Red Brick Art Museum presents ‘An American Perspective’ through the works of Andres Serrano
US artist Andres Serrano gives visitors insight into his perspective on art through his first solo show in Beijing’s Red Brick Museum. Curated by Yan Shijie with assistance from Sun Wenjie, the ongoing exhibition Andres Serrano: An American Perspective features most of the artist’s major works made over the years, including his recent Made in China series.
According to Serrano, the museum’s first resident artist, the Made in China series seeks to explore marriage, love and relationships. Featuring photos of single, newly-married and divorced Chinese dressed in formal attire striking dramatic poses, the series is his most recent work after his 2012 series Cuba.
Among the 53 photographs and videos at the exhibition, the highlight is Serrano’s photo portrait of current US President Donald Trump which the artist shot in 2004 for his America series.
Trump is set to arrive in China for a three-day tour beginning Wednesday.
The exhibition marks the first time Serrano’s America series has been shown in China. As often happens in Serrano’s work, the series presents larger themes through symbolic individuals, exploring identity and cultural diversity.
America is comprised of 115 portraits of Americans taken after the 9/11 terrorist attacks in 2001 and range from first-responders who arrived on scene at the World Trade Center the day of the attacks to the descendants of indigenous American peoples to sex workers.
His series Objects of Desire (1992), which includes a group of close-up photographs of guns, as well as other weapons of violence, tackles gun control, one of the most debated topics in the US, especially after the recent mass shooting at a rural Texas church.
Objects of Desire is not the first time the artist has tackled controversial topics.
Serrano first gained a name for himself in 1987 when his work Piss Christ was protested by conservative groups in the US.
The exhibition is set to run until February 25, 2018.