Silver Schools: The Jewellery and Metals Studio at the Academy of Fine Arts, Shanghai University

Ring Gallery, Main Square 12

4 May – 20 June, 2021

Opening hours:

Tuesday - Sunday: 12:00 - 6:00 p.m.

The Jewellery and Metals Studio at the Shanghai Academy of Fine Arts – which is a college of Shanghai University – was established in 2003 as one of the first university initiatives in China to support training in goldsmithing, metalwork and jewellery design.

The director, founder and author of the curriculum is prof. Shannon Guo – artist and promoter of contemporary goldsmithing. In 1989 she received a bachelor's degree in graphic design. In 1994, she went to the United States to study for her master's degree, which she finally obtained from Indiana University of Pennsylvania in 1999, in humanities as well as in fine arts (specialization: jewelry and metals, secondary specialization: ceramics). Her works have been exhibited and awarded many times both in China and abroad. She is the founder and co-owner of the gallery of contemporary crafts - "Twocities Gallery" in Shanghai, which was established in 2005 as the first exhibition space in China devoted to the promotion of contemporary artistic craftsmanship. Curator of numerous exhibitions in the field of glass, ceramics, lacquer, jewellery and metalwork. She was one of the co-curators of the international exhibition "Ahead of Curve - Contemporary Chinese Porcelain and Glass Exhibition", which opened at the Cheltenham Museum in October 2014 and was then exhibited at the Bristol Museum and Stoke-on-Trent Museum in Great Britain. This exhibition was honored as an exhibition at a national level and was sponsored by Art Council England.

Developed by Professor Shannon Guo, the curriculum in the Jewellery and Metals Studio includes an undergraduate and a three-year-long graduate programme. Students study both traditional metalworking techniques as well as contemporary ways of thinking about jewellery as an art form that requires critical thinking and the use of unconventional techniques and materials. Classes are taught by regular lecturers (Prof. Shannon Guo, Xu Jiaying and Lv Zhongquan), as well as artists collaborating with the Studio. So far, guest lecturers have been: Kim Buck, Norman Cherry, Mary Lee Hu and others.

The exhibition presents works of lecturers, people connected with the Academy, as well as graduates of the Studio who are now recognised artists and employees of art schools.

Shannon Guo
Transformation  pendants, silver, gold plated silver, polymer clay, 160 x 40 x 30 mm; 190 x 35 x 35 mm;

190 x 35 x 35 mm, 2017

Shifa Hu

Nostalgia  necklace, brooches, silver, plexiglass, gold foil, copper, photo, aluminum, pearl, turquoise,

96 x 78 x 26 mm; 58 x 80 x 22 mm; 78 x 65 x 28 mm, 2019