With photos by Jiang Dong

[Photo/China Daily]

[Photo/China Daily]

Li Xiangqun, arguably the nation's most prominent sculptor, has staged his first solo show in 34 years.

Li has dedicated his life to creating sculptures of key figures in China's modern history and former Communist leaders.

Among his masterpieces is a life-size statue of Confucius; a pair of white copper pieces resembling a hanging-scroll ink painting titled The Sovereignty; a group of portraits of Mao Zedong; a pair of portraits of the Qing Dynasty's (1644-1911) Empress Dowager Cixi titled Heaping Clouds and Snow; and a 300-square-meter copper installation titled Grand Forbidden City.

The exhibition debuted late last month at the National Art Museum of China for four days.

Part of the exhibition has moved to the Zero Art Center at 798 Art Zone, the hotbed for Chinese contemporary art in northern Beijing. The exhibition will run until the end of the year.

Li said the exhibition is not a retrospective show of his artistic career.

"It is only a periodic summary of my latest explorations and experiments," the 51-year-old said. Li is widely considered a rare and red-hot sculptor among collectors.