Art for the World: 20 Sculptures at Shanghai World Expo 2010

The Shanghai World Expo 2010 featured 'Art for the World,' an ambitious public sculpture exhibition along a pedestrian boulevard traversed by 600,000 visitors daily. Curated by Jean-Gabriel Mitterrand and Ami Barak, the project presented 20 sculptures by 11 Chinese and 9 international artists. Despite budget cuts halved mid-course by Chinese authorities, the exhibition remained attractive. Notable works included Wang Guangyi's corten steel replica of Mao Zedong's 1958 car, Zhang Huan's stainless steel panda couple 'He He' and 'Xie Xie' symbolizing cross-strait harmony, Mircea Cantor's gold-leaf-covered 'Arch of Triumph,' Wim Delvoye's concrete mixer resembling a Gothic church spire, and Shen Yuan's resin egg-eye hybrid. Other artists included Dan Graham, Julian Opie, Pascale Marthine Tayou, Zhan Wang, Xavier Veilhan, Liu Jianhua, Leung Mee Ping, and Sui Jianguo. The project was two-thirds funded by World Expo, with sponsors Martell, Tomson, and Erdos. Some sculptures will remain post-Expo. Concurrently, the Minsheng Art Museum opened with a Chinese contemporary painting exhibition featuring Zhang Xiaogang, Fang Lijun, Yue Mingjun, and Ming. Zhou Tiehai, co-director of Minsheng, held a solo show at Moca Shanghai. The Marcel Duchamp Prize celebrated its tenth anniversary at the French Pavilion, presenting works by the 2009 laureates as 'ambassadors of French contemporary art in China.'