Plum Blossoms Gallery takes great pleasure in presenting ‘This Land So Rich in Beauty’, Austria-based Chinese artist Wu Shaoxiang recent sculpture and painting exhibition in Hong Kong.

The concept for this exhibition emerged from the artist’s recent trip to his home province of Jiangxi, China. Wu revisited Mount Lu and Sanqing Mountain after thirty years and discovered that these monumental mountains in Chinese history have been turned into major tourist attractions, with new roads, shops and hotels drawing mass amount of visitors each day. Human footprints are everywhere, and the cultural implications and poetic spirit that made these mountains the source of inspiration and muses for Chinese painters and poets throughout centuries have now diminished.

In Wu’s perspective, everyone is looking to capitalize on these sites and convert them into “Money-making Mountains” for their own fortune. With his latest series of works, Wu creates mountain sculptures out of bronze-cast US$100 dollar notes and mixed media collage paintings that wittily commentate on mankind’s endless pursuit of monetary gain.

Wu Shaoxiang was born 1957 in Jiangxi Province, China. After the Cultural Revolution, he studied sculpture at Jingdezhen Ceramics Institute and later completed his postgraduate degree at the Central Academy of Arts and Design in Beijing.  A prominent figure in China’s New-Wave art movement, Wu also lectured at the Central Academy and was named one of China’s ten most influential avant-garde artists. In 1989, Wu and his family emigrated to Austria, where he setup a studio with his sculptress wife Jiang Shuo. Having exhibited extensively in Asia, Europe and America, Wu’s works are widely collected by museums and prestigious institutions worldwide. In Hong Kong, his sculptures can be seen in the lobby of Renaissance Harbour View Hotel and Cyberport’s Bel-Air Residence Clubhouses.

Wu Shaoxiang will be present in Hong Kong for the exhibition opening reception on 20th Jan 2011, 6-8pm.