Ruins, Walls, Torso & Back 遗迹, 墙, 躯干 & 背面

Creator(s)

Shao-Xiang WU 吴少湘

Preview

Date

1992

Format

Article

Location of Exhibition Event

Dr. A. Kogler, Klagenfurt

Materials

shilling coins, bronze

Dimensions

99 cm high, 182 cm high, 108 cm high,

Description

"Ruins", "Walls", "Torso" & "Back" are four sculptural works created after his emigration to Austria. These pieces are consistent in their shared material and formal characteristics: each features a female-bodied form constructed from Austrian schilling coins. As such, they have been grouped together in this catalogue. The use of coinage medium is emblematic of Wu’s exploration of modernist sculpture between 1988 and 1993. However, these works also involves his bold representation of the female body and sexuality in Avant-Garde movement in China. One might interpret these pieces as a culmination of Wu’s artistic practice, a convergence of two themes. In these works, a critical engagement with both monetary and sexual fetishism is evident. The objectification of the female body serves as a vehicle for a broader critique of money worship, wherein the female body becomes both a site and symbol of fetishized desire. (Zhuocheng Jiang '26)