周国桢，男，1932年8月出生，湖南省安仁县人。江西景德镇陶瓷学院教授。1954年毕业于中央美术学院。现为中国美协理事、中国工艺美术学会雕塑专业委员会顾问、中国工艺美术学会江西分会主席、江西雕塑协会会长、景德镇市美协名誉主席、高岭陶艺学会理事长、中国工艺美术大师评委。1988年轻工业部授予“全国轻工业科技先锋”称号，1991年定为景德镇市拔尖人才，1992年荣获国务院特殊津贴。是陶艺家、画家又是陶艺教育家。

 在“土”与“火”的熔炼中探索40余年，创建了中国现代陶艺的独特语汇和时代精神。 <动物世界>是其真诚的奉献，给童心者以灵趣，给思考者一面人情事态的镜子。表现手法的多变和材质的多样是其陶艺创作的另一重大特征，不同的工艺手段不同的材质是其作品的不同主题和鲜明的陶艺个性的需要，以历史整体的浑纯美，显示具有当代意识的东方神秘主义哲学美。曾于上海美术馆、中国美术馆、四川美术馆、香港中华文化促进中心等地举办个展十余次，于澳门、新加坡等地联展多次。中国工艺美术馆、香港艺术馆及海内外私人收藏其作品甚多。四川美术出版社、香港文化促进中心等为其出版了专辑。英、美等三家国际名人中心将其列为“世界名人”，1992年英国剑桥世界名人中心授予“世纪勋章”，个人传略1997年被收入《世界华人文学艺术界名人录》。

 周国桢的作品，充满了浪漫的画意，而风趣的标题，更添了作品的情趣。譬如命题“长者”的猩猩双手垂地，外形构成三角，重心向下，影如泰山，深深揭示长者内心世界的气质；又譬如“拼命三郎”的野猪，作者从“拼”字上着眼，有意将颈、背部凸起，颈毛如峰，龇牙挺首，显示健美体感和强烈的冲动势头。富有阳刚之美。

朦胧时期，是指周国桢在20世纪50年代创作的作品。作品表现的是低层次的率直和淳朴、童趣和直感，如《迎春》、《饲养员》、《好阿姨》。

唯美时期，是20世界60年代周国桢开始对造型语言、形式的完美和华丽的釉色表层效果着意追求的产物。作品更多体现神、形、理和趣的意味。

古风时期，是周国桢进入20世界80年代后，开始把自己的艺术视野转向遥远的西北文化，立足本土意识，塑造了一个充满人性的动物世界。

新表现时期是从1985年以后，这一时期的作品更多地强调艺术家自我精神的外化。粗质陶瓷材料的运用使他的作品面貌有了根本性改观。

周国桢艺术作品

 周国桢教授是我国著名的现代陶艺家。他创作的现代陶艺作品不仅数量巨多，收藏遍布国内外，而且总在引领中国乃至世界现代陶艺发展之潮流，极具学术研究之价值。有人认为，我国的现代陶艺是20世纪80年代中期被“西风”吹过来的，但是，凡对周国桢及其作品有所了解的人都会承认，早在20世纪50年代，他创作的陶艺作品就已基本具备了现代陶艺的特质。到20世纪80年代初，他已创作了以《雪豹》为代表的一批成熟的现代陶艺佳作。更难能可贵的是，周国桢教授从没有停歇过对现代陶艺的思考、开拓和创新，其造型、其材料、其工艺、其境界都达到相当高超的水准，先后创作了“朦胧时期”、“唯美时期”、“古风时期”、“新表现时期”等四个风格特点非常明显的系列作品。今天，当我们面对创造了艺术品格和学术地位丝毫不亚于世界一流的现代陶艺家的周国桢教授时，都会情不自禁地感叹：周国桢教授值得CHINA和china骄傲。

周国桢教授还是我国著名的陶艺教育家。他从1976年开始在景德镇陶瓷学院任教达21年之久，曾担任过学院美术系主任、学院学术委员会副主任等要职。今天可以说，在中国陶艺界许多人都与周国桢教授有着直接或间接的学缘和师生关系。即是说，他的徒子徒孙已遍布国内外，不少人（如朱乐耕、吕品昌等）已成为中国乃至世界陶瓷艺术界的学术带头人。以现代陶艺作品《生死时速》荣获第十一届全国美展金奖的孟福伟是他的徒孙……用“桃李满天下”来形容周国桢教授在陶瓷艺术教育上的突出贡献和崇高地位毫不为过。 

因此，学术界、评论界、艺术界评周国桢教授为“中国当代陶艺发展的一面旗帜”、“中国现代陶艺创作的先锋”、“中国现代陶艺泰斗”、“世界级的现代陶艺家”、“真正的世界第一”等是有根据的。实际上，如果从中国乃至世界现代陶艺发展史角度看，“周国桢教授本身就是一部中国现代陶艺发展史，是一位极具世界美术史意义的现代陶艺家”。

周国桢艺术作品

 周国桢1954年来到景德镇，当时景德镇的传统瓷雕，基本上是清一色的佛教题材，在表现形成上是白瓷加彩二次烧成。如何打造一个新天地，走出一个新路子，是周国桢终生追求的目标。周国桢认为，艺术作品代表了今天，才能更有价值留给明天。周国桢的创作生涯可大致分为四个不同时期，即“朦胧时期”、 “唯美时期”、 “古风时期”和“新表现时期”，这四个时期面貌各不相同。

朦胧时期

五十年代以儿童题材为主，1955年全国的“除四害”运动，造就了亿万中国人民迎接春天的到来；1958年塑造了在人民公社运动中老太太照看儿童的《好阿姨》形象；1960年创作了反映自然灾害的《东山在望》等。作品无不紧扣当时的现实生活，为景德镇的陶瓷雕塑注入了一股强有力的新鲜血液，所谓“朦胧时期”，是指虽然在题材上跨越了一大步，然而，在具有丰富材料的陶瓷装饰上还没有足够的重视和运用，陶瓷雕塑应有的语言特色还没有显现出来，对它还处于朦胧的认识时期。

唯美时期

二十世纪六十年代周国桢开始追求造型语言、形式的完美和丰富的釉色表现效果，有些作品有一种强烈的瞬间视觉效果，并加强了内在的感染力，体现了造型与釉色的完善结合。1960年后创作了一批高度概括，线条流畅的表现形、神、理、趣的意味，自我的意识正在不断加强，如《独立》、《西班牙舞》，《母子羊》、《母子鸡》、《天亮了》等动物题材作品。

通过尝试努力，他探索到不同的造型适用不同的颜色釉，使景德镇瓷雕白瓷加彩一统天下的局面焕然一新，让神奇莫测、千变万化的高温色釉又有个能充分展示的新天地。这时期周国桢作品的釉色效果可以说是集全国之大成。但这五光十色的高温色釉，只是为陶瓷雕塑披上了一件华丽的外衣，因而将这一时期定为“唯美时期”。

古风时期

进入二十世纪八十年代后，周国桢立足本土意识，然后又把自己的艺术视野扩展到遥远的西北文化，一次又一次从大西北的“黄色文明”中寻求生命重新唤起的力量，从而产生了他的古风时期的系列作品。把从原始艺术中体味到的“雅拙”，从汉代雕刻中感受到的“力度”，从唐代艺术中领悟到的“博大”和自己的感性生命意识融合一体，塑造出一个充满人性的动物世界。周国桢从无意的残缺肌理的出现到有意的残缺肌理的追求，结果便出现了各种各样残缺肌理效果，这朴素美、残缺美，正符合当今世界所追求的返朴归真、回归大自然的审美需求。如集珠的《波斯猫》、气泡的《黑叶猴》、缩釉的《金蟾》等。

他崇尚我们民族的意象化朴素、自然天成的艺术，大胆的单独使用或混合使用匣钵土、大缸泥、紫砂泥等。因而，1985年后又出现了古朴粗犷、手感泥味的大写意作品，从而彻底的从民间艺术向纯艺术迈进了一大步，如作品<落叶归根）、<牛脾气>、<山魈>、<金丝猴>等，为此将这时期称为“古风时期”。

新表现时期

经过三个不同时期在材料上，手法上的变革，周国桢的创作生涯又开始了一个最富革命性的变革过程。这个过程使周国桢从更高的层次燃起对人生欲求的火焰。这一时期的作品，更多的强调了艺术家自我精神的升华。他注重把握感情的偶发性和随意性：注重材料的偶发性和随意性；注重材料自身的表现力和泥土的运动；以及火焰的适应和运用。

他用一种民间做大缸盘条成形法，信手拈来，一气呵成，如作品《斑马》、《角马》、《犀牛》等，另一种方法是上世纪五十年代见过的打泥板卷筒的方法，如作品《静观》、《犹猪》、《羚羊》等。完全没有雕塑成型的感觉，可以说是现代陶艺真正的表现语言。它既是传统的，又是现代的，既是民间的，又是民族的。在新表现时期中，这些作品自身所构筑的框架显现出一个富有深刻内涵和情感的视觉世界。

 Zhou Guozhen, male, was born in August 1932 in Anren County, Hunan Province. Professor, Jingdezhen Ceramic Institute, Jiangxi Province. Graduated from Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1954. He is currently the director of the Chinese Association of Arts and Crafts, the consultant of the Sculpture Committee of the Chinese Society of Arts and Crafts, the chairman of the Jiangxi Branch of the Chinese Society of Arts and Crafts, the chairman of the Jiangxi Sculpture Association, the honorary chairman of the Jingdezhen Association of Arts and Crafts, the chairman of the Kaolin Ceramic Society, and the judge of the Chinese Master of Arts and Crafts. In 1988, the Ministry of Light Industry awarded the title "National Pioneer of Light Industry Science and Technology". In 1991, it was designated as the top talent in Jingdezhen City. In 1992, it was awarded a special allowance by the State Council. He is a pottery artist, painter and pottery educator.

More than 40 years of exploration in the melting of "earth" and "fire" have created a unique vocabulary and spirit of the times of modern Chinese ceramics. Animal World is its sincere dedication, which gives the innocent a spirit and a mirror of human affairs to the thinkers. Another important feature of his pottery creation is the variety of expressive techniques and materials. Different techniques and materials are the different themes of his works and the needs of distinct pottery individuality. It shows the philosophical beauty of Oriental mysticism with contemporary consciousness by the holistic beauty of history. He has held more than ten solo exhibitions in Shanghai Art Museum, China Art Museum, Sichuan Art Museum, Hong Kong Chinese Culture Promotion Center and other places, and several joint exhibitions in Macao, Singapore and other places. Museum of Arts and Crafts of China, Hong Kong Museum of Art and private collections at home and abroad have a large number of works. Sichuan Fine Arts Publishing House and Hong Kong Cultural Promotion Center have published albums for them. Three international celebrity centers in the United Kingdom and the United States listed them as "world celebrities". In 1992, the World Celebrity Center in Cambridge, England, awarded the "Medal of the Century". In 1997, the biography was included in the "World Celebrity List of Chinese Literature and Art".

Zhou Guozhen's works are full of romantic paintings, and funny titles add to the interest of his works. For example, the chimpanzee with the proposition of "the elder" has two hands on the ground, the shape of which forms a triangle, the center of gravity is downward, and the shadow of Mount Tai reveals the temperament of the elder's inner world. For example, the wild boar of "desperate Sanlang", the author intentionally protrudes his neck and back from the word "desperate Sanlang", with his neck hair like a peak and his teeth raised to show his body-building and strength. Strong impulsive momentum. Rich in the beauty of masculinity.

The obscure period refers to the works created by Zhou Guozhen in the 1950s. The works are characterized by low-level frankness and simplicity, childlike interest and intuition, such as Yingchun, Raiser and Good Aunt.

The aesthetic period is the product of Zhou Guozhen's intentional pursuit of perfection of modeling language, form and gorgeous glaze surface effect in the 1960s. The works embody more spirit, form, reason and interest.

In the period of Ancient Style, Zhou Guozhen began to turn his artistic vision to the remote northwest culture after entering the 1980s of the 20th century, and based on the local consciousness, he created an animal world full of human nature.

Since 1985, the new performance period has emphasized the externalization of the artist's self-spirit. The use of coarse ceramics has fundamentally improved the appearance of his works.

Professor Zhou Guozhen is a famous modern pottery artist in China. His modern pottery works are not only huge in number and widely collected at home and abroad, but also always lead the development trend of modern pottery in China and even in the world, which is of great academic value. Some people think that our country's modern pottery art was blown by the "westerly wind" in the mid-1980s, but anyone who knows Zhou Guozhen and his works will admit that as early as the 1950s, his pottery works have basically possessed the characteristics of modern pottery. By the early 1980s, he had created a number of mature modern ceramics masterpieces represented by Snow Leopard. What is more precious is that Professor Zhou Guozhen never stopped thinking, exploiting and innovating on modern ceramics. His shape, material, craft and realm have reached a very high level. He has successively created four styles of "hazy period", "aesthetic period", "ancient wind period" and "new performance period". The point is very obvious series of works. Today, when we are confronted with Professor Zhou Guozhen, who has created art character and academic status no less than the world's first-class modern ceramist, we can't help exclaiming that Professor Zhou Guozhen deserves the pride of CHINA and China.

Professor Zhou Guozhen is also a famous pottery educator in China. Since 1976, he has taught for 21 years in Jingdezhen Ceramic College. He has served as the chairman of the Department of fine arts and vice-chairman of the academic committee of the College. Today, it can be said that many people in China's ceramics industry have direct or indirect academic ties and teacher-student relations with Professor Zhou Guozhen. That is to say, his disciples and descendants have spread all over the world, and many people (such as Zhu Legeng, Lu Pinchang, etc.) have become academic leaders in China and even in the world ceramic art circles. Meng Fuwei, who won the gold medal of the 11th National Art Exhibition with his modern pottery work "Speed of Life and Death", is his disciple and grandson. It is no exaggeration to describe Professor Zhou Guozhen's outstanding contribution and lofty position in ceramic art education with "peach and plum all over the world".