The green touch

The day of the fox

Julia Mao, co-founder of Purple Roof Gallery and Mao Space in Shanghai, claims to have introduced eco-art to China. In 2016, she was instrumental in bringing a monumental straw sculpture of a fox by British artist Alex Rinsler to be installed at the Jing'an Sculpture Park. The artist's usual practice is to burn the pieces he creates once the exhibition is over. Though there were concerns that burning Rinsler's Urban Fox will cause air pollution in Shanghai, eventually the piece was incinerated.

"Straw is burned to make fertilizer, but the burning process harms the environment. Such ironies exist all around us. But art is not meant to solve problems. Rather, it should be valued for inspiring new ways of thinking," Mao says.

She mentions that she often finds it difficult trying to persuade artists based in China to adopt sustainable practices as the materials needed to make art come cheap and are available in abundance. However, many of the artists Mao represents strongly believe in using recycled materials.