Taiwanese artist Marvin Mintofang’s (b. 1955 Taiwan) r-st solo e xhibition in Beijing inaugurates his move to the capital city after four years resident in Guilin, Guangxi Province, working as creative director and artist-in-residence of the international sculpture park,
Yuzi Paradise,an outdoor collection of 200+ pieces of sculpture by international artists.
For his r-st solo e xhibition in Beijing,Marvin staged a series of environmentally friendly mini-interventions by planting and growing
grass over a two-week period along the concrete sidewalk leading up to the front door of Pekin Fine Arts,and continuing his grass
growing experiment carpeting the concrete oor of the gallery space. By exhibit opening day,Marvin’s freshly grown grass work
spelling out “ART” led visitors along the concrete entranceway into the gallery’s three main exhibit halls.The artist also planted an
enormous circular – eld of grass inside the gallery space aimed at the “greening” of the white cube’s over-reliance on bricks and
cement.
Marvin,a sculptor and ceramicist by training,produced a 66-member strong b- r eglass “army” of Ah Cho’s,mini-sculpture warrior
g- ur es. Installed,marching down from the exhibition space’s second story window,and descending onto the pristine green grass
below; the b- r eglass “army” is poised ready to trample nature with the sheer weight of its man-made numbers. Marvin’s playful
warning is clearly aimed at the devastating effects construction related pollution is having on China’s natural beauty and resources. The b- r eglass g- ur es,although white and clean and small enough, remain an irritating reminder of all that pollutes and poisons in the name of manufacturing and other tools of economic development.
Marvin Mintofang’s works are collected and have been exhibited by major museums across Asia as well as public institutions in
Europe and the USA. The artist is currently working on a new sculpture park for Shanghai and other large-scale public sculpture
projects for cities in China.
