Zhan Wang: Urban Landscape

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Dates
6/17/06 - 12/3/06
Artists

Zhan Wang

The exhibition presents an on-site installation, Urban Lanscape, by Bejing-based sculptor Zhan Wang (Chinese, b. 1962). The extravagantly-detailed miniaturized city is constructed using stainless steel pots, pans, forks, serving platters, tea pots, and other ordinary household utensils.

In Urban Landscape, Zhan Wang takes everyday objects and assembles them in a way that de-familiarizes them, creating an effect that stuns the senses. The fabricated metropolis is flanked by Zhan’s famous stainless steel rock sculptures and illuminated from above, evoking a surreal, mesmerizing glow. Although the effects are dazzling, the statement is somber. Disenchanted with the relentless urban demolition of China’s cities, Zhan seeks to conjure the memories of what has been destroyed in China and what these cities perhaps still stand to lose.

Installation photo by Arthur Evans.
Installation photo by Arthur Evans.
Installation photo by Arthur Evans.
Installation photo by Arthur Evans.
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Artist Statement

“As someone who has lived all his life in Beijing, I have seen this regime demolishing non-stop. They don’t let you choose a place and make it special and meaningful; sooner or later, they will take it down. By trying to reach a level of western-oriented modernization, we are destroying the continuity of our own tradition.”
—Zhan Wang

Zhan Wang attended Beijing Industrial Arts College from 1978–1981 and also the Central Academy of Fine Arts from 1983–1988. He currently works as a Professor of Sculpture at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing while also creating and exhibiting new works. He is perhaps most famous for his stainless steel rock sculptures and his pieces are represented in art collections all over the world. Zhan Wang has participated in numerous exhibitions, the most recent of which were Transience: Chinese Experimental Art at the End of the Twentieth Century at the Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago (1999) and Universal Experience: Art, Life and the Tourist’s Eye at the MCA in Chicago (2005).