"Gates of Peace" by Kwan WuChina-United States 30 Year Anniversary Relationship

On May 16, Kwan Wu's 15 ft sculpture "The Gate of Peace" unveiled in Guangzhou of China along with "Kwan Wu Sculpture Exhibition Hall" had an opening ceremony where 70 pieces of Kwan's work is permanently on display in the10 thousand square foot hall. This was another dedication in the "China-United States 30 Year Anniversary Relationship Art and Culture Exchange Campaign" project and Topeka is one of four U.S. Cities to be honored with a gift of sculpture. Kwan played an important role in bringing the sculpture "Lantern Light" by celebrated Chinese sculptor Ye Yeshan to Topeka.


SouthWind Gallery has enjoyed many years of bringing Kwan's work to our patrons in Northeast Kansas. We have hosted several one man shows of his work and regularly carry his work. Many of the pieces permanently on display in the new Exhibition Hall has also graced the walls here at SouthWind Gallery. We are truely excited about Kwan's recognition as a worldwide artist as well as our involvement in being able to bring one of the pieces to Topeka.

One of his most unique abilities is to produce a life size bust of a sitting model in about an hour. Pictured left, Charles Haude, Executive Director of the Johnson Atelier Sculpture Foundation poses after he sat for his own bust. Kwan has displayed this talent several times at SouthWind Gallery even creating a bust of Washburn University's Dr. Farley in 2007 and most recently in late 2009 he did a private commission here at the gallery during a First Friday Art Walk. (See a short video featuring this unique talent on our Facebook Page.) Among his other achievements are "The Bill of Rights", a 14-foot bronze monument at the Federal Courthouse in Kansas City was one of his first. Since then, many commissions have followed including the twelve life-sized bronze baseball players for the National Negro League Baseball Museum; the nine-foot statue of Phog Allen at the University of Kansas; a life-sized sculpture of George Brett at Kauffman Stadium in Kansas City; and the Children of the Trails memorial in the Johnson County Courthouse Square in Olathe, Kansas.

The" Gate of Peace" (unveiling pictured above)  is one of the eight sculptures created for the "China-United States 30 Year Anniversary Relationship Art and Culture Exchange Campaign" project. It was unveiled in Kwan's home town Nanhai, of Guangdong, China.  The project includes four master sculptors from the US; and four from China. Seven of eight pieces sculpture have been installed in the cities of Washington D.C.; Newark, NJ; Atlanta, GA, and Beijing; Shanghai; Changchun; Guangzhou in China. The last sculpture "Lantern Light" by Master Ye Yushan of China will be installed in Topeka Kansas in June 15.
Also pictured right are a few photos of the other sculptures from the "China-United States 30 Year Anniversary Relationship Art and Culture Exchange Campaign"
The ceremony at Atlanta (pictured right) had a wonderful article about the events. Click Here to go to that article.

The Topeka dedication ceremony for "Lantern Light" by Ye Yushan is Tuesday, June 15, 2010, at 11:00 a.m., on the Washburn University campus, northwest corner of Henderson Learning Center in the 1900 block of Jewel. This formal dedication ceremony will be attended by representatives of the U.S. and Chinese Consulates as well as leaders of the Topeka community and the State of Kansas. We hope you also will honor Topeka with your presence at this very special event for our city and the arts.

Gallery Hours: Monday – Friday, 10:00 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. and Saturday, 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. SouthWindArtGallery.com

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