When I think of things precious, I think of a ring, I think of something breakable, something special. When I think of a breakable, special item, I think of Bleeding Gums Murphy of the Simpsons, who lost all of his riches spending it on Fabergé eggs, then breaking them in the alleyway. But that’s not this! Nay! This is the works of a Chinese magician artist by the name of Ma Jun. It is his trade to recreate objects of little worth in Porcelain, painting them with fine colors, creating in them a value far beyond the dreams of the original.
Below you’ll find a sampling of his newer and older works.
This post is a set of information gathered from show galleries and press releases from the following sources: L.A.Galerie Lothar Albrecht, Krampf Gallery in New York, NY Arts Magazine, Art Info, and Artnet.
Artist Ma Jun (b. 1974) graduated from the Beijing Central Academy of Fine Arts where he studied sculpture. In the works you see below from 2006-2007, the pieces were made in Jindezhen, China, a center for Chinese Porcelain production for over 1000 years. According to L. A. Galerie Lothar Albrecht, the application of traditional patterns to replicated objects of little worth both shows the power of the patterns, them giving worth to anything they be cast upon, but it also demonstrates, however, “how arbitrarily these patterns can be utilized, as there no longer exists any meaningful interplay between object and decoration.”*
These comments come from a show displayed at the L. A. Galerie Lothar Albrecht in which they presented a duo show of Ma Jun and Huang Min, both of them graduates of the Beijing Central Academy of Fine Arts. This exhibition was titled “Transforming China” and took place March 2 until May 12, 2007.
Above: Television, 2007
Porcelain, 38 x 27 x 25 cm
New China Series
Television, 2007
Porcelain, 38 x 27 x 25 cm
New China Series
Television, 2007 (back)
Porcelain, 38 x 27 x 25 cm
New China Series
Television, 2007
Porcelain, 38 x 27 x 25 cm
New China Series
Television, 2005
Porcelain, 38 x 27 x 25 cm
New China Series
Television, 2005
Porcelain, 38 x 27 x 25 cm
New China Series
Television, 2005
Porcelain, 38 x 27 x 25 cm
New China Series
Tape Recorder, 2006
Porcelain, 19 x 52 x 13.5 cm
New China Series
Tape Recorder, 2006 (back)
Porcelain, 19 x 52 x 13.5 cm
New China Series
Car, 2007
Porcelain, 22 x 76 x 32 cm
New China Series
Car, 2007
Porcelain, 22 x 76 x 32 cm
New China Series
Coca Cola cans, 2006
Porcelain in a wooden box, 25 x 25 x 15 cm
New China Series
Coca Cola bottles I, 2006
Porcelain in a wooden box, 36.5 x 36.5 x 31 cm
New China Series
Chanel No. 5, 2007
Porcelain, 7 pieces, each 9.5 x 5.3 x 2.3 cm
New China Series
Coca Cola bottles II, 2006
Porcelain in a wooden box, 36.5 x 36.5 x 31 cm
New China Series
From an article about Ma Jun by Alexandra Chang under the title “The Future of China: Ma Jun”, Ma Jun is quoted as saying, more or less: “I’m just raising the question: While our lifestyle is changed by these products, what will our future be like? Will China, the country that appreciates china so much, lose its own aesthetics in china?” So! Veddy interesting.
Next you’ll see some pieces that were displayed at the Krampf Gallery in New York. In the gallery at the bottom of the post, you’ll see some rather small images of how the gallery was set up so you can see size references. All of this was displayed at a show at Krampf Gallery under the name “Ma Jun Pop Dynasty” that took place Feb 15th – March 15th 2009.
TV Set, 2007
Ceramic 38 x 27 x 25cm
Pop Dynasty Series
TV Set, 2007
Ceramic 38 x 27 x 25cm
Pop Dynasty Series
Radio, 2009
Ceramic 45 x 15 cm
Pop Dynasty Series
Radio, 2009
Ceramic 45 x 15cm
Pop Dynasty Series
Old Style Chanel No. 5, 2007
Ceramic 42 x 24 cm
Pop Dynasty Series
Chanel No. 5, 2007
Ceramic 42 x 24 cm
Pop Dynasty Series
Lipstick, 2007
Ceramic 52 x 15 cm
Pop Dynasty Series
Soda Cans, 2008
Ceramic 25 x 25 x 15 cm
Pop Dynasty Series
Soda Bottles, 2006
Ceramic 25 x 25 x 20 cm
Pop Dynasty Series
Next you will see an image of some amazing slightly-crushed cans, painted in a manner very similar to the technique of Ma Jun. So close, in fact, that they’ve been mistaken for his works. In reality though, these particular cans are the work of artist Lei Xue, who seems to operate in both China and Germany.
Drinking tea, 2007
Porcelain, Dimensions N/A
Finally, this is what I identify as the newest work by Ma Jun. “Berlin dealer Michael Schultz with Ma Jun’s porcelain computer.” is what they call this image over at Art Net. Seems to be a cellphone pic.
Computer, 2009
Porcelain, Dimensions N/A
Ma Jun! Someone find him! He needs to keep making these things! It is a demand I have. They’re something that’d be difficult to own. Perhaps a single can or bottle would be reasonable, but they’re so breakable! Art museums, I’m looking at you to preserve these.
This post is part of the World Famous Design Junkies 3D category.
Twitter
Facebook
Tumblr
Stumbleupon
Ffffound
RSS.
Site Feed
Comments Feed
[...] 11. Artist Ma Jun creates objects of little worth in finely painted porcelain via World Famous Design Junkies [...]
[...] Artist Ma Jun (b. 1974) graduated from the Beijing Central Academy of Fine Arts where he studied sculpture. In the works you see below from 2006-2007, the pieces were made in Jindezhen, China, a center for Chinese Porcelain production for over 1000 years. – WFDJ [...]