Press | Liu Shiming Art Foundation to Present Bio-morph, The Second Emerging Artists New Media Art Exhibition,A Presentation of Work by Liu Shiming and Liu Shiming Artist Grant Recipients
- 5 days ago
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June 12 – August 28, 2026
Opening Reception: June 12, 6pm–8pm
Liu Shiming Art Foundation
15 E 40th Street, 5th Floor, New York, NY 10016
Manami Ishimura, In One Breath (2025), ant, glass, agar, sugar, water, sand, brass, steel, fan, copper, resin, PVC pipe, Dimensions Vary, Courtesy of the Artist
New York, New York – May 18, 2026 – The Liu Shiming Art Foundation is proud to announce its upcoming exhibition Bio-morph, The Second Emerging Artists New Media Art Exhibition, on view from June 12 through August 28, 2026. The term “biomorph” refers to forms that draw from living organisms and natural processes, suggesting growth, mutation, softness, movement, and interdependence. This exhibition spotlights the work of five Liu Shiming Artist Grant recipients, bringing their practices into dialogue with Liu Shiming’s as well as each other’s through their shared sensitivity to organic form and artistic transformation.
Artists on view:
Jing Huang (2024 recipient), Manami Ishimura (2025 recipient), Lulú Osnaya (2024 recipient), Sangwoo Yoo (2025 recipient), and Sergei Zinchuk (2024 recipient).
Bio-morph is curated by Ashley Wu, Assistant Curator, Liu Shiming Art Foundation
Bio-morph features a selection of Liu Shiming’s (1926–2010) lesser seen, more abstract works, an artist typically known for monumental public sculpture and a quieter practice of small pastoral figures and street scenes. In these pieces, Liu’s more traditional representation of the body loosens, playing with contour and volume. Handles suggest arms and openings echo torsos. The surfaces of these works feel shaped as much by natural growth and erosion as by the sculptor’s hand. These works reveal a less-explored aspect of Liu’s sculpture, where organic form and material presence come together with unusual freedom.
Liu Shiming, Fuse (1988), Plaster, 9 ×10¹⁄₈ × 4 ¾ inches. Courtesy of the Liu Shiming Art Foundation
At once a testament to Liu’s formal inventiveness and a celebration of the Foundation’s grant recipients, Bio-morph highlights an intergenerational and cross-cultural focus on humanity and the body. Across installation, sculpture, and material experimentation, the recipients’ works resonate with Liu’s interest in forms that feel alive and in flux. Some works suggest a bodily presence without fully describing it. Others draw on arrangements found in nature or the built environment, yet remain fluid and alive. Together, they mix with the sculptures of Liu Shiming to present an intergenerational array of material and structural innovation, and a cohesive focus on rethinking the human form while nevertheless centering humanity.
The Foundation’s Artist Grant program stems from the value Liu Shiming placed on supporting younger generations of artists during his sculpture career and his tenure as a professor at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. Since 2023, the Foundation has awarded twenty $5,000 Artist Grants, supporting the work of visual artists during the first decade of their careers. The grants have enabled the five young artists in Bio-morph, as well as the other grantees, to work on new projects that explore the interplay between traditional, cultural, or historical influences and their contemporary artistic practice.
On June 13 at 11am, the Foundation will hold “Surviving the Art World,” a sharing session led by Ashley Wu. The session will work to answer the question of what it actually takes to sustain a life in art. She will be joined by two of the Artist Grant recipients featured in Bio-Morph, Manami Ishimura and Sergei Zinchuk. They will share their practical experience related to navigating the art world — from writing exhibition proposals and artist statements to securing funding, finding residencies, and building a teaching career.
About The Liu Shiming Art Foundation
Established in 2021, the Liu Shiming Art Foundation supports contemporary art worldwide while elevating and preserving the art of renowned Chinese artist Liu Shiming (1926-2010). Based in New York, the Foundation curates contemporary art exhibitions and provides scholarships, grants, and exchange opportunities to cultivate and grow a global arts discourse that recognizes common humanity, as Liu Shiming did as a teacher, through his art and life. lsmartfund.org.
FOR MEDIA ENQUIRIES
Max Kruger-Dull
Tel: +1-212-675-1800
Blue Medium, Inc.
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