“Gallery by the Harbour” and Contemporary by Angela Li are proud to present “A World Less Ordinary”, an exhibition of sculptures by Chinese artist Luo Zhenhong from 23 June to 10 July 2011.
Luo Zhenhong was born in Fujan and graduated from the sculpture department of Chongqing’s Sichuan Fine Arts Institute (SCFAI) in 2005. Fortuitously this was right at the beginning of a period where collectors from around the world were descending on SCFAI, although most dealers and art lovers alike, were looking for the new upcoming painters, a small number of sculptors at the “Tank Loft” were also discovered.
Luo’s “Dwarf” series, featuring his upwardly gazing characters, represents not only many different industries in the commercial world of today but also a social critique of modern day culture. His standpoint is objective and humorous and the transformation of the forms is like looking at a refracted image through a distorted mirror. But unlike traditional sculpture, Luo pays attention not just to shapes but also to the visual painted aspect of the surface. He is not just sculpting sculptures; he is painting sculptures.
Over the past few years Luo had been working on two particular series: His “Dwarf” Series and his “Mushroom Cloud” series. In the latter series, he depicts the tiny, humble and respectful role that humanity is relegated to, in the relationship between heaven and the world of man, as an analogy for war and destruction.
Stylistically both the “Mushroom Clouds” series and “Dwarf” series have much in common, with their cartoonish, colourful and pop figures. But there are parallels that also run deeper than that. “Dwarf” series stands as a repudiation of social clichés and norms with its comical caricatures. “Mushroom Clouds” conjures up images of Hiroshima-Nagasaki and the Cold War’s nuclear games. These works warn of the dangers of the nuclear ambitions of great powers. It is an all too clear metaphor for war, violence and destruction and the folly of mankind, while the Buddha-like figure floating atop of the clouds hinting at our complicity in these man made destructive forces and our naivety in believing that, like his miniature figure we can rise above the destruction, unaffected and unscathed by it.
