In a small Chinese village – about 800 kilometers South of Beijing – Art from the Eindhoven Van Abbemuseum will be displayed.
At least … The museum has given permission to a Chinese artist to make a number of copies of a few pieces of the collection.
Artist Li Mu wants to expose modern art to approximately 1000 inhabitants of his native village Qiuzhuang. Li Mu already has a library set up in the village and wants to exhibit modern art in that building.
The project is a nod to the idea that the Chinese love to copy and are also good in copying. However, it also appears to be too expensive to bring original works from the Van Abbe to China. Li Mu met employees from the Van Abbemuseum in Shanghai in 2010 when the museum held an exposition in connection with the Worlds Expo.
One of the works that Li Mu is originally going to imitate is the American Sol Lewitt. This artwork was already imitated at the Van Abbe Museum by the Danish artist collective Superflex. The copies were then raffled among visitors in the museum.
Another work of art where Li Mu is allowed to work on is the cheerful “Hi-Ha’ of the Eindhoven artist John Körmeling. The artwork displays neon letters that display the words ‘Hi-Ha’ dozens of times. Körmeling uses neon in many of his designs. Likewise he used neon at the pavilion for the World Expo in Shanghai which he designed himself.
Li Mu is also allowed to make a copy of the famous Mao portrait of Andy Warhol. This American often worked with copies, He regularly makes multiple versions of artworks in different colours.
Source: Omroep Brabant
