MenLo is a studio and gallery focused on growing the international artist community in Jingdezhen, providing access to the city for aspiring ceramic artists, and amplifying young and emerging Chinese contemporary artists in any medium. As a studio we are committed to working in an integrated way with the city, its artisans, and its industry. As a gallery we do not have representational relationships with artists, we facilitate making, and try to find the work done in our studio homes in various galleries, museums, and other venues around China.
Jingdezhen, Jiangxi Province, China: The Porcelain Capitol.
Jingdezhen is a city of 1 million, small by Chinese standards. Its history of porcelain production stretches back more than 1 1/2 millennia. It is a living historical sight populated by porcelain, from the hundreds of galleries featuring the ceramic art and design of today, to the more than 5 major museums showcasing the historical objects, tools, and people of the past, to the many popup markets offering everything between the two. It is a magnet for artisans from all over the country and for tourists and artists from around the globe. It is home to thousands of independent artists and craftspeople, many extremely specialized in nature. From wood workers, welders, traditional painters, and calligraphers to potters, mold makers, glazers, and kiln firers the people here make up the massive art factory that is Jingdezhen. It is this economy of scale that makes Jingdezhen such an attractive destination for Artists. As a place where object making is one of the most common professions, it offers mastery of a multiple practices and processes as a common commodity to those of any skill level or specialization. Its relative affordability allows artists to farm out parts or all of the labor involved in projects that are outside of their personal ability or beyond a scale achievable on their own. It can also simply provide inspiration, a studio, a unique experience, and a long and heavily populated history of art making to add to in some small way.
Cost of Living in JDZ
Contact us @ MenLoJDZ@Gmail.com or follow us @ps_jingdezhen on instagram
Jingdezhen is a city of 1 million, small by Chinese standards. Its history of porcelain production stretches back more than 1 1/2 millennia. It is a living historical sight populated by porcelain, from the hundreds of galleries featuring the ceramic art and design of today, to the more than 5 major museums showcasing the historical objects, tools, and people of the past, to the many popup markets offering everything between the two. It is a magnet for artisans from all over the country and for tourists and artists from around the globe. It is home to thousands of independent artists and craftspeople, many extremely specialized in nature. From wood workers, welders, traditional painters, and calligraphers to potters, mold makers, glazers, and kiln firers the people here make up the massive art factory that is Jingdezhen. It is this economy of scale that makes Jingdezhen such an attractive destination for Artists. As a place where object making is one of the most common professions, it offers mastery of a multiple practices and processes as a common commodity to those of any skill level or specialization. Its relative affordability allows artists to farm out parts or all of the labor involved in projects that are outside of their personal ability or beyond a scale achievable on their own. It can also simply provide inspiration, a studio, a unique experience, and a long and heavily populated history of art making to add to in some small way.
Cost of Living in JDZ
Contact us @ MenLoJDZ@Gmail.com or follow us @ps_jingdezhen on instagram