Li Xiaofeng is a Chinese sculptor and fashion designer, born in 1965 in Hubei. His unique work consists in wearable porcelain clothes.
He graduated at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA)’s Mural Department, and began his activity as a muralist. Then he began specializing in sculpture in order to explore new concepts and expressive forms to apply to the Chinese contemporary artistic scene.
His sculpture-clothing project is truly original, both for the selected material and the idea of wearable “pieces of armor” that recall Chinese traditional works.
Li Xiaofeng’s creative process
Li Xiaofeng researches and collects fragments of ancient Chinese porcelain recovered from archaeological excavations, dating back to the Yuan, Ming and Qing dynasties: he models and polishes them and punctures them, then sews them together on a leather undergarment through a silver thread, creating a “porcelain fabric”. His meticulous work is a bridge between past and present and a sharp reflection on the concept of culture.
Li’s Rearranged landscapes
“Chinese culture” is the basic breakthrough point in Li’s works: he feels a sense of mission for its study and he channels it all in what he calls “Post Orientalism”. Landscape was always a major theme in his large number of paintings created in the past but, instead of simply copying like some other contemporary artists, he had always the urge to rearrange it, in a dynamic dialogue with history.
This extract explains the reason why Li Xiaofeng’s calls his porcelain clothes “rearranged landscapes”:
“Since the time when it was the Mongol Yuan capital Khanbalik to the present day, Beijing has initiated its largest excavation projects of all time and, like a blue snake that has been hibernating for a millennium, the city is now stirring and shedding its old skin. It greedily emerges through the towering buildings, twisting free from the historical sediment of its ancient civilization. Blue-and-white porcelain shards that represent this civilization are unearthed in large quantities at the same time. These blue shards, bathed in the sunny skies of socialism and caressed by the contemporary cool breezes blowing from the west throughout the capital, assume a bewildering array of postures as fashion items entering the new century!
Among his works are women’s dresses, t-shirts and men’s jackets. His first piece in wearable porcelain fragments was “Beijing Memories”, a Mao suit.
Lacoste’s porcelain shirt Li XiaoFeng
In 2010 the world-renowned brand Lacoste commissioned Li Xiaofeng a porcelain polo shirt for men and women for the Holiday Collector series. Unfortunately, a problem occurred: the PRC prohibits the export of ancient artifacts, including old porcelain shards.
Despite that, the artist did not give up and realized the porcelain himself, with the crocodile’s logo attached, and tore it apart only to recompose it into a Polo shirt, one of the most expensive and exclusive items ever sold by Lacoste.
The artist also released a limited edition polo shirt, choosing blue and white fragments depicting the lotus flower and drawings of newborns from the Kangxi period and the Qing dynasty. The lotus flower represents rebirth and purity while newborns represent fertility. In that period the mortality rate among children was high and this type of decoration was in great demand in the hope of being a blessing for children.
Li Xiaofeng’s main expositions
| 2019 | Dreaming of Crafts of the Future: Mongyudowon Unfolds, 11th Cheongju Craft Biennale 2019, Culture Factory C, Cheongju |
| 2018 | Cracked – Porcelain, Red Gate Gallery |
| 2D vs 3D, Red Gate Gallery | |
| 798, We Are Back, Red Gate Gallery | |
| 2017 | Red Gate on the Move, Red Gate Gallery |
| Contemporary Dialogues Between Fashion and Art, Zhu Zhong Art Museum | |
| The Silk Road and Celestial Clothes, Taimiao Art Museum | |
| Fusion – The International Exhibition of Contemporary Ceramic Art, Art Museum of Nanjing University of the Arts, Nanjing | |
| 2016 | Red Gate: The Next 25 Years, Red Gate Gallery |
| 2015 | China: Through the Looking Glass，The Metropolitan Museum of Art, USA |
| 2014 | 5th Tanwan Ceramics Biennale, Taipei County Yingge Ceramics Museum, Tanwan |
| ST. Start International exhibition of the Chinese Contemporary Ceramic Art, Today Art Museum, Beijing | |
| 2013 | 7th Gyeonggi International Ceramic Biennale 2013 Korea, Icheon CeraMIX Creative Center, Korea |
| 2011 | Ming to Nirvana, Red Gate Gallery |
| 2010 | Head On, Red Gate Gallery |
| Width Contemporary Art Exhibition, Museum of Contemporary Art, Beijing | |
| 2008 | Virginia Miller Gallery, Miami |
| Asian Contemporary Art Fair, New York | |
| 2006 | Sculpture, Pickled Art Centre |
| Consumption Times I, Ha Te Art Centre | |
| 2005 | Diversity and Construction, Beijing |
| 2004 | X Yard, Beijing |
| Beijing International Art Camp | |
| 2002 | CAFA Graduates’ Exhibition |
For more informations about Li Xiaofeng’s work: https://www.redgategallery.com/content/li-xiaofeng