Through the Ages－Li Chen 古往今來—李真畫冊

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Through the Ages－Li Chen

古往今來—李真

Type: Publication

Client: Asia Art Center-Beijing

Year: 2019

Artist: Li Chen 李真

Design: Sung, Di-Yen 宋狄諺

Museums act as a space that not only provides us with knowledge of the past but also provokes our imagination and ability to think. It is an important space to generate new ideas and means. Museum is a bridge that connect the past with future. With the opening of Through the Ages — Li Chen Solo Exhibition at Aurora Museum, it reveals a new interpretation of the museum as well as begins a new way of perceiving Li Chen’s work. Li Chen is a renowned sculptor. His sculpture has been exhibited in many domestic and international art spaces. However, this is his first exhibition in a museum specialized in relics. As his work and ancient Chinese Buddhist statues are in juxtaposition, we can see clearly the “past life” and “present life” of Li Chen’s work. Through Li Chen’s early and more recent works, the influence of traditional Buddhist statue-making since the Northern Dynasties is evident, precisely pinpointing his unique artistic language and aesthetics. Here, both the artist and viewers can clearly find his art’s position in history. As we weave through masterpieces of the past and present, we are hit with the feeling of fleeting time “through the ages”. Meanwhile, there is one thing that has not changed for thousands of years—human’s desire of creating wonderful things. Change and changelessness are the two views for us to understand history and art. Li Chen’s exhibition at Aurora Museum can provide many enlightening revelations.

—Xu Tianjin, Professor, Center for the Study of Chinese Archaeology, Peking University

博物館不僅是給我們提供關於過去的知識或常識的場所，同時也是激發我們的想像力和思考能力，從而生產新思想，新方法的重要空間。博物館也是連接過去與未來的一座橋樑。“古往今來—李真個展”在震旦博物館的舉辦，可以被認為是對博物館意義的一種新詮釋，同時也為李真先生的作品開啟了另一種全新的解讀方式。李真是一位著名的雕塑家，他的雕塑作品曾在國內外許多藝術空間舉辦過不同類型的展覽，但在歷史類的博物館展出，這是第一次，因此別具意義。當他的作品和中國古代佛教造像在同一空間並置時，我們才可以清晰地看見李真作品的“前世“和”今生”，透過李真早晚不同時期的作品，不難發現源於北朝以來佛教造像的藝術傳統所留下的印痕，也因此而更準確的認清了他所獨有的語言特徵和審美趣味。在這裡，藝術家或者觀眾，都不難找到這些作品在歷史座標中的位置。當我們徜徉在博物館，穿梭於古今的藝術傑作之間時，即可感受到“不舍晝夜”的時光流變—“古往今來”，同時也可以真切地體會到千百年來不曾改變的一點，即人類對美好事物的追求和創造。變與不變，是我們認識歷史乃至藝術的兩個方面，李真作品在震旦博物館的展出，可以給我們許多有益的啟示。

—北京大學中國考古學研究中心徐天進教授