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Lü Shengzhong, Calling Home the Soul of the Dead Hall (1990)

Having risen to fame at the China/Avant-Garde art show in 1989, Lü Shengzhong brings the art of Chinese paper cutting into museum galleries, rebranding the traditional practice as high art. Raised by a farming family, Lü feels more connected to rural art tradition than the work of many other contemporary artists.  At his exhibit opening at the Today Art Museum, he said, "I would rather wait on the bench of yesteryear, than have the heritage in my hands tainted by the smog of today."  In returning to his roots through contemporary art, Lü poses a question about the cost of modernity and the rich culture lost by our modern society.   Each papercut figure represents the soul of one deceased, and the piece as a whole serves as a memorial for all those lost.  This installation, exhibited in his own home the year after the Tiananmen massacres, was especially resonant because of its timing.

 

Lu Shengzhong, Hall of Calling the S
Lü_Shengzhong,_Calling_Home_the_Soul_of_the_Dead
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