Sai Ying Pun Sun Museum | Sun Museum Grandly Presents “Sun Delight” “Profound Impressions: The Art of Liu Chunjie’s Original Plates and Prints” A Dialogue of 48 Matrices and Prints

Description

Sun Museum proudly presents its annual highlight, “Sun Delight”, featuring its latest exhibition "Profound Impressions: The Art of Liu Chunjie’s Original Plates and Prints". This exhibition serves as a key highlight celebrating the museum’s 10th anniversary. Running from 11 March till 14 June, 2026, it showcases the original woodcuts and prints of renowned Chinese printmaker Liu Chunjie, whose artistic accomplishments transcend both time and space.

Liu Chunjie was born and raised in Heilongjiang, drawing inspiration from the vast and fertile landscapes of the north. His early work is characterised by a bold and expressive style that conveys a love for nature and a nostalgia for the pioneering days. After relocating to Nanjing in 2004, he became deeply influenced by the local culture of the south, leading to a shift in his creation towards the more personally reflective "Private Thoughts" series, showcasing the artist's keen observations and profound reflections on contemporary life.

The exhibition "Profound Impressions: The Art of Liu Chunjie's Original Plates and Prints" showcases 48 works, with the majority drawn from his “Beidahuang” series. These pieces convey Liu's optimistic vision by weaving delicate and versatile carvings into a harmonious world where humans, plants, and animals coexist. One of Liu Chunjie’s signature works, The Light Dance of the Wind, portrays an Evenki girl running through a field, parting battling elk. An elk drinking at a river startles the tadpoles and frogs in the water. Lively lines guide the viewer to discover hidden creatures like dragonflies, birds, ducks, fish, and piglets nestled among the fields, trees, and waterways. The scene is vibrant, radiating innocent joy. Other exhibits, such as Singing in the Setting Sun and Fallen Autumn Flowers, celebrate the natural beauty and simple life of Northeast China. While other printmakers from the Beidahuang School of printmaking often focus on bold colours and thick black lines, Liu Chunjie employs distinctly different lines, compositions, and colours to capture his poetic vision of rural life, expressing warmth and admiration for his homeland.

Liu emphasises the symbiotic relationship between the "original plate" and the "print".  He believes that the woodcut original plates possess independent artistic value as sculptures. By displaying the original plates alongside the prints, the exhibition profoundly reveals the transformation of artistic creation from the three-dimensional to two-dimensional. This exhibition breaks the conventional model that prioritizes prints over original plates, showcasing all 48 pieces together, with 14 pieces featuring only the woodcut originals. This approach highlights the uniqueness and artistic value of the originals as shallow relief works, illustrating the printmaker's fluid navigation between the three-dimensional and two-dimensional, and deeply reflecting the diversity and depth of printmaking.

Currently serving as the Specially Appointed Director of Jinling Art Museum and the Specially Appointed Director of Nanjing Academy of Painting and Calligraphy, Liu Chunjie is a prominent figure in the contemporary Chinese printmaking community. He holds several important positions, including Member of the Printmaking Art Committee for the China Artists Association; Distinguished Professor and Graduate Supervisor at the Xi'an Academy of Fine Arts, Visiting Professor of the Printmaking Department, Central Academy of Fine Arts; Vice Dean of the International Institute of Printmaking at the Central Academy of Fine Arts; and Vice-Chairman of Nanjing Artists Association. Liu has been awarded the highest honour in Chinese printmaking, the Lu Xun Printmaking Award. His work has received national recognition, earning accolades such as the Lu Xun Commemorative Medal, the Excellence Award at the First National Serigraphy Print Competition, the Excellence Award at the 20th National Print Exhibition, Xu Zhimo Art Prize from University of Cambridge, the China Publishing Government Award, the Jiangsu Province Zijin Cultural Talent Award, and the Jiangsu Province Person of the Year honor for the 40th anniversary of Reform and Opening-up.

His artistic achievements are highly regarded on the international stage, with works permanently housed in several world-class museums, including the British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum (V&A) in the UK, as well as the Art Institute of Chicago in the United States.

Dr. Lesley Lau, Director of Sun Museum, states, "Liu Chunjie's original plates and prints showcase the pure, serene, lyrical, and passionate beauty of the northern black soil with delicate techniques. His unique style and artistic achievements are truly impressive. This exhibition not only features masterpieces from the early stages of his career but also includes a-new work, Morning, Hong Kong, created specifically for this exhibition. This exhibition provides a valuable opportunity for visitors to appreciate Liu Chunjie's artistic achievements and engage with this artist. It perfectly embodies the mission of Sun Museum to connect various artists, scholars, and art practitioners in promoting and deepening public understanding and appreciation of Chinese culture and art. " 

To encourage exchanges among artists, Sun Museum invites young Hong Kong artist Xie Chengxuan Jacky to participate “Sun Refresh” programme and showcase his mixed media painting, Sunflower: King and Queen, alongside Liu Chunjie's original plates and prints of Beidahuang. Sunflower: King and Queen reinterprets the colours, shapes, and textures of sunflowers through layers of paints, exploring the role and possibilities of art between the tangible and the intangible.

During the exhibition, Sun Museum will launch a series of public activities related to “Profound Impressions: The Art of Liu Chunjie’s Original Plates and Prints”. Please visit Sun Museum’s website for details. 

Additionally, the Café at Sun Museum features large-scale ink painting Hometown’s Way of Tea by remarkable Chinese artist Huang Yongyu, allowing art enthusiasts to appreciate masterpieces of different styles.