Vancouver Biennale releases statement on Boy Holding a Shark public-art installation
Chen Wenling’s sculpture, proposed for the South False Creek Harbour and speaking to the plight of oceans, proves public art continues to divide here
IT’S SUMMER, and it’s the Vancouver Biennale, which means it’s time for a debate over the annual outdoor gallery’s latest public art.
The large-scale project drawing residents’ ire this time has not even been installed yet. Artist Chen Wenling’s Boy Holding a Shark, proposed for South False Creek near Stamps Landing, has drawn outrage from nearby condo owners, mostly for its scale and location.
Almost 1,000 people have signed a petition that complains “This would be an unsightly imposition on the garden-like setting of this False Creek South neighbourhood.”
First, a bit about the 7.8-metre-high sculpture: standing atop a red lighthouse-type tower, it depicts a distraught boy cradling a dying shark. The child speaks to future generations, and the use of the shark is highly symbolic—the ocean’s most powerful creature endangered; the allusion to shark-fin soup. Chen is also the artist behind The Proud Youth, an 18-foot-tall sculpture of a boy hunched over, on display near the North False Creek seawall.
It’s the latest in a long line of monumental-scale international public artworks, installed by the nonprofit society every two years, that have caused controversy in the city. Some have been kept here, and residents seem to have come around to accepting them: Amaze-ing Laughter, the 14 bronze laughing men created by Beijing-based Yue Minjun by English Bay, was first questioned but later celebrated as a permanent beachside addition when Lululemon founder Chip Wilson pitched in $1.5-million to keep it in Vancouver. As hard as it is to imagine now, there were complaints from condo residents across the water when famed Brazilian street-art legends OSGEMEOS painted Giants on the concrete silos on Granville Island in 2014. And let’s not forget that the three enormous fiberglass resin jellybeans by Canadian artist Cosimo Cavallaro in Charleson Park irritated some of the dog owners in the off-leash area.
Some pieces have been so controversial that they’ve long moved on to other “homes”: Dennis Oppenheim’s upside-down church, seen by Coal Harbour during the 2005-2007 biennale, was relocated to Calgary in 2008—though, somewhat surprisingly, it seemed to offend Vancouverites’ views more than their religious propriety. And who can forget the Gao Brothers’ bitingly satirical Miss Mao Trying to Poise Herself at the Top of Lenin’s Head, installed in Richmond around the 2010 Olympics, depicting Chairman Mao as the diminutive figure teetering atop Lenin’s giant stainless-steel noggin? Word has it the piece is in storage somewhere, after it divided residents during its exhibition.
Curiously, it’s hard to recall any dust-up around what is arguably the most provocative biennale installation ever: activist and artist Ai Weiwei’s literal “fuck you” to the Chinese government, F Grass, installed in the 2014 exhibition in Coal Harbour in Harbour Green Park. Then again, you could be forgiven for not getting the full gyst of that artwork just walking by, as its full F-bomb was only visible by hovering in the air above it.
Let’s face it: public art always has, and always will, divide Vancouver residents. Look no further than Vancouver artist Steven Shearer’s provocative photo series of people sleeping, blown up and displayed on billboards along the Arbutus Corridor as part of this year’s 2021 Capture Photography Festival, only to be covered up and removed after public complaints.
But we digress. Here is the biennale’s official statement on Boy Holding a Shark:
Chen Wenling’s The Proud Youth is at the south end of Drake Street along the Yaletown Seawall.
“This in response to the misinformation being circulated about our proposed public art installation Boy Holding A Shark by artist Chen Wenling. Like a lighthouse, Boy Holding A Shark is a beacon that will bring an art-infused energy, meaning, and engaging curiosity to the South False Creek Harbour seawall in the heart of the city. It’s the reimagining of public space for everyone to experience, be inspired by, learn from and enjoy. It’s creative placemaking that taps into our identity as a port city and long history of environmental activism, revitalizes the dialogue and re-engages our collective consciousness at a critical point in the health of our oceans.
”An early photograph of the sculpture did not provide the full perspective. Boy Holding A Shark is akin to a lighthouse and acts as a warning that human activity is jeopardizing our oceans to the point where even the most powerful and seemingly indomitable of marine life are in distress. The young distraught boy, holding the shark as evidence for all to see, reminds us that the future is in our hands.
”We are inspired by the United Nations Decade of Ocean Science for Sustainable Development and UNESCO’s call for an ‘ocean knowledge revolution’. The inextricable relationship between ocean health and the health of humans is fast becoming a prevailing global issue for scientists, environmentalists, economists, and ultimately for us all.
”We thank those who have shown support for this public art installation. To others who are opposed because of the aesthetics of the artwork, the location and its proximity to privately owned residences, and/or the ethnicity of the artist, we ask that you consider Boy Holding A Shark as an opportunity to create a really imaginative, meaningful space for the entire community to enjoy and be inspired by. We invite you to join us.”
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