Unconventional Material for Art (3 of 5)

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Unconventional Material for Art   (3 of 5)
After a quick perusal of the featured exhibits, I made a snap decision that none of them would be of interest. So, I decided to explore the permanent collections.

Fortunately, visiting exhibits are scattered throughout the museum and I eventually wandered in to a gallery with work of Liu Wei, from Beijing, China. The exhibit was entitled Invisible Cities.

Large architectural pieces share this gallery space in the Invisible Cities exhibit

These unique sculptures are made of wood, steel, and... raw hide. Yes, rawhide. As in dog chews. Quite an unconventional material, right?

The lighting of the exhibit was especially effective. Given the warm browns, ochres, and golden colors of this natural material, the art work fairly glowed. Light illuminated the planes and compartments within the structure, revealing lovely translucent qualities. 

Hanging sculpture by Liu Wei

Of course this could also be interpreted from the perspective of my "contrasts" theme for the day; consummable, fragile, organic based material used to depict the solid, sturdy and more enduring subject matter of architecture. Interesting. 

Amazing detail (left) 
The bottom of a large piece revealed its construction- 
cool to see from a quilter's perspective (right). 


Humbly, I was glad for the gentle reminder that, when you make assumptions and "judge a book by its cover,” you may miss out on some pretty interesting, innovative, and inspiring encounters.








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