My Chosen Artist - Ieoh Ming Pei

Instead of focusing on a sculptor, painter or a fine artist, I choose to shed light on someone who is not so 'experimentalist'/'alternative', yet no less significant especially in the history of architecture. His name is Ieoh Ming Pei, commonly known as I.M. Pei.

I.M. Pei is a Chinese American architect often called a master of modern architecture. Born in Canton (Guangzhou) and raised in Hong Kong and Shanghai, Pei drew inspiration at an early age from the gardens at Suzhou. He has won a wide variety of prizes and awards in the field of architecture, including the AIA Gold Medal in 1979, the first Praemium Imperiale for Architecture in 1989, and the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Cooper-Hewitt, National Design Museum in 2003. In 1983, he won the Pritzker Prize, sometimes called the Nobel Prize of architecture.

The first reason for me to get to know about Pei is the skyscraper situated in Central of Hong Kong. It's hard not to notice this spectacular and unique building, which was designed to resemble the shape of a bamboo and to symbolize the traditional spirit of the Chinese people, that is, to aspire the highness while remaining integrity.

Another work of his - a more well-known one - that I love is the glass and steel pyramid of the Louvre Museum. Seen as an ambitious and even unimaginable plan at first, this pyramid has proved to be one of the most significant work of architecture in history.

As I was doing research about I.M Pei, the Miho Museum attracted my attention. Situated in the midst of mountains, it looks like a heaven in a faraway land. 80% of the body of this architecture is buried underground because of relevant regulations of Japanese government. In my opinion, it is the perfect embodiment of harmony between human and nature. I become so absorbed in this architecture that I can wait to do more research on Pei's works.

First review

Taking the GE course granted me a chance to explore Art. Personally, I like painting, and everything about art except do it for living. Seldom do I take my free time to visit a gallery, or a museum, I especially treasure this opportunity. 

Had my first visit with the GE class in Fo Tan. There are many abandoned flats in industrial building in Fo Tan which used to be manufacturing, printing, etc. Now, some of those are rented to "artist" or "group of artist". Some manufacturing are still running that makes the environment even smelly,  strange, and mysterious.

The first piece of art, and the first "I think I understood" piece of art is a sculpture shown in the following pictures.

The sculpture is called The Spaceship Of Fools. There are many wood-made human like being "facing" and "following" a golden one that explaining the meaning of fool. 

I think it wanted to show that there are many people following the out standing one and that its a foolish action. Here are some points supporting my point of view: 1. Reading their face, you can see their confusion and fear. 2. All wood-made are facing the golden one.

Apart from typical art works, I found some interesting art works that may present more the "Contemporary"

This art work is perfectly combined with things in every day's life. This is a handcraft container  which contains no usual handcraft but pieces of papers with written words on them. Perhaps I get a paper which wrote my heart broken feeling out and I will cry like a baby. Then, I can use the paper to wipe my nose :P 

Maybe thats the intention of the artist.

More about "Contemporary"

This is a famous religion painting which is about the touch between God and Adam. The artist replaced the head of God by his own. 

This is another similar painting that maxing a famous old painting and some modern things. 

And finally, me in the gallery XD. I found it a perfect match between me and the paintings as if I was the painter.

This is certainly a good start of exploring something about Art. The journey introduced me some aspects of Contemporary Art. One regret was that I tried to find something related to postmodernism which I heard in the class, and I was failed. A reason may be that I had very few chances meeting the artist and talking with them. Eventually, I pretty enjoy this visit.