Frey Norris Gallery
456 Geary St
415.346.7812
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Shen Shaomin, Bonsai No. 37, Courtesy Frey Norris Gallery
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Opens Thursday Sep 4, 2008 (6–9pm)
Sep 4, 2008 – Sep 28, 2008
Tuesdays–Saturdays (11am–7pm)
Sundays (11am–5pm)
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Chinese artist Shen Shaomin uses mismatched groups of human and animal bones (some real, some cast in plaster) to form skeletal creatures that wouldn't look out of place in a natural-history museum's evolution display. On closer inspection, though, any semblance of science gives way to mysticism. The Thousand Hand Buddha traces the nine stages of development of a many-armed Vishnu-like being whose remains are proof of both life and death. Shaomin continues these natural manipulations in his Bonsai series — inspired by ritual foot-binding, he uses metal grips and vices to contort miniature trees into aesthetic studies.
