Review of Bai Ming

Jiangxi Fine Arts Publishing House

Bai Ming is a book， in which every page reflects a lucent and lively heart of a gentle and reserved artist. Those works of art on every page are silent yet alive， through which readers will be able to understand Mr Bai Ming's open and comprehensive knowledge of this world， his sincerity and simplicity， his bright and rich inner world highlighfed by his consistent pursuing of art.

Mr Bai Ming is an artist， director of Department of Ceramic art and executive deputy curator of the art gallery in Academy of Fine Arts， Tsinghua university. He also is a member of Chinese Artists’ Association and a member of IAC in UNESCO， as well as the art director of Chinese Ceramic Art Network， the associate chief editor of Chinese Ceramic Artists. As an outstanding ceramic artist and a serious scholar， his art work has a tinge of his own nature， but at the same time reflects the diversity in contemporary artistic creations. In his book， in every chapter as to， 'comprehensive materials'， 'oil paintings'， 'ceramic arts'， or 'ink and wash paintings'， the reader can sense the tension that exists in those mellow artistic works and an independent soul that is able to combine a world of poetry with the world of Zen without effort.

Two chapters of this book， 'comprehensive materials' and 'oil paintings' best represent his modernity and broad outlook. Zhou Changjiang， an artist points out in his book The Reading of Materials： “the manifestation of one material is not only the creative application of this particular material， but also a reflection of the human mind. Only when the human spirit pierces the material， it would come to life.” Using materials such as colloids， sands， ropes， chess pieces， bamboos and fabrics， inspired by their shapes and natures， Bai Ming reconsiders the shallowness and imbalance in our time， and urges a more concrete evaluation. Every reader is guided to search the depth， even the dignity in eastern and western cultures through those placid， silent and solid works.

The placidity and elegance in 'ceramic arts' are purely eastern. They come from Bai Ming's understanding of the time we live now and the culture we live in. I would rather consider every piece of his work as a concrete of some incomprehensible life forms， or a meditation with the silent gratitude every time he contemplates the world.

I cannot put into words how I'm consistently touched by some of his finest works.

There are four prefaces， and a collection of reviews in appendix， as well as Bai Ming's own writings and a chronology of his art career， which enrich the contents of the book.

Thank you， Bai Ming.