Huang Yong Ping's Amoy/Xiamen at MAC Lyon

Huang Yong Ping's exhibition 'Amoy/Xiamen' at the Musée d'art contemporain de Lyon (February 15 to April 14, 2013) explores cultural hybridity through installations and sculptures. The title references the Western and Eastern names of the artist's hometown in Fujian province. Central to the show are nearly 200 Buddhist deity statuettes from Fujian, collected in the late 19th century by Johannes Jacobus Maria de Groot for the Musée Guimet, now at the Musée des Confluences in Lyon. Works like 'Intestins de Bouddha' (2003) combine a wooden Buddha with stuffed vultures, merging Buddhist and Greek mythology. 'Cinquante bras de Bouddha' (1997-2013) presents terracotta arms on a giant bottle rack, blending Duchampian gesture with Buddhist religion. 'La Pêche' (2006) mixes Christian and Buddhist iconography: a Leviathan-like chimera bites a Christ-shaped hook held by Guanyin. 'Reptiles' (1989-2013) features two tortoise-shaped Chinese tombs made from Western and Eastern art history books processed in washing machines. The exhibition presents syncretic identities for a globalized world.