Liu Shiming had perhaps the most unusual career — and most singular vision — of all postwar Chinese sculptors. Trained at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) in Beijing, he emerged in the mid-1950s, succeeding immediately in what was then the best (and virtually only) profession option available: the creation of heroic Socialist Realist statuary for Mao Zedong’s newly established People’s Republic of China. Yet within a decade, he made the startling decision to leave his enviable post in the capital in order to engage with everyday people in the provinces. Returning to Beijing after 15 years, he worked at restoring and copying historical works in the National Museum before settling into a workshop at CAFA, where he produced the touching folk-inflected sculptures for which he is most admired today.

“Liu Shiming: Sculpture as Truth,” a richly illustrated talk, will trace this remarkable personal journey, placing the idiosyncratic artist in the context of postwar sculpture both in China and abroad. Its major emphasis will be on distinguishing verisimilitude, with its susceptibility to visual rhetoric, from direct and honest observation.

Location: 15 East 40th Street

Time: 5:30-7:00 pm EDT

Free!

Registration