The Dennos Museum Center at Northwestern Michigan College will present the exhibition Li Hongbo & Matt Shlian: Stacked and Folded – Paper as Sculpture September 21 – January 4, 2015. The exhibition brings together a Chinese and an American artist to showcase the inventive use of paper in creating sculpture.
Li Hongbo from Beijing stacks thousands of sheets of paper glued together in a honeycomb pattern, using pressure to hold them together. He then saws, cuts, and shapes the paper mass shaving in details and adding minute touches with sandpaper. Li developed this technique over a 12-year period after developing a fascination with paper during his former career as a book editor and publisher. The results are sculptural forms of everything from a portrait bust of a person to a tree trunk. But these sculptures can stretch, twist, elongate and retract as if it were a giant slinky. Through this juxtaposition of playful mobility and a traditional aesthetic, Li Hongbo breathes a unique life into his works that stuns and awes the viewer. See more at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gttdbqX4SWA
Matt Shlian from Ann Arbor, Michigan is an artist/paper engineer. Matthew Shlian works within the increasingly nebulous space between art and engineering. As a paper engineer, Shlian’s work is rooted in print media, book arts, and commercial design, though he frequently finds himself collaborating with a cadre of scientists and researchers who are just now recognizing the practical connections between paper folding and folding at microscopic and nanoscopic scales. Learn more about Matt and his work at http://www.mattshlian.com/video%20frame.html?user=mattshlian
“We are excited to bring these two masters of paper as medium in this special exhibition” says Gene Jenneman, Executive Director of the Dennos Museum Center, “I had the privilege of visiting Li Hongbo’s studio outside of Beijing in March after seeing his work at Art Miami this past December. At the same time I encountered Li Hongbo, we were preparing to show a few of Matt’s works with our recent Pop Up book exhibition. It was clear the two would make a fascinating exhibition together. Recently youtube videos of Li Hongbo’s work have been somewhat of an internet sensation and I have received e-mails with the various sites listed, encouraging me to bring his work to the Dennos. It has been great to reply that it was already coming.”
The Dennos Museum Center is open Monday to Saturday 10 AM to 5 PM, Thursday until 8 PM and Sundays 1-5 PM. Admission is $6.00 adults, $4.00 for children and free to museum members. For more information on the Museum and its programs, go to www.dennosmuseum.org or call 231-995-1055. The Dennos Museum Center is located at 1410 College Drive, Traverse City, MI 49686, at the entrance to the campus of Northwestern Michigan College.