yixing teapot artist Xu Nan 徐南
written by siyutao art team
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Jiangsu Ceramic Art Master (first cohort, 2011)
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Professor‑level Senior Craft Artist
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Judge of the National Ceramic Industry Evaluation
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Master of Chinese Zisha Art
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Member of the Senior Professional Title Evaluation Committee for Arts and Crafts Series of Jiangsu Province
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Deputy Secretary‑General of the Ceramic Art Professional Committee, Jiangsu Arts and Crafts Association
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Vice Chairman of the Ceramic Art Committee, Jiangsu Ceramic Industry Association
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Director of the Ceramic Art Center, Jiangsu Arts and Crafts Association
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Department Chair and Associate Professor, Wuxi Vocational Institute of Arts and Technology
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Member of Jiangsu Artists Association
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Vice Chairman of Yixing Artists Association
Born in Yixing, Jiangsu, in October 1957, Xu Nan graduated from Nanjing University of the Arts in 1982, where he studied under distinguished masters such as Liu Haisu 刘海粟, Chen Dafan 陈大羽, and Li Changbai 李长白. While working at the design office of Jiangsu Ceramic Research Institute, he received guidance from Mao Longji 毛龙汲, which significantly improved his porcelain painting skills. He later joined the faculty of Wuxi Vocational Institute of Arts and Technology, where he has dedicated himself to both teaching and ceramic art creation. Influenced by Master Xu Xiutang 徐秀棠 and Mr. Zhang Zhian 张志安, he has consistently pursued technical mastery and artistic excellence as his lifelong goals.
His work focuses on the research, design, and production of both modern ceramic art and traditional teapot forms. His creations respect tradition while reinterpreting it in a contemporary context, reflecting an academic approach to ceramics. He has received numerous accolades, including two National Ceramic Evaluation Gold Awards, the first China Art Award (Creation Award) at the 11th National Exhibition of Fine Arts, the 4th Wuxi Literature and Art Award (Outstanding Achievement Award), and the Outstanding Contribution Award for Chinese Ceramic Art and Design Education. In total, he has won more than twenty professional awards in various competitions.
In 2006, he was invited as a member of the Chinese Ceramic Artists Delegation to attend the 42nd Congress of the International Academy of Ceramics (under UNESCO) and to participate in the International Contemporary Ceramics Exhibition. In 2011, his works were exhibited at the Gyeonggi World Ceramic Biennale, and he also visited South Korea. That same year, he undertook the national key research project Study on Chinese Zisha Art and was conferred the title "Master of Chinese Zisha Art." He has published over ten professional papers in journals including China Ceramics and Art Panorama. His works are held in the collections of the Nanjing Museum, the China Yixing Ceramics Museum, Nanjing University of the Arts, and other institutions.
