Porcelain with a modern message

But porcelain remained his most familiar material. “No other contemporary artists of the early of 1990s made porcelain. They never mastered the skill,” he said.

He first became known for his brightly-colored, headless and armless female torsos that were placed in sexy poses and covered in tradition dress. The series came to symbolize China’s attempts to attract foreign investors after the economic reforms of the late 1970s.

His works often deal with interpretations of China’s role as the world’s factory, and his installations and sculptures include assembly lines, mountains of electronic waste and broken porcelain fragments.

“I continue to use porcelain in my work, because it is a challenge for me to overcome obstacles in my technique and a chance to rethink artistic tradition,” he said.

Liu Jianhua: Screaming Walls

Where: Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA), 798 Art District, 4 Jiuxianqiao Lu, Chaoyang District

When: Until November 20, daily except Monday, 10 am – 6 pm

Admission: 15 yuan, 10 yuan for students

Tel: 8459 9269