Cultural destination · Shanghai
Art commissions for spaces & brands · Shanghai
Art for spaces.Made for your project.
Artist-led commissions for architects, designers, brands and cultural institutions. From the first brief to the work in place.
The atelier
A work. A place. A shared brief.
SHANHAI ATELIER brings Lu Renjie’s artistic language into spaces, exhibitions and brand commissions. We begin with the site, its audience and your project constraints, then define the work, materials and scope with your team.
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Hotels & destinations
Lobby, suite and restaurant art; cultural art programmes; brand collaborations.
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Architecture & developers
When the work needs to become a wall, a courtyard, a hall or a destination.
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Brands & corporate
Gifts and anniversary works that keep their authorship.
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Museums & institutions
Exhibition works and display pieces, developed with an institution's curators and exhibition team.
Selected projects
Art in place.
Exhibition, studio environment and painting installation — project records with their context stated.
Why commission here
01
Source
Every cultural reference can be traced and understood — the text, the vessel, the script it came from.
02
Originality
Nothing is a historical reproduction. The work is a contemporary authorship with a consistent visual system.
03
Realisation
Define materials, fabrication, installation interfaces and maintenance needs with the project team before production.
Commission paths
Begin with your project.
Art for architecture, hospitality, brands and private spaces, with a clear scope for each commission.
- AHospitality, Brand & DestinationLobby, suite and restaurant art; cultural art programmes; brand collaborations.
- BArchitectural & Site-Specific ArtWhen the work needs to become a wall, a courtyard, a hall or a destination.
- CResidence, Estate & Private SpaceA focal work, an art wall, a sculpture garden, a private world.
Rendering - DVIP, Corporate & CommemorativeGifts and anniversary works that keep their authorship.
- EBespoke Objects & SculptureCeramic, bronze, metal, stone, wood, lacquer — from the desk to the plinth.
- FPrivate Collection & LegacyOne-of-one works for a person, a family, a life.
AHospitality, Brand & Destination
Forms & applications
A language to build with.
Selected references for sculptural groups, cultural symbols and commemorative objects. Scale and material are considered for each new brief.
Twelve Beauties
Twelve ceramic figures that only make sense together — a reading of Dream of the Red Chamber, held in private collections worldwide.
Series, ongoingPrivate collection · Commissioned
Bronze-Script Lexicon — 420 Phrases
The whole Classic re-written in bronze script — the atelier's own alphabet for seals, symbols and private marks.
2016 – ongoingOngoing
Twelve Zodiac Beasts — Medals
The zodiac re-cast with beasts from the Classic — enamel medals in a presentation case.
2025Edition
How it works
Seven steps from a conversation to a provenance record.
01
Discover
A conversation, free of charge, to establish whether we are the right atelier for the work.
02
Cultural & personal brief
Who it is for, where it will live, what it must mean. Sources are identified and the scope defined.
03
Concept & maquette
A paid design stage: research, drawings, a maquette or material samples. Approval before anything is built.
04
Material & engineering
Structure, weight, mounting, fire and humidity, site constraints — resolved with your architect or designer.
05
Making
In the atelier and with its fabrication partners: clay, kiln, foundry, stone, metal, glass. Progress is documented.
06
Delivery & installation
Crating, insurance, customs, transport and installation by the atelier's team, worldwide.
07
Provenance archive
Certificate, unique work ID, source note, making record and care guide — entered into the private archive.
The free stage decides whether we should work together. The paid concept stage decides what the work should be.
Founding artist
Lu Renjie
Founding Artist & Creative Lead
Lu Renjie leads the artistic direction of the atelier. Here, his work is developed in response to the requirements of a place and the people who use it. His full practice and archive are presented on his official website.
Making
Clay, kiln, bronze, stone, gold.
From the studio: drawing, painting and modelling, seen through selected making records.
Explore the making · open an image to look closer
01 / 07
01
Painting the Shanhai Map in the studio
02
Lu Renjie painting bronze-script figures in gold on a raw concrete wall
03
Lu Renjie in the studio among hundreds of unglazed ceramic figures
04
Sketchbook — the dream manuscript for the Shanhai Map
05
Lu Renjie shaping a clay beast at the workbench
Making record.
06
Mineral pigment catching the light — macro
07
The artist reading the hidden world of the Shanhai Map under ultraviolet light
Cultural foundation
A source with depth. An application with purpose.
The Shanhai world provides a shared visual vocabulary. The atelier’s role is to develop it for a specific project. Explore the complete research and element library at Shanhai Art & Culture.
Tell us about your next project.
Share the location, drawings, intended use and schedule. The studio will follow up to discuss scope and feasibility.