Through the looking glass

Beijing sculptor Jiang Jie's obsession with young people continues this month at Shanghai Art Museum, but exhibition organizer Martell has judiciously omitted earlier works of human fetuses in various stages of embryonic development to avoid controversy.

The French cognac company has invited its four artists of the year to attend the month-long event, which opened last week. Oil painter Zeng Fanzhi, conceptual video and installation artist Gu Wenda and Norwegian photographer Solve Sundsbo make up the rest of the quartet.

This time, Jiang is presenting a three-part series on glass-fiber sculptures depicting children with adult facial expressions. Her works comprise a pair of two-meter-high babies' heads, two girls' heads with their hair cut into bobs and black holes where their eyes should be, and a life-sized sculpture of a school girl standing in front of a blackboard.

Before the opening, Jiang's 9-year-old son wrote the title of the latter piece - "Start Now" - on the blackboard and drew little chairs with colored chalk as a final touch.

"I work with images of children and babies because people react instinctively to them," said Jiang, now 46. "I want to use my artwork to discuss problems of humanity. I want to reflect deep issues that we deal with in society."

This is the sixth year that Martell is hosting the exhibition, which opened in Beijing on June 29. It will move to Guangzhou in August.

The jury that selected Jiang as one of this year's four winners described her work as transcendental.

"The simple lines of her sculptures invoke the imagination of the audience. While scrutinizing the world from a feminine point of view, she transcends sexuality and draws attention to the fragility and futility of life, presenting great tension and conflicts in real life," they wrote in a collective appraisal.

Meanwhile, Gu Wenda's large video installation stands nearby in stark contrast to Jiang's shiny plastic or rusty-looking sculptures.

Gu has taken huge banners made from natural fibers mixed with human hair and covered them in graffiti composed of Chinese characters. Some of the characters have been deconstructed and re-assembled in original new ways.

His other project features the 12 animals representing the Chinese horoscope. Tiny screens play cartoons showing each of the animals' related folk legends.

The other two artists' works are on display in the opposite hall. Photos by Sundsbo take up most of the space, including scores of black-and-white fashion photos and colored ones featuring tropical birds in flight. In contrast to the simple and color-starved human portraits, Sundsbo's pictures of the "Perroquet" bird use vivid colors to striking visual effect.

Four paintings by Zeng, one of China's most acclaimed oil painters over the last decade, complete the show. One is a portrait of Lorenz Helbling, owner of the ShanghART Gallery and an important player in Shanghai's art scene.

Until July 26, 9 am- 5 pm

Shanghai Art Museum

325 Nanjing Road W.

南京西路325号

Tel: 6327-2829

Tickets: 20 yuan

(China Daily 07/25/2009 page14)