Chinese sculptures installed in Millennium Park

Exhibit on display for 1 1/2 years
April 1, 2009 (CHICAGO) Just east of the Crown Fountain at the south end of the park, three large pieces are now in place. A fourth sculpture will be added in the next few days. The installations- from China- have never been displayed in the US.

The red T-Rex is called Windy City Dinosaur.

"He said, 'Why don't I just make it windproof?' So he built it and it is windproof. It's all slotted and it's a really exciting piece for the kids to enjoy," said Lucas Cowan, Chicago Department of Cultural Affairs.

The exhibition is sponsored by the Dept. of Cultural Affairs. The installation will be declared Thursday and run for a year and a half.

One of the sculptures, Sacred Rock, is realistic.

"What the artist does is he takes stainless steel and hammers them exactly around the rock," said Cowan. "Around the big rock. He takes them apart. He takes the pieces off and welds them back together to create the exact shape he has molded."

The huge sculptures grab attention, especially the one in the middle, Ying Yong Feng Dou. The sculpture of a woman clinging to a man who is clinging to a large pig was created by 40-year-old Beijing artist Chen Wenling.

"Pig in traditional Chinese culture means greed, it means fortune, it means desire," said Hantao Shi, translator for Wenling.

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