Dismantling David: original anatomical sculptures by a Chinese master

2024 Author: Richard Flannagan | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-15 23:55

Chinese painter and sculptor Cao Hui challenges the standard perception of inanimate objects. His peculiar 3-D puzzle sculptures, repeating classical pieces, shock connoisseurs of beauty and delight anatomists.

The artist Cao Hui presented a peculiar mixture of ancient ideas of beauty and trends of modern art in the Beijing PIFO gallery. His modular sculptures are amazing. When fully assembled, they are virtually indistinguishable from classical art. The mystery lies in the design. Each masterpiece can literally be taken apart. And this can be done without damage, because later the sculptures can be reassembled. However, there is one more secret: disassembled sculptures will please anatomists rather than art critics, because the viewer's attention will see something that does not at all resemble pieces of antique marble. What the visitor to the exhibition will see will, rather, resemble a visual aids on anatomy.

Through his art, the author tries to find a connection between material and imagination. Contrary to popular belief, Cao believes that an object is more real when its contemplation gives the greatest scope for imagination. “Each of us lives in our own body and is able to react both physically and mentally to what is happening in the world. And these reactions are unique,”explains the artist. Perhaps that is why every work of the master, both literally and metaphorically, hides something more inside than what is shown outside. Perhaps, Cao's work could be attributed to pop art, because manipulating the audience's tastes, playing with an object and the ability to transform an object are the unconditional features of this ambiguous trend. However, Hui goes further, prioritizing not play and shocking, but, as mentioned earlier, the perception of the work by the viewer. “It is important for me that the perception is sharpened as much as possible. It is then that it becomes possible to influence the subconscious of the beholder,”the artist admits.

Cao Hui was born in Kunming in 1968, earned a bachelor's degree in art from the Academy of Fine Arts in 1991, and later in 2000, received a master's degree in sculpture from the Chinese Academy of Fine Arts. Currently, the artist lives and works in Beijing, exhibits a lot.

Unusual sculptures are also created by Hui's colleague in the workshop, the talented Swiss sculptor Roger Reutimann.