LLADRÓ AT THE T-ART CON FAIR, SHANGHAI
Lladró was part of an exhibition in Shanghai, China recently, where Kzeng Jiang’s new designs for The Guest collection took center stage.
The exhibition formed part of this year’s T-ART CON art fair, now in its second year and held across five venues at the Fu Xing Wu Ku quay on Shanghai’s South Bund, forming a huge indoor and outdoor exhibition space of nearly 10,000 square meters. This year’s event brought together more than sixty art institutions and brands and over a hundred celebrated artists and art groups from within China and from around the world, and more than a thousand pieces of the most innovative, avant-garde and trend-setting artworks were on display.
The exhibition space, decorated with a striking color scheme in various shades of blue, featured a giant Guest at the center, the small and large Guest porcelain creations designed by Kzeng Jiang, and a variety of wall-mounted artworks and decorative pieces by the artist. More than 200 social media influencers attended the exhibition.
Ever since it was originally conceived by the renowned designer Jaime Hayon ten years ago, The Guest has become Lladró’s most iconic character. Demonstrating the infinite possibilities of handcrafted porcelain when combined with the best contemporary design, it has served as a blank canvas for many celebrated international artists to apply their unique creative styles including Supakitch, Henn Kim, Ricardo Cavolo, Paul Smith, Gary Baseman, Devilrobots, Tim Biskup and Rolito.
This marks the first time that a Chinese artist has joined the creative universe of this iconic character, and the Shanghai-based designer’s work reflects contemporary Asian culture in vibrant, radical illustrations. Both his versions of The Guest pay tribute to his cultural roots through symbols of Chinese traditions such as facial and flower painting from the Song dynasty, as rendered in his own distinctive style. The face on the larger of the two has three eyes which, according to the artist, allow him to see the past, present and future as if he were a messenger traveling through time.
The event was the latest in a series of recent successes for Lladró in China, which serves as an important hub for other major markets in Asia and where the brand connects with a customer base that appreciates the artistic elegance and innovative spirit of its handcrafted creations.
