The Exhibition Review

The Theme: Return

Artist: Loet Vanderveen; Tim Cotterill;Laurence Broderick

Date: 2012.12.29-2013.01.10

Location: China World

 

The sculpture has been endowed with a purpose since its birth. From the pure political and religious service to classicism, romanticism, realism and modernism, time has left visible marks on the sculpture. After repeated exploration, some artists pay more attention to the cognitive experience of inner contemplation and the purification of sculpture language.

This “return” exhibition is composed of the works of three north American artists who have been pursuing art persistently, making unremitting efforts in their personal fields for decades and forging spiritual life using bronze. Among them, the British artist Tim Cotterill, known as the frogman, has been focusing on the art of frogs for 20 years. The habits, posture, color and other beauty of frogs are incisively and vividly displayed in his artistic creation. The 87-year-old Dutch artist Loet Vanderveen has dedicated his life to creating sculptures of wild animals in his own style. He is good at expressing the natural state of animals without any affectation. His works are exquisitely crafted, except for the eyes. The artist believes that “to capture a person’s soul, we should pay attention to his eyes; To catch an animal’s eyes, you must first pay attention to its soul. Artists use quiet beauty to sculpt the soul of nature. The work transcends the level of imitation and characterization, and conveys meaning (instead of mere expression) with the plain truth. Artists are chasing the return of the essence of sculpture, and the process of audience’s soul dialogue with these animal sculptures is also the natural return of human nature.