Yu Honglei
First into the Mist, 2012
Bronze taxidermy animal
183 x 10 x 10 cm
Edition 3 of 5
The main component of this work comes from a collapsed ancient building on the outskirts of the city. Yu Honglei collected pieces of beam from the building behind his studio....
The main component of this work comes from a collapsed ancient building on the outskirts of the city. Yu Honglei
collected pieces of beam from the building behind his studio. The beam provides vital support to the architecture of the structure which also led to the collapse of the building perhaps through a rainstorm earthquake or another natural disaster. Honglei cut the fragile pieces from the wooden beam into two parts reinforced its surface and installed a monogamous pair of taxidermy parrots. To match the colour of two birds the main component of the sculpture was painted blue. The two birds are placed on each part of the cut beams. Using the distance arranged between the two parts of the beam the sights of the birds are intentionally blocked so that they cannot catch the gaze of the other. The work evokes a disaster that may have happened in the past to occur again once more in the midst of which a desire for serenity is also revived.
collected pieces of beam from the building behind his studio. The beam provides vital support to the architecture of the structure which also led to the collapse of the building perhaps through a rainstorm earthquake or another natural disaster. Honglei cut the fragile pieces from the wooden beam into two parts reinforced its surface and installed a monogamous pair of taxidermy parrots. To match the colour of two birds the main component of the sculpture was painted blue. The two birds are placed on each part of the cut beams. Using the distance arranged between the two parts of the beam the sights of the birds are intentionally blocked so that they cannot catch the gaze of the other. The work evokes a disaster that may have happened in the past to occur again once more in the midst of which a desire for serenity is also revived.
Provenance
Tiroche DeLeon CollectionMagician Space Beijing China
Exhibitions
OCT Contemporary art terminal, Shanghai China | The 7th Shenzhen Sculpture Biennale - Accidental Message: Art is Not a System. Not A World. | 2012.HK Convention Center | Magician Space Gallery Booth | May 2014.
Magician Space, Beijing Space, China | Everything is Extremely Important, There is Nothing That Will Not Come Back Again | July 2013 - September 2013.
Uferhallen, Berlin, Germany | The 8 of paths | April 2014 - July 2014.
Literature
Li Li | "Yu Honglei" | August 2, 2013"Yu Honglei - There is nothing that will not come back again" | Verinssage TV | August 6, 2013
Julie Baumgardner | "Yu Honglei Could Be China’s Next Great Artistic Export" | Artsy | 27/6/2015
Hao Ke | "Yu Honglei" | August 2013
Li Li | "Yu Honglei" | Blouin ArtInfo | July 21, 2013
Aimee Lin | "ArtReview Magazine" | London: ArtReview Magazine | March 2014