full-scale copper repousse statue of liberty cast by danh vo

full-scale copper repousse statue of liberty cast by danh vo
photo © pierre antoine
courtesy of the artist/galerie chantal crousel, paris

danh vo, ‘go mo ni ma da’
musée d’art moderne, paris
now through august 18, 2013

through installations influenced by his life experiences, conceptual artist danh vo challenges the foundation of societal values and the political conflict that inevitably follows. vo’s personal history is marked by struggle and displacement. when he was a child, his family fled the upheaval that spread across vietnam. they was rescued at sea by a danish ship and eventually settled in denmark. his family’s exodus saved them from the horrors of war, but left vo with a significant burden. these intimate sentiments are visualized in his work, which is saturated with ideas about political practices and liberal society. his work draws on historical and personal references that parallel his background.

‘go mo ni ma da’, currently exhibiting at the musée d’art moderne in paris, is a body of work categorized into 4 groups. the largest and most long-term project is the life-size reproduction of auguste bartholdi’s statue of liberty — a universal symbol of immigration, freedom, and democracy. over the past two years, vo has been working with one of the earliest metalworking techniques, repoussé, casting the full-scale statue from over 30 tons of copper sheets, whose width is that of just two pennies. instead of constructing the hundreds of sections himself, vo decided to disperse the disassembled pieces, shipping the giant fragments to 15 sites around the world. the transient nature of these parts separated from their whole is clearly cognate to his own journey as a youth.

‘we the people’ (detail) 2011-2013, 2012
copper
photo © pierre antoine
courtesy of the artist/galerie chantal crousel, paris

danh vo, ‘go mo ni ma da’
photographs © pierre antoine
courtesy of the artist/galerie chantal crousel, paris

the work of danh vo is motivated by his powerful personal hurdles. his discipline and craft explores society, the complexity of the governments that rule them, and the values they communicate. the artist finds a stimulating way to integrate his memory, advocacy, and attitude towards culture with issues that are significant on a global scale.

danh vo, ‘go mo ni ma da’
photographs © pierre antoine
courtesy of the artist/galerie chantal crousel, paris

 ‘I thought it would be interesting to make something that people felt so familiar with, in all the different ways that people project on the sculpture, and try to destabilize your own thinking of it.’ — dahn vo

danh vo, ‘go mo ni ma da’
photographs © pierre antoine
courtesy of the artist/galerie chantal crousel, paris

danh vo, ‘go mo ni ma da’
photographs © pierre antoine
courtesy of the artist/galerie chantal crousel, paris

danh vo, ‘go mo ni ma da’
photographs © pierre antoine
courtesy of the artist/galerie chantal crousel, paris

 
danh vo, ‘go mo ni ma da’
photographs © pierre antoine
courtesy of the artist/galerie chantal crousel, paris

danh vo
was born in 1975 in vietnam.
he studied at the royal academy of fine arts, denmark and the städelschule, frankfurt.
vo lives and works in berlin.