A contemporary artist and master of the ancient traditions of Chinese book design, Lu Jingren has been crafting books for nearly four decades. He is renowned not only for his prolific creative work and cutting-edge design sensibilities, but also for his dedication to fostering an appreciation of the book as an art form. “Lu Jingren is a superb designer and his mastery of material and form is exemplary. His books exhibit the rare quality of being accessible to both beginning readers and connoisseurs alike,” says Peter Koch, founder of the Codex Foundation. Lu’s career has spanned major technological developments in printing, from letterpress to offset to digital, and his work demonstrates an inspired, graceful response to such changes. One must “design a book with a novel approach every time,” he says.

​

Lu studied under the tutelage of Professor Kohei Sugiura of Kobe Design University, Japan in 1989 and 1992. Upon his return to China, he founded Jingren Art Design Studio in Beijing, which focuses on book design, editing, and translating design-related publications. Lu currently teaches book design at the Academy of Arts & Design at Tsinghua University in Beijing. He has garnered numerous awards for book design in Hong Kong, Germany, the United States, and China, and is a member of the Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI).

​

In this exhibition, the Book Club of California is proud to showcase some of Professor Lu’s finest and most inventive works, which provide a modern response to the centuries-long traditions of both Chinese and Japanese bookmaking.