Williams College Museum of Art Presents
Zhan Wang: Urban Landscape Beijing
June 17–December 3, 2006

Williamstown, MA–the Williams College Museum of Art (WCMA) proudly presents Bejing-based sculptor Zhan Wang’s Urban Landscape: Beijjing. Expect the unexpected with this on-site installation. The extravagantly-detailed miniaturized city is constructed using stainless steel pots, pans, forks, serving platters, tea pots, and other ordinary household utensils. Zhan Wang: Urban Landscape will be on view at WCMA beginning June 17, 2006. WCMA’s Summer Party on July 15 at 5:00 pm will highlight this exhibition and three others currently on view. All are invited to attend.

In Urban Landscape: Beijing , Zhan Wang takes everyday objects and assembles them in a way that de-familiarizes them, creating an effect that stuns the senses. The fabricated metropolis is flanked by Wang’s famous stainless steel rock sculptures and illuminated from above, evoking a surreal, mesmerizing glow.  Although the effects are dazzling, the statement is somber.  Disenchanted with the relentless urban demolition of China’s cities, Wang seeks to conjure the memories of what has been destroyed in China and what these cities perhaps still stand to lose.

Zhan Wang attended Beijing Industrial Arts College from 1978–1981 and also the Central Academy of Fine Arts from 1983–1988.  He currently works as a Professor of Sculpture at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing while also creating and exhibiting new works.  He is perhaps most famous for his stainless steel rock sculptures and his pieces are represented in art collections all over the world.  Zhan Wang has participated in numerous exhibitions, the most recent of which were Transience: Chinese Experimental Art at the End of the Twentieth Century at the Smart Museum of Art, University of Chicago (1999) and Universal Experience: Art, Life and the Tourist’s Eye at the MCA in Chicago (2005).

Related Events:

A gallery talk on this exhibition, given by WCMA’s director, Lisa Corrin, is scheduled for June 27 at 2:00 pm. WCMA’s Summer Party will be held on July 15 from 5:00 to 6:30 pm at the museum. The party will celebrate the museum’s four summer exhibitions, including: Jackson Pollock at Williams College: A Tribute to Kirk Varnedoe ’67; Jacqueline Humphries: New Work; Zhan Wang: Urban Landscape; Perry Hall: Material Intelligence and Rhoda Holmes Nicholls. These events are free and open to the public.

The Williams College Museum of Art is open Tuesday through Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and on Sunday from 1 to 5 p.m. Admission is free and the museum is wheelchair accessible. Contact: Suzanne Augugliaro, Public Relations and External Affairs Director, 413.597.3178.

Publicity Images Available
Publicity images for Zhan Wang Urban Landscape and other current exhibitions are available for use.

These images are for members of the press only. Click the thumbnails below for high resolution images and email Suzanne Augugliaro, Public Relations Coordinator, once you have downloaded them. Please be sure to include the correct credit information in your publication.