Stainless steel rock with original models by Zhan Wang

Beginning February 15, the Asian Art Museum will present On Gold Mountain: Sculptures from the Sierra by Zhan Wang, an exhibition of site-specific sculptures by one of China’s most celebrated contemporary artists. The exhibition incorporates elements from two strains of the artist’s work: his “scholar’s rocks,” sculptures in which Zhan creates shiny stainless steel replicas of the weather-worn boulders traditionally used in China for contemplation and reflection; and his “cityscape” sculptures in which Zhan creates topographical models of urban landscapes using mirrored utensils, steel pots, and pans. Combining these two distinct styles, Zhan will create an original work for the museum that will carry a unified theme drawing upon San Francisco and its history. The rocks on display in On Gold Mountain were all mined from the Sierra Nevada foothills before being transported to the artist’s studio in Beijing. These rocks allude to the gold rush, which brought Chinese immigrants to this country in the 19th century. San Francisco was the portal for most of these immigrants, who named the city “Gold Mountain.” Amidst these rocks, On Gold Mountain will also include a topographical map of San Francisco and its environs using shiny culinary tools as its building blocks. Together, the rocks and the cityscape speak to the Chinese immigrant experience and juxtapose the old and the new. Curated by Jeff Kelley, the Asian Art Museum’s consulting curator of contemporary art, On Gold Mountain will be on view through May 25, 2008, in the museum’s North Court and Lee Gallery located on the first floor.

On Gold Mountain: Sculptures from the Sierra by Zhan Wang

In 1995, Zhan Wang began making stainless steel copies of Chinese scholars’ rocks (jiashanshi), the graceful, craggy boulders found in several provinces around China that traditionally have served as subjects of contemplation. Zhan’s versions in stainless steel address tensions between landscape and industrialization, tradition and modernity. “Placed in a traditional courtyard, rockery satisfied people's desire to return to nature by offering them stone fragments from nature,” the artist explains. “But huge changes in the world have made this traditional ideal increasingly out of date. I have thus used stainless steel to duplicate and transform natural rockery into manufactured forms. The material's glittering surface, ostentatious glamour and illusory appearance make it an ideal medium to convey new dreams.”

San Francisco cityscape, 2008, by Zhan Wang. Stainless steel pots and pans..

Zhan collects rocks that range from palm-size to monumental. He pounds, bends, heats, and molds sections of stainless steel plate across the topography of each rock. In essence, Zhan applies a modern industrial skin to an ancient geologic body. After the steel has been shaped around the rock, it is peeled away in sections, welded together as a single hollow unit, and polished to a flawless steel sheen. The resulting play of light upon their mirrored surfaces seems to disembody and even liquefy the steel sculptures, underscoring the sense that, although having taken their shapes from massive primordial stones, they are somehow luminous floating masses. Hence, these are also known as “floating rocks.”

San Francisco cityscape (detail), 2008, by Zhan Wang. Stainless steel pots and pans.

Zhan Wang has also created urban cityscape sculptures for cities such as London, Beijing, Chicago, and Buffalo. In these works the artist creates topographic representations of urban landscapes using rocks, mirrored silverware, and stainless steel pots and pans. The mirrored stainless steel objects create infinite reflections, illusions, and ultimately, a practically borderless landscape.

The installation begins in the museum’s North Court where one of Zhan’s stainless steel rock sculptures is paired with its original three- to four-ton model. These extraordinary objects highlight the contrasts that are at the root of much of Zhan Wang’s work. Although the two boulders share the same shape, in other ways they are opposites. The original rock is natural, formed by ancient geologic processes. It is dull, massive, and inert. The manufactured rock is light in weight and is formed from contemporary, high tech materials. Its slick surface ripples with shimmering patterns that have more the quality of water than of stone. Perhaps the ancient dark stone represents the quality of yin and the bright modern duplicate represents the quality of yang.

Stainless steel rocks with original models by Zhan Wang

Together the monolithic rock sculptures guard the entrance to the Lee Gallery where the installation continues. Inside the Lee Gallery are more manufactured rocks paired with their original models surrounding an elaborate cityscape representing San Francisco comprised of stainless steel pots, pans, and mirrored silverware. The cityscape with the familiar forms of its buildings and landmarks is perched on a mirrored platform in the shape of the peninsula. Surrounding the city, more stainless steel rocks and their models will be positioned to represent the foothills of the Sierra Nevada.

Stainless steel rocks with original models by Zhan Wang

All the rocks in the installation were selected from the foothills of the Sierra Nevada before being transported to the artist’s studio in China. The source of the rocks alludes to the nineteenth-century Chinese immigrant experience of mining gold from this region. San Francisco served as a staging area for this operation, and a large Chinese community has remained in the city as a result of this history. The brilliant combination of shimmering copies of Sierra rocks and a mirrored San Francisco cityscape made up of shiny kitchen objects reflects and illuminates the Chinese immigrant experience. These stainless steel sculptures reflect the colors of the surrounding environment, constantly reflecting and seemingly evolving but never rusting or physically changing.

This work explores a sense of place, discovery, and exploration while touching upon the histories of China, the American Western frontier, and Chinese American immigration. Enhancing the exhibition will be a dedicated catalogue and related programming, underscoring the historical themes and metaphorical nature of the work.

Artist Zhan Wang installing his San Francisco cityscape. Photo by Kaz Tsuruta.

Born in Beijing in 1962, Zhan Wang is recognized world wide as one of the preeminent artists of his generation. Over the past decade he has gained international acclaim through his series of solo and collaborative exhibitions. His work has been on view throughout Europe, Asia, the U.S., and Australia.

"On Gold Mountain: Sculptures from the Sierra" by Zhan Wang. February 15 – May 25, 2008.  Asian Art Museum San Francisco http://www.asianart.org/