Portraits face a face-off
- Source: Global Times
- [10:09 August 10 2010]
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Ode to Motherland No.7 by Cai Zhisong. Photos: Courtesy of Leo Gallery
By Nick Muzyczka
The latest exhibition at the Leo Gallery on Ferguson Lane is an impressive collection of the works of more than 30 artists, including some big names from the New Art Movement circles that erupted out of China in the early 1990s.
The FACES exhibition consists of portraiture that "focuses on how we view ourselves and those around us," according to the curatorial statement.
The must-see exhibit is Li Wei's 2009 piece entitled Impeccable Nun, a memorizing colored fiberglass sculpture of a young girl.
The artist has suggested that the piece should be thought of as a sort of asexual entity, displaying no real emotion: "She stands as a mark of respect and should be immortal forever in this world full of turbulent undercurrents with few desires. She is the perfect nun," wrote Li.
While the artist's thoughts must be respected, there are many possible readings of this larger than life-sized bust. The slick hair, spotty face and bulging bloodshot eyes of Impeccable Nun form a visage that is at times aloof and desensitized and at others anxious, almost as if she is trying to process some great displacement.
Li is considered the most talented pupil of Xiang Jing and Qu Guangci, two of China's most respected sculptors. Leslie Kuo, manager of the Leo Gallery, told the Global Times that she thinks "this work should be in a museum."
Situated close by, Wang Mao's finely textured oil on aluminum piece, Kids 21 gives life to a hooded child in black and white. The penetrating, reflective eyes of the figure are almost photographic in nature; a real achievement given the broad brush strokes used to construct the work.
The second floor of the main gallery houses a second work by Wang that is equally impressive.
Kids 09 features a cherubic though slightly demented looking child painted in a similar style, with traces of European romanticism and impressionism to be found in the swirling strokes.
Also on the upper floor of this intimate gallery space is Cai Zhisong's Ode to Motherland No.7, a statue of a Qin Dynasty warrior in a relaxed crucifix position, utterly serene and extremely muscular. The copper plating and the magnificent braided wire hair give the figure a striking aspect. The artist is aiming to capture both the physical power and mental submission required of the military.
