Beijing's Opposite House Features Zheng Lu Sculpture Installation

The installation consists of two parts: Hongren Landscape, and Water in Dripping, and will be on exhibit in the hotel's atrium from August 10 to September 30, 2013.

Zheng Lu appreciates Hongren's (Chinese: 弘仁; early Qing painter 1610-1663) landscape painting, which has a calm and deserted meaning. Transferring the structural stability of the unique vertical geometric symmetry into the language of three-dimensional sculptures is his exploration. The heavy steel plate feels lighter once carved with 5,000 Zuanti characters. The reflection shows the complementary relationship of yin and yang by folding the steel plate, with the bottom part of the mountain constituting the ‘Yin', and the top part the ‘Yang'.

Water in Dripping was composed of characters from the poem ‘Wan Zhi Shui' by the famous Tang Dynasty poet Bai Juyi (Chinese: 白居易; 772-846). The sculpture was made of two groups of moving water colliding in the air, which he uses to express the logical foundation of the worldview: mobility and stability; perpetuity and temporality; materiality and spirituality, etc.

The third piece from the Water in Dripping series is part of the permanent art collection at EAST, Bejiing, a lifestyle business hotel also owned by Swire Hotels. Inspired by the legend of the Jiu Xian Qiao area of the wine immortal who dropped his wine gourd into the river forever making it fragrant, the piece uses over 20,000 connected characters taken from the “Ode for Alcohol Morality” by Liu Ling from the Wei and Jin Dynasties.

“Zheng's approach of using Chinese literature and characters in his sculpture is refreshing. The two pieces are stunning in scale and design, visually working in concert with our draping mesh,” says Peter Wynne, area general manager of Swire Hotels, Beijing.

Zheng Lu obtained his Master's Degree from the Sculpture Department of Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing. He was also trained in Ecole Nationale Superieure Des Beaux-Arts. His work has been displayed in Beijing, Shanghai, Hong Kong and New York.

Curated by Neng Zhao is one half of Culture Continuum Consulting Co., Ltd., a consultancy in the Chinese art and intercultural communication spheres. Based in Beijing with offices in Hong Kong and London, Culture Continuum Consulting Co., Ltd. helps individuals and institutions with solutions related to the arts.

The Opposite House is located in Taikoo Li Sanlitun – a vibrant new open-plan shopping, dining and entertainment destination developed by Swire Properties. The hotel's 99 guest studios include 9 spacious suites and a penthouse duplex with a 240 sqm roof terrace. More than half of all the studios are over 70 sqm and all are strikingly simple with natural wooden floors and subtle touches of Chinese décor.

More information: The Opposite House