12 Sep - 18 Oct 2014

artist profile

press release

L.A. Louver is pleased to present a solo exhibition by Chinese artist Sui Jianguo that includes eleven sculptures, which span more than 15 years. This is Sui’s first exhibition at L.A. Louver and his U.S. gallery debut.

Ranging in scale and subject matter, the works embody Sui’s interest in both figurative and non-representational form, as well as varied approaches to making sculpture. Two figurative works challenge social and political ideologies. The earliest, Bound Slave (1998) borrows from Michaelangelo’s The Rebellious Slave (1513). Sui clothes this celebrated form in a “Mao suit,” the iconic garb of China’s Communist Party under the leadership of Mao Zedong. Cast from bronze and painted white, Sui effectively conceals the expressive nude with the garment synonymous with Mao’s repressive regime. In The Right Hand (2008), Sui portrays Mao’s right arm. Derived from the portrait of Mao with his outstretched hand, Sui renders the disembodied arm lifeless, as if it is an archeological relic, and thereby depriving the gesture of its potency.


SELECTED ARTICLES

Bills, Julie. "Artist Sui Jianguo Interview."
White Hot Magazine, October 2014.
full article, PDF | whitehotmagazine.com

Miranda, Carolina A. "Weekend Gallery Report: Cut-ups, abstraction and the Quran illuminated."
LA Times, September 29, 2014.
full article, PDF

Ollman, Leah. "Conformity and its absence."
Los Angeles Times, 17 September 2014: D3. Print.
full article, PDF


PUBLICATION


Sui Jianguo
68 pages, 44 color illustrations
9 x 11.75 in. (22.9 x 29.8 cm)
Softcover

PDF of the catalogue