ancient times, gentlemen tended to admire jade as a token of virtue rather than merely something to play with.’ It works the same way for me, I always treat it as something that promotes me to ponder and reflect.”

Based on his study and research, the first stage exhibition features some small works by the artist.

For example, “Lunar Corona 4,5,6” are paintings. They include pencil work on tracing paper and colored ink on silk.

The paintings demonstrate the artist’s reflection on the metaphorical relationship between the moon and round jadeware and his attempts to capture the sense of fluidity through shape, shadows and constituents.

The 36-year-old artist from Chengdu in southwest China’s Sichuan Province has had his work widely exhibited in museums both at home and abroad, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), the Centre Pompidou (Paris), Foundation Louis Vuitton and Ullens Center for Contemporary Art.

Info

Date: Through July 21, 10am-5pm

Venue: Aurora Museum

Address: 99 Fucheng Rd, Pudong New Area