Proposed location of "Boy Holding a Shark" by Chen Wenling. (courtesy Vancouver Biennale)
A proposed public art installation in Vancouver is getting pushback from the community.
Boy Holding A Shark by artist Chen Wenling depicts an aquamarine boy with a melting silver shark in his arms. The work, which sits on a red plinth, will tower over passersby.
It's part of the Vancouver Biennale – a public art festival held every two years – and is intended as a commentary on the impact climate change is having on the world's oceans.
Instead, some 1,000 people have signed an online petition asking the installation be stopped.
"This would be an unsightly imposition on the garden-like setting of this False Creek South neighbourhood," the petition says.
Barrie Mowatt, the artistic director of the biennale, told CBC News the sculpture has "created conversation way in advance of normal."
The biennale has released a statement responding to what it calls "misinformation" about the work. It likens the sculpture to "a lighthouse ... a beacon that will bring an art-infused energy, meaning, and engaging curiosity" to the area.
It's not the first time the Vancouver public has been unhappy with outdoor installations. In April, the Capture Photography Festival took down photographs of people sleeping after people complained that the works were disturbing.
At the time, Capture's director, Emmy Lee Wall, told CBC the billboards were at the heart of the tension inherent to public art. "How do we strike a balance between public concern and making critical contemporary work that pushes those boundaries for a large audience?" she asked.
Source: Vancouver Biennale, CBC News
