Material: Bronze sculpture with colored patina

Dimension: Male (Feng): 56 ¼ x 13 ½ x 15 inch

                   Female (Huang): 55 ½ x 16 x 21 ¼ inch

Conceived at the time of Xu Bing’s monumental Phoenix Project, 2008-2010, which was exhibited in Beijing, Shanghai, New York and at the 2015 Venice Biennale, the intricate, hand painted Bronze Phoenix, 2016, consists of 500 separate cast and hand-wrought parts. Proud and powerful, a symbol of peace and prosperity, the mythological phoenix (Feng and Huang) foretell  great events. Xu Bing’s Bronze Phoenix has another aspect as well; made up of shovels, wrenches and drill bits – the tools of the worker -  it is a contemporary Phoenix, a representation of  21st century China in all its’ variety, ambition and raw energy.   

Materials: Natural debris attached to frosted glass panel

2016

Exhibition Location: Al Riwaq, Qatar Museum, Doha, Qatar

2018

Exhibition Location: NordArt, Büdelsdorf, Germany

2019

Exhibition Location: Center del Carme, Valencia, Spain

In 2004, I was installing an exhibition at the East Asian Art Museum in Germany. During the Second World War, 90 percent of the collection was moved to the former Soviet Union by the Soviet Red Army. Only some photos of the lost artwork are left. I hope to use the large glass showcases surrounding the existing space to create a new work that combines local history and my cultural background. I saw the potted plants behind the frosted glass wall in the office area of the airport during a connecting flight, which looked like a smudged Chinese painting. At this time, I thought of the large glass cabinets of the museum and the missing art pieces and got the inspiration for Background Story.

Book From the Ground, a book composed entirely of symbols and icons, is an account of twenty-four hours in the busy but witty life of Mr. Black (A typical urban white-collar worker). Xu Bing now developes this book into a Pop-up book, making this universally readable book more playful and amusing. 

Book from the Ground Pop-up Book - Day (2015)

Book from the Ground Pop-up Book - Night (2016)

Dimension :24.5 x 35.3cm

Material:320g, 250g and 160g Ganggu white paperboard with non-acid latex