Wang Shugang's Sociable Sculptures Hang Out at The Opposite House

The Opposite House’s rotating art exhibits, housed in its 6-story-high atrium, are a good way to get a taste of Chinese contemporary art without having to trek to the far-flung corners of the city. The latest display features Wang Shugang's friendly figures, and opened just a few days ago at the boutique hotel.

Although, it’s not always clear how we’re supposed to interact with his work, particularly since this exhibit includes no plaques bearing information for viewers. Maybe this is intentional, leaving us to come to our own conclusions about the art.

Wang Shugang, a Beijing-born artist who graduated from the prestigious Central Academy of Fine Arts and now keeps studios in Berlin and Beijing, is known for creating clusters of figures, almost always placing his sculptures in groups so that the collective pieces draw viewers to make more meaningful observations about people and society than if the pieces were left to stand on their own. (You know, just like your morning commute on the subway. All those people. In one place. Such profundity.)

In one cluster, several men stand, many of them playing with birds perched on branches, calling on the nostalgia of the old Beijing park scene. Nearby, his signature bald men squat in a circle, and we’re never quite sure if they’re looking at one another or staring off into the middle distance. Finally, on a platform across from the birdmen, what look like centurion soldiers circle up, wielding fluorescent tubes in peaceable stances. Unfortunately, I can no longer see lengths of incandescence without picturing the Star Wars kid on Youtube. On the other hand, these figures also remind me of the Gregorian monks who used to circle up and tap each other on the shoulder while they chanted, waaay back before the first drums entered the music scene…). This is perhaps what is most interesting about Wang Shugang’s work – the ambiguity. Are these men high-tech warriors or singing monks? Are the squatters communing, or together yet alone? What you see might say more about you than the artist. Which I think might be his point.

One thing’s for sure. The color of the circled light-bearers plays nicely with the colors of the nearby dinosaur figures. Yeah, you know what dinosaurs I’m talking about. The ones that appear in any space remotely associated with Chinese art. It’s like they never went extinct.

Catch Wang Shugang’s work at the Opposite House through the end of March.