Stainless steel and copper sculpture Edition: 2/4

178 x 172 x 82 cm. (整體) 70 1/8 x 67 3/4 x 32 1/4 in.；64 x 34 x 34 cm. (花瓶) 25 1/4 x 13 3/8 x 13 3/8 in.

Signed in Chinese, dated and numbered on the bottom of left hind foot

LITERATURE
2009, Interpreting Nonexistence: Sculptures by Zheng Lu, New Age Gallery, Beijing & Taichung, p.173
EXHIBITED
12 Sep – 6 Oct 2009, Interpreting Nonexistence – Zheng Lu Solo Exhibition, New Age Gallery, Beijing

PROVENANCE
Private Collection, Asia

Elephant as a Carrierof Blessings
The Sculpting Philosophy of Zheng Lu

Zheng Lu stands out in the contemporary sculptor community with his experimentation of shaping stainless steel into Chinese characters and constant pursuit of alternative rendering formats. Born into a literati family, the 1978-born sculptor has developed a keen interest in the connection between the meaning and shape of a character. He was admitted into the Department of Sculpture at Lu Xun Fine Art Academy in 2004 and Central Academy of Fine Art for postgraduate studies in 2007. During his school days, he won the LVMH Young Artists Award that offered him a place at the École Nationale Supérieure des Beaux-arts in Paris for further studies. After his homecoming in 2008, he soon shot to fame with his first attempt of character welding. He also held exhibitions at multiple establishments around the world, including Museum on the Seam in Jerusalem, Musée Maillol in Paris, Casa dei Carraresi in Italy, Museum of Contemporary Art in Taipei, National Museum of China in Beijing and Long Museum in Shanghai. Finished in 2008, Elephant in a Peaceful Land present at the auction was the iconic piece in his same-year solo exhibition Interpreting Nonexistence.

The Peculiar Transposition

Elephant carrying a vase is one of the most popular decorative subjects in Chinese traditional culture because of its auspicious meaning. However, Zheng Lu made a bold attempt by shifting the position of the elephant and the vase. In his statue, a giant elephant stands on a vase that is way smaller in proportion. This simple tweak challenges our common sense that light things always go above the heavy ones and follows the opposite aesthetics in modern sculpture. Such planned bizarre rendering seems to have melted considerable weight from the elephant. The solid bronze vase carries the genuine hope for peace, and the elephant as an icon of universal value stands steadily atop. The duo implies the artist's wishes of harmony for the country and happiness all its people.

Out From Within

The artist inscribed the description of Qian, the first among the 64 hexagrams of I Ching, in clerical script on the stainless-steel surface of the elephant, visualizing its underlying connotations. The texts are in interesting harmony with the external presentation of the sculpture. On top of that, the hollowed-out sculpture is in line with the Eastern philosophy of emptiness. Through the visually soothing shape, the artist managed to go all the way back to the intrinsic essence and bring out in-depth messages with modern techniques and materials.

Price estimate:
HKD: 320,000 – 520,000
USD: 41,300 – 67,100

Auction Result:
HKD: 613,600