Best Konoki — Collaborate with Fashion Designer Li Li Ming

Duration : 10:00 -- 18:00

Opening : Mar 16,2013 (Sat) -- Apr 16,2013 (Tue)

Venue : Rm103/208, Building3, No.50 Moganshan Rd, Shanghai,China

Tel : +8621 5252 7198

Web : https://shunartdesign.com/

Artist : Mikuo KONOKI

Mr. Konoki is a famous Japanese artist who represents by Shun Art Gallery for a long time. Once again, we usher in the new exhibition of Mr. Konoki while this spring comes. With this exhibition, we invite famous fashion designer Li LiMing of Shanghai to cooperate with Mr. Konoki, to form a dialogue between two masters’ art works in this gallery space. Bring spring, Art and Design come to our gallery at the same time! 

The freedom of Mr. Konoki’s art works is tempered through time (mature itself), in fact, the skillful functionalism is hidden inside the casual relaxation. And you won’t realize the meaning of art pieces if you were not free your heart or even blocked your imagination. Therefore, you have to keep an open mind, to let yourself have a free spirit when you stand in front of Mr. Konoki’s art pieces.

The most important concept of Mrs. Li LiMing’s design is 100% handmade, yet I see uncompromised and insist from Mrs. Li, who is very rare and commendable on today’s rapid Chinese modern society. You can find the innate color sense of the old Shanghai; the appropriate simplicity and comfortableness from Mrs. Li’s design. Imagine that your shoulders are unloaded, put Mrs. Li’s clothing on your naked body and you will see yourself fly freely on the sky.

 So, the commonality of the two masters comes from a different side of Art and Design. The comfortable minimalism is rooted to freedom essentially. There is humor and naughty inside of Mr. Konoki’s brush, which is just the right amount, neither more nor less. And you can see colorful or simplicity from Mrs. Li’s outfits, which you can experience warmness, reassuring and memorable feeling from the hands of mother.

This time on the special exhibition at the Shun Art Gallery, we have collaborated Mr. Konoki’s new art pieces with Mrs. Li’s outfits. It’s actually a new attempt for Shun Art Gallery which pays close attention about the relationship between art and design a long time. I hope that it will give you a new kind of inspiration and freedom after the end of Festival and return to our daily basis.

About the Artist:

Mikuo Konoki, a Japanese painter, sculptor, glass painter and muralist. He graduated from Department of Painting, Musashino Art University. After the graduation, he went to Italy and accepted further education in Galleria dell’Accademia in Rome. In 1970’s, Mikuo Konoki won the “Tenko” Golden Prize, “Tokyo News Agency” Prize and “Kanagawa Kamakura Mayor” Prize in succession in the Japan Third Civilization Exhibition. It was in 1995 and 1998 that Mikuo Konoki opened his two private galleries: My Art Museum in Nasu Heights and Matsuyama Art Museum in Chiba. The Hokusai Museum which built and founded by collectors was also showcased Mr. Konoki’s artworks in public. Moreover, we can also see around 30 large frescos composed by him in temples all over Japan, which firmly established the development of Public Art in Japan.

Mr. Knonki, who is 76-year-old, is still continuing work on his own creation. Shun Art Gallery introduced his art pieces to China in 2007. Not only showcased in Shanghai, but also in Shenyang. He used to say that he admires Picasso, therefore we can see the changes of Mr. Konoki’s work, it’s also he pass beyond of his art career. Cats are often the theme of Mr. Konoki’s creation. We certainly not forget the little black of pink and yellow skirt or the tabby cat with silly appearance. The clean lines of his later artworks are purely simplicity, the anthropomorphic look of animals and the stitching, semi-abstract manifestations are express the profiling and understanding of artist himself. Not only his artworks make viewers feel innocence and joy, but also come to realize the true meaning of life.

The “Ganda” sculpture series of Mikuo Konoki is extremely popular worldwide. The term “Ganda” is from Japanese dialect means scrap iron which is never interpreted in any Japanese dictionaries. Mr. Konoki used to say that life should be respected. The materials of Ganda sculpture are basically from abandoned farm implements, iron. Mr. Konoki just like having the “Golden Hand”, gives these abandoned materials life and turned them into a vivid, childlike animal image in front of us.

2012 didn’t leave traces of the end of the world, a new life in 2013 is still need to be move forward with energy, and I wonder what kind of surprise or revelation would Mr. Konoki gives us?

About the Fashion Designer:

Li LiMing, known the world over as China’s “Knitting Queen”, founded the LILIMING brand in 1994. Every year she uses her creative genius to create a new line of limited series hand-knitted clothing. The unique combination of traditional artisanal craftsmanship and cutting-edge fashion innovation has earned LILIMING its place as a leader in the industry.

A living icon of Chinese upscale fashion designer, Mrs. Li has taken a key role in many major cultural events spanning the globe. Recognized by the international media “CNN” as one of China’s greatest fashion designers, she has been awarded numerous prestigious honors, holds the current Guiness record as the world’s most prolific pattern designer, and her work was recognized in 2009 as “Official Cultural Heritage Landmark” of the city of Shanghai.

The LILIMING brand represents a revival of ancient traditional knitting techniques, bringing to the market unique varieties of tricot and crochet that cannot be produced using automated methods. Many of the articles represent weeks of work from highly skilled artisans. Mrs. Li herself became a master of these techniques before founding her own brand, according to her own highest quality standards. It is the combination of age-old artisanal cutting-edge fashion design that has taken one of China’s jeopardized cultural heritages and created a brand that is worldwide recognized for its quality and uniqueness.

In 2013, Mrs. Li is invited by Mr. Konoki to hold a collaboration exhibition of art and design in Shun Art Gallery. Opening with Mrs. Li’s colorful, vibrant outfits, to reveal the great energy of spring and also injects a wonderful source to Mr. Konoki’s art works.