A Conversation with Chicago: Contemporary Sculpture From China

A Conversation with Chicago: Contemporary Sculpture From China ..
Four large-scale sculptures by four leading Chinese sculptors and installation artists in Millennium Park this spring..
A temporary exhibit from, Apr 9, 2009-to-Oct 10, 2010 ..
Location: Boeing Galleries [North and South galleries]...
North Gallery: A piece by Shen Shaomin [“Kowtow Pump”] ...
South Gallery: feature works by Chen Wenling ["Valiant Struggle"] Sui Jianguo ["Windy City 2009"] and Zhan Wang ["Jia Shan Shi No.46"] ...

An excerpt from the City of Chicago's Official Tourism Site ..
"Coming from different regions and educational backgrounds, the artists each employ different materials and visual styles, but they also show commonalities. Each work is intensely engaged with important contemporary issues such as the energy crisis, materialism, and globalization. They also share inspiration from traditional Chinese art, commercial culture, folk art, and industrial machinery as they explore ways to react to a public space."




Windy City 2009 ..
Sculptor: Sui Jianguo ..
Location: South Boeing Gallery, Millennium Park ..
The big red hollow dinosaur is a magnified versions of the plastic toys, although in shape and size the artist has been faithful to the T-Rex. However a huge of “Made in China” is carved on the midsection of the dinosaur making it easily noticiable and alluding to the increasing share of Chinese toys, or is it something more deeper; an allusion to the old Chinese civilization in the modern context, which raises more questions than it answers ...






Valiant Struggle No 11..
Sculptor: Chen Wenling ..
Location: South Boeing Gallery, Millennium Park ..
It features a red toy car with a dragon’s face painted in red & gold. The dragon’s red tongue extends like a nozzle, on which are three suspended figures, a pig, a fat man who is very precariously holding the pig, and a fat woman who is tenuously clinging to the man. The scene is funny or rather a satire - a social commentary on greed and consumerism ..


Jia Shan Shi No. 46 ...
Sculptor: Zhan Wang ..
Location: South Boeing Gallery, Millennium Park ..
It reminds of the Chinese symbol of knowledge, the Scholar’s Rock ... But it's made of stainless steel ... Again it's a viewers discretion to find beauty in it or to dismiss it as a piece of metal scrap ...




Kowtow Pump ...
Sculptor: Shen Shaomin ..
Location: North Boeing Gallery, Millennium Park ..

A mock-oil derrick seems ready to pump ... a commentary of our dependence on oil .. and it's impact on enviornment ...

Apart from the individual merit of each piece, what I find equally intriguing is the name chosen for the exhibit "Conversation with China" ... which draws us to a deeper meaning of these contemporary sculptures ... inviting us for an open dialogue on enviornment, consumerism, trade, culture and art ..

Contemporary Sculptures from China is presented by the Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs, Millennium Park, in cooperation with Millennium Park Inc., and is sponsored by The Boeing Company with support from the Richard H. Driehaus Foundation. The exhibition is curated by Wu Hung, University of Chicago Harrie A. Vanderstappen Distinguished Service Professor of Art History and a Consulting Curator for the Smart Museum of Art, and by Millennium Park staff.