'Mute Encounters': Artist Bruno Walpoth's wood sculptures presented in Beijing
Updated 19:50, 21-Apr-2019
[]
02:40
Acclaimed Italian sculptor and artist Bruno Walpoth's wood carvings are on display in Beijing, in his "Mute Encounters" exhibit. The sculptures are not set up with any background decorations but each of them still reveals feelings and unique spirits. Li Qiong reports.
These wood carvings are believed to be more than sculptures.
Visitors to the hall can immediately feel like they are one of them.
Some come to visit because of Walpoth's reputation, others soon become his fans upon seeing the sculptures.
LI KAIYUE VISITOR "I heard about the artist but didn't know him well. I like his way of sculpting every human figure, especially this piece 'Anima Fragile'. I really feel her fragility through her facial expression and body gesture. The sculptor is super good."
Born into a family of wood sculptors, Bruno Walpoth had taken on a centuries-old local tradition and modernized it for the current day.
He carves human figures from blocks of wood, each one based on a human model, with very plain gestures.
The artist says that his sculptures do not tell stories. Nor is he even attempting to transmit messages.
LI QIONG BEIJING "These life-sized human figures are as realistic as they are striking. From a distance, it is hard to tell that they are not living, breathing beings. And when getting closer, we can see that everyone looks gloomy, lonely, there's no happy face here. Very vivid and touching expressions."
For the artist, it is important that the viewer's gaze does not stop at the surface of the sculptures, but goes beyond the outside to capture the inner life of the work.
GAOGAO, DIRECTOR ASSISTANT CAFA ART MUSEUM "The artist said he wanted to make figures look mysterious. So as we see, the figures don't have dramatic expressions, and none of them look into the visitors' eyes. They either semi-close their eyes or look into the distance. People can see introspection in them."
The exhibition of Bruno Walpoth's wood sculptures runs through May 1st at the CAFA Art Museum in Beijing. LQ, CGTN.