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Lot Essay
Liang Shuo was finishing the last year of his studies at the China Central Academy of Fine Arts in the year 2000 when he won the 1st Tier award with his graduation piece. In the same year, his work Migrant Workers in the City (Lot 11) received critical acclaims and positive reviews at the Shanghai Biennale. Subsequently, the piece was acquired by the Shanghai Art Museum. It is now on long term display at the eastern entrance of the museum facing the busiest street of Shanghai's commercial district (Fig. 1). These figurative sculptures of Chinese migrant workers are in stark contrast with the fashionable Shanghai. It has become a sensational scene in the streets of the glamourous city.
Liang Shuo sculpted these nine life-size figures of Migrant Workers in the City with casted bronze that has a clay-like quality. These figures include: a youth wearing a leather jacket, a man with a crew cut wearing a pager, an affluent central figure with a well-fed belly, a haggard and emaciated old man, a young mother wearing platform shoes, an innocent youth wi thout much worldly experience, etc. Even though each of these characters has his or her own unique demeanor, all of them have vacant gazes in their eyes showing perplexity and emptiness. It seems as though the perplexity and emptiness of these individuals are stemmed from the same struggles, frustrations, and numbness.
"Migrant workers" refers to the group of farmers from the villages who migrated to the city following the Chinese Economic Reform. Majority of them received little to no formal education, and they work as labourers in the city. This group is often employed under the worst working conditions and wages. As the metropolitan area exponentially grows, the numbers of migrant workers moving to the city to seek work also rapidly increase. This phenomenon triggers a series of social problems and becomes a focus of contradictions in the Chinese culture.
Seemingly, these characters have distinct personalities and idiosyncrasies, but in fact, the artist is not portraying any particular individual. This set of works is the artist's representation of the archetypes amongst migrant workers as a collective by highlighting their commonalities. Similar to Juan Mu?o z's works, the Spanish sculptor also emphasizes the commonalities of his subjects to eliminate the differences (Fig. 2). This treatment urges the viewers to discover themselves and the meaning of selfhood in his works. Liang Shuo uses a whimsical sculpting language to depict the image of the group of migrant workers who come to the city for work. He shows the viewer the process of transformations that these individuals are undergoing in order to survive in this rapidly restructuring metropolitan.
The focal point of the creative process has also been shifted from the physical representation of the subjects to raising awareness of the states of existence for these characters. Moreover, through the rejection of the traditional sculpture aesthetic and its softened visual language, the artist inspires the viewers to critically re-evaluate social issues.
Born in Jixian, Tianjin, China, Liang Shuo studied sculpture at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 2000. Major exhibitions of the artist include Solo Exhibitions include: Liang Shuo's Toys-Temple Fair, Long March Space, China (2004); Not Liang Shuo, C5 Art, Beijing China (2008). Liang Shuo also participated in numerous exhibitions such as Xian Feng!-Chinese Avant-Garde Sculpture, Museum Beelden aan zee, Hague, Netherlands (2005); Popular Expression, Museum Het Domain, Netherlands (2006) ; Fit, C5 Art, Beijing (2010); Power Station - 2012 Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai (2012); Superfluous Things - Liang Shuo, Hive Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing (2013). Liang Shuo currently lives and works in Beijing.
Liang Shuo sculpted these nine life-size figures of Migrant Workers in the City with casted bronze that has a clay-like quality. These figures include: a youth wearing a leather jacket, a man with a crew cut wearing a pager, an affluent central figure with a well-fed belly, a haggard and emaciated old man, a young mother wearing platform shoes, an innocent youth wi thout much worldly experience, etc. Even though each of these characters has his or her own unique demeanor, all of them have vacant gazes in their eyes showing perplexity and emptiness. It seems as though the perplexity and emptiness of these individuals are stemmed from the same struggles, frustrations, and numbness.
"Migrant workers" refers to the group of farmers from the villages who migrated to the city following the Chinese Economic Reform. Majority of them received little to no formal education, and they work as labourers in the city. This group is often employed under the worst working conditions and wages. As the metropolitan area exponentially grows, the numbers of migrant workers moving to the city to seek work also rapidly increase. This phenomenon triggers a series of social problems and becomes a focus of contradictions in the Chinese culture.
Seemingly, these characters have distinct personalities and idiosyncrasies, but in fact, the artist is not portraying any particular individual. This set of works is the artist's representation of the archetypes amongst migrant workers as a collective by highlighting their commonalities. Similar to Juan Mu?o z's works, the Spanish sculptor also emphasizes the commonalities of his subjects to eliminate the differences (Fig. 2). This treatment urges the viewers to discover themselves and the meaning of selfhood in his works. Liang Shuo uses a whimsical sculpting language to depict the image of the group of migrant workers who come to the city for work. He shows the viewer the process of transformations that these individuals are undergoing in order to survive in this rapidly restructuring metropolitan.
The focal point of the creative process has also been shifted from the physical representation of the subjects to raising awareness of the states of existence for these characters. Moreover, through the rejection of the traditional sculpture aesthetic and its softened visual language, the artist inspires the viewers to critically re-evaluate social issues.
Born in Jixian, Tianjin, China, Liang Shuo studied sculpture at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 2000. Major exhibitions of the artist include Solo Exhibitions include: Liang Shuo's Toys-Temple Fair, Long March Space, China (2004); Not Liang Shuo, C5 Art, Beijing China (2008). Liang Shuo also participated in numerous exhibitions such as Xian Feng!-Chinese Avant-Garde Sculpture, Museum Beelden aan zee, Hague, Netherlands (2005); Popular Expression, Museum Het Domain, Netherlands (2006) ; Fit, C5 Art, Beijing (2010); Power Station - 2012 Shanghai Biennale, Shanghai (2012); Superfluous Things - Liang Shuo, Hive Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing (2013). Liang Shuo currently lives and works in Beijing.