survey_38 — art glass
1. Wang Jianzhong — 王建中 (Beijing, 1955)
A glass and ceramic artist and teacher; initiator of the first “art glass” programme at a Chinese art school, at the Academy of Arts & Design of Tsinghua University.
- Path — born in August 1955 in Beijing; in 1978 he entered the Central Academy of Arts & Crafts (中央工艺美术学院, now the Academy of Arts & Design of Tsinghua University), ceramics department; after graduating he stayed on to teach; in 1993 — deputy head of the ceramics department; in 2004 — professor; now a tenured professor and doctoral supervisor at the Academy of Arts & Design of Tsinghua University (清华大学美术学院).
- Glass — around the turn of the century, together with colleagues, he created at the Academy of Arts & Design of Tsinghua University the first “art glass” programme at a Chinese art school; in 2001 he held the first solo glass exhibition at the Central Academy of Arts & Crafts; in 2011 he was awarded the title “First Master of Chinese Art Glass” (首届中国玻璃艺术大师).
- Works — glass: 窗系列, 创世, 宇宙洪荒, 元·初, 望风云舒卷, 邂逅—太极与引力波, 战国印迹, 抵达, 山·水·天 and 清风明月; in 2015, at his solo exhibition 元—初 at the Shanghai Museum of Glass, the artist gave the work 回声 (Echo) to the museum for its permanent collection.
- Exhibitions and collections — solo exhibitions 炉火正红 at the National Art Museum of China (中国美术馆, 2016) and at the National Centre for the Performing Arts (国家大剧院, 2018); works in the collections of the National Museum of China (创世), the National Art Museum of China (启程, 抵达), the China Museum of Arts & Crafts (元·初) and the Shanghai Museum of Glass (回声).
2. Zhuang Xiaowei — 庄小蔚 (b. 1957)
A glass artist and teacher; founder of the glass workshop and of art-glass teaching at Shanghai University, and the first director of the Shanghai Museum of Glass.
- Path — born in 1957; in 1998 sent by Shanghai University to the art-glass department of the School of Art & Design at the University of Wolverhampton (UK), where he took a master's degree; returned to China in November 2000.
- Glass — with technical support from the University of Wolverhampton he founded a glass workshop with a full self-contained teaching cycle at the Academy of Fine Arts of Shanghai University — the first among Chinese universities; the workshop gained an international reputation.
- Roles — professor at the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts of Shanghai University (上海大学上海美术学院); first director of the Shanghai Museum of Glass (上海玻璃博物馆); deputy director of the Art Glass Institute of the Public Art Academy of the China National Academy of Painting; in 2011 awarded the title “Master of Chinese Glass Art” and elected an honorary professor of the University of Wolverhampton.
- Works — author of the articles 学院派玻璃艺术, 诗的语言 and 跨文化的交响乐; the works 追风 (Chase Wind, 2009) and 灰笛 (2008) are in the collection of the Shanghai Museum of Glass; solo exhibition 庄小蔚的玻璃艺术 (伽蓝画廊 gallery, Shanghai, 2010).
3. Guan Donghai — 关东海
A glass artist and teacher; head of the art-glass studio and deputy head of the arts & crafts department at the Academy of Arts & Design of Tsinghua University, and director of the Art Glass Committee of the China Arts & Crafts Association.
- Path — 1985–1989 bachelor's at the Central Academy of Arts & Crafts (中央工艺美术学院); 1994–1997 master's there; 2002–2003 master's in art glass at the University of Wolverhampton; 2010 visiting researcher at Virginia Commonwealth University (USA); 2010–2013 doctoral study at the University of Sunderland (UK); in 1989–1994 he taught at the Tianjin Polytechnic Institute, and since 1997 at Tsinghua University.
- Roles — a tenured professor and doctoral supervisor at the Academy of Arts & Design of Tsinghua University; head of the art-glass studio and deputy head of the arts & crafts department; director of the Art Glass Committee of the China Arts & Crafts Association; a member of the China Artists Association; an honorary professor of the University of Wolverhampton.
- Works — the 城门 series (more than 30 works, including 城门·红城门 and 城门·蓝城门, made in the split-mould technique), 十年剑, 磬, 笼子·头, 女娲·伏羲, 七剑, 蟹, 人马座 and 探索者 (a glass series assembled on the principle of the Chinese 银锭榫 dovetail joint).
- Collections — 红门 — Bristol Museum (2013); 磬 and 城门 — the Qinhuangdao Glass Museum (2012); 城门 — the University of Wolverhampton (2010); 钺 and 剑 — the Taiwan Crystal Museum (琉园水晶博物馆, 2010); 镜, 笼子·头, 白城门, 白剑, 制度 and 城门·七 — the Alexander Tutsek-Stiftung foundation (Germany, 2006–2010).
- Exhibitions and projects — the solo exhibition 大朴凝华——关东海玻璃艺术展 (Academy of Arts & Design of Tsinghua University, 2021); curator of and participant in 璃光共曜廿五载——现代玻璃艺术联展 (Shanghai Museum of Glass Art, 2025); restoration of the stained-glass window of a Catholic church in Zizhong, Sichuan (2019); organisation of the exhibitions 华彩初凝——中国学生玻璃作品展 (2015–2019) and of the International Lampworking Festival in Hejian (2017–2018).
4. Liu Liyu — 刘立宇 (Inner Mongolia, 1976)
A glass artist and teacher; director of the Art Glass Institute of the Public Art Academy of the China National Academy of Painting.
- Path — born in 1976 in Inner Mongolia; in 1999 she graduated from the decorative-art department of the Central Academy of Arts & Crafts (now the Academy of Arts & Design of Tsinghua University); in 2003 a master's in art and design at the University of Wolverhampton; in 2010 a doctorate in art history at the China National Academy of Arts (中国艺术研究院).
- Teaching and roles — from 2004 she taught in the glass workshop of the arts & crafts department of the Academy of Arts & Design of Tsinghua University (for about ten years); she is now an artist in the sculpture section of the China National Academy of Painting and, since December 2016, director of the Art Glass Institute of its Public Art Academy.
- Works — the series 印象敦煌, 泉, 山色 and 山行 (blown glass, 2013), 寒烟, 夜阑, 静观, 坐看云起, 闲愁 and 江山 (mirror stainless steel and cast glass, 2013), and 流年——第11819天 (glass, canvas, 2009); the work 生存No.1 was accepted into the permanent collection of the National Art Museum of China.
- Exhibitions and projects — the solo exhibition 刘立宇玻璃艺术作品展 (2008); participation in a show at the National Museum of China (中俄当代女艺术家作品展, 2006) and in the 10th National Exhibition of Fine Arts (2004); 三重奏 (with 刘俐蕴 and 邱思婷, 北京对画空间画廊 gallery, 2010) with glass necklaces and rings; in 2017 a prize for best art glass at the first 凤凰艺术年展; in 2016 head and art director of the exhibition of traditional Chinese lampworked glass 中国传统手工艺玻璃灯工作品展 (a project supported by the State Arts Fund).
5. Sun Liang — 孙良 (Hangzhou, 1957)
A Shanghai cross-disciplinary artist: a painter whose glass works are made in collaboration with Czech glass masters.
- Path — born in 1957 in Hangzhou; from 1973 he worked for six years at a jade-carving factory under 肖海春; in 1982 he graduated from the Shanghai Institute of Light Industry (上海轻工业学院) in design; he teaches at the University of Shanghai for Science and Technology (上海理工大学).
- Painting — a representative of the Shanghai “new wave” of Western painting; in 1993 he took part in the 45th Venice Biennale and the first Asia-Pacific Triennial in Brisbane; works are held in the collections of the Shanghai Art Museum, the Guangdong Museum of Art and others.
- Glass — his glass works continue the artist's painterly style and, according to exhibition materials, are made together with Czech glassblowers; solo exhibitions 闪—孙良玻璃雕塑展 (圣菱画廊 gallery, Shanghai, 2006) and 孙良玻璃艺术及油画展 (Czech Centre, Prague, 2006); a participant in the international art-glass exhibition 我喜欢你沉静 (Shanghai, 2016) with the work 双龙戏珠.
- Note — in the Shanghai context this refers to the artist 孙良 (b. 1957), who works with glass in collaboration with Czech masters; not to be confused with namesakes.