Although naughty, media-conscious contemporary artists, like Zhang Huan with his train wrecks and ash Buddhas, and the Luo Brothers with their painted fiberglass dolls, grab the headlines, in the international press, Pan He has been using his sculpture to make social commentary, in China, for over half a century.  However, Pan, having grown up in a well-to-do family, in the first half of the 1900's, and having been creating art since that time, has learned to say what he has to say, in more subtle statements.  He had even traveled to Europe, several times, to experience outside life, culture, and art before the Communists came to power, in 1949.  In truth, there are, on average, about 3 articles per day, in the Chinese press, every day, about Pan He and his work, not just when he creates art that the Western press thinks is outrageous or naughty.

Pan He was inspired at an early age by the works of Michelangelo and Rodin, and many have called him the Rodin and the Michelangelo of Modern China.  In his 20's, his work, When I Grow Up, was included in the national art exhibition and came to the attention of Chairman Mao.  In fact, that work was Chosen to tour several foreign countries, as the new national china image.

When I Grow Up by Pan He


A few years later, his piece, Hard Times, a commentary on life, in China, during the "famine", also was favored by Mao, and as a result, he was asked to make a sculpture of the Chairman to be erected in his home town, in Hunan.  Pan chose a younger, idealistic Mao with longer hair, before he became the tyrant who closed China to the outside world, like so many emperors had done, in the past.  Although people were dissatisfied with his choice, he went ahead.  As he was nearing cmpletion of the large stone sculpture, which was so large that it was being carved kin two halves, the authorities jailed him, accusing him of thrying to desecrsate the chairman by cutting him in half.  Indeed, recently, when he was requested by the Chinese government to make a second sculpture of Mao, a copy of which is in our gallery, he asked only for a written apology for his treatment during his first Mao project, and he got it.
  Mao by Pan He

Although he doesn't really like art dealers, and he mostly gives away his smaller versions of sculpture to friends, he did come and visit us at Leona Craig's Art Gallery, in Guangzhou, recently, to see the sculpture of his that we have been acquiring, and, then, to take us to visit the new sculpture garden and future museum that Guangzhou is building for him and his works.

He tells us that he only makes art when he has someting to say.  He says that sculpture allows for more freedom of interpretation and commentary, and, while his commentary is not always complimentary, the authorities interpret it as such by missing the real points.  The Helmsman, a larger work of which we have a copy in the gallery, is one of the sculptures included in his garden.  While one might see a strong helmsman at the wheel of the ship, Pan's real question, in this piece, is which way will his country eventually be steered?

 The Helmsman by Pan He

Even the layout of Pan's sculpture garden contains a subtle message. After going in, there is a map built into the walk, at the beginning of the park, as shown in these photos.

  

The story begins with "Survival", in the mid-19th century, which features the sculptures, opium wars, a sculpture of Hong Xu Quan, who organized the Taiping Heavenly movement, which was one of the beginning movements of revolt against the Qing Dynasty, and Scolars, Kang You Wei and Liang Qi Chao who were dedicated to bringing Western knowledge into China, as shown below.

  

The next section of the park is called "Independence" and is about the early part of the 20th century, during which there were a number of revolutions, beginning with the fall of the qing dynasty bringing in knowledge from the outside into china, in the Qing Dynasty.  A sculpture of Sun Yat Sen is manditory for this section, also included are "Get out of my Country", addressing the Japanese invasion, and "Tough Times".

 

Of course, Mao is also in that section.  After that comes "Wealth", which includes many sculptures atht have become the symbols of cities, like Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Xinjiang, and Zhuhai.  The final section is dedicated to "Peace".  We show a selection of other pieces, included in the sculpture garde, below.

  

  

   

  

  

There are many more sculptures in the park, and there are many good stories that go along with each, but we wanted to get this post up, so that we could share a good bit of it, now.  Check back, as we will update this entry as time allows.

To see some of the sculptures by Pan He that we have in our gallery at any given time, you can visit the Pan He Page of our website.

Hope you enjoy the tour...we did, and we had a fun afternoon visiting at his apartment, at our gallery, and in the sculpture park with Pan He, the Rodin of China.

Craig Mattoli & Ayu Chen
Leona Craig Art
Guangzhou, China

Website: http://www.leonacraig.com
11 Gui Gang Three Road, Dongshan Kou, Yuexiu district,  
Guangzhou, China 510080
广州市越秀区东山口龟岗三马路11号
086 020 37625069