hyper-realistic animal and human forms by sun yuan + peng yu

hyper-realistic animal and human forms by sun yuan + peng yu
‘teenager teenager’, 2011
performance, sofa, stones
1440 x 540 cm / 47.2 x 17.8 feet
photo : claire dorn / courtesy the artists and galerie perrotin

sun yuan + peng yu
galerie perrotin, paris
now through november 9, 2013

chinese artists sun yuan + peng yu present a series of life-size, poignant and disturbing hyper-realistic sculptural installations of human and animal forms at galerie perrotin, paris. the creative duo are best known for shocking their audience through their controversial work with materials like human fat tissue and animals to deal with issues of perception, death, and the human condition, demonstrating provocative issues of the contemporary era. ‘if i die’ is a monumental installation that shows massive gel and fiberglass manta rays carrying an aged woman in space, with swarms of colorful parrots flying through the gallery. the surrealist structure acts as a metaphor for a consumer society that has lost its way. through hints of dark humour, they intensely probe themes of life and death in unusual, destabilizing ways.

‘if I die’, 2013
silica gel and fiber glass, video 14 min / 6 elements, variable dimensions
photo : claire dorn / courtesy the artists and galerie perrotin

‘if I die’, 2013
silica gel and fiber glass, video 14 min / 6 elements, variable dimensions
photo : claire dorn / courtesy the artists and galerie perrotin

‘if I die’ (detail), 2013
silica gel and fiber glass, video 14 min / 6 elements, variable dimensions
photo : claire dorn / courtesy the artists and galerie perrotin

‘spilling out’, 2013
metal, silica gel
80 x 150 x 100 cm / 31 x 59 x 39 1/2 inches
photo : claire dorn / courtesy the artists and galerie perrotin