Water #7 by Jun Ren. Photo by Dan Fairchild.

Beautiful sunny weather and reflective sculptures along the Fraser River.  Sounds like an average day at the beginning of March, doesn’t it?

The Vancouver Biennale has installed this amazing piece by Chinese sculptor Jen Ren over the Cambie Bridge in the City of Richmond.

It’s the verticle twin of Ren Jun’s Freezing Water #7 which was installed in the fall of 2009 at Vancouver’s Vanier Park.

Both pieces are made from Stainless steel and weigh several tonnes.  They’re inspired slashes of water and contain a wondrous fluidity in their design.

Amazing photograph of Water #10 taken by Dan Fairchild.

Water #7 & Water #10

Stainless steel

Jun Ren

(China)

This artist’s inspiration came from pure forms; liquid water or mercury stopped in motion that revealed its shape as a drop or spill caught in the air. Though weighing seven tons, with no angles, or hard edges, the form flows visually and appears light and fluid.  The foundation for this sculpture has a substructure of 65 cubic metres of concrete and steel.

Jun Ren makes his North American debut with this elegant, amorphic stainless steel sculpture titled Water #7 & Water #10. The recent work by the Chinese sculptor Jun Ren, draws his inspiration from pure forms, liquid water or mercury stopped in motion to reveal its shape as a drop or spill caught in the air. Though weighing seven tons with no angles, or hard edges, the form flows visually and appears light and fluid.

Jun Ren graduated from the Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts, Shaanxi Provence, China.  Jun Ren represents the energy and opportunity of the ‘New China’, living outside the metropolis of Beijing; he has become a successful and respected sculptor of monumental and historical sculpture with works spanning cities from South to North of China, including many emerging industrial cities.  His older work embodies a spirit of heroism that reflects the political, economic, cultural and historical characteristics and contradictions that flow through this time of great transition in Chinese society.   His recent body of work is a dramatic departure in form, and inspiration from his earlier representational work.

For more information visit www.renjun-studio.com

Another stunning shot using the HDR technique. Photo by Dan Fairchild.

Jun Ren's Freezing Water #7 vs Vectorial Elevation. Photo by PopeJon2.

The city of Vancouver went absolutely insane this past weekend as the Olympic festivities reached full-on epic volume.

Everybody was on the street.  I took a walk with some friends thru the madness of Granville Street on Friday night.  I have never seen so many people!  Crowded, hooting, galavanting throngs of humanity.

And during it all great sculpture from around the world abides in the parks, public spaces and streets of Vancouver for everyone to enjoy.

Check out these incredible photos of the Vancouver Biennale sculpture entitled Freezing Water #7 by Chinese artist, Jun Ren.  It’s located along the footpath in Vanier Park overlooking False Creek, Sunset Beach and Stanley Park.

Local photographer PopeJon2 (if anyone knows PopeJon2′s true identity please ask him to get in touch with me at sean[at]vancouverbiennale[dot]com so that I can credit him properly.  Thanks!) took some stellar shots of Freezing Water dancing with Rafael Lozano-Hemmer’s amazing light installation “Vectorial Elevation”.

Freezing Water #7 Dances with Vectorial Elevation. Photo by PopeJon2.

More amazingness. Freezing Water #7 vs Vectorial Elevation. Photo by PopeJon2.

Freezing Water Soaks in Light. Photo by PopeJon2.

Jun Ren's Water #10 has been installed in the City of Richmond.

The newest Vancouver Biennale sculptural installation in the City of Richmond is by Chinese artist, Jun Ren.  It’s called Water #10 and it sits along the intersection of Cambie Road and the Fraser River.

Jun Ren has two sculptures in this edition of the Vancouver Biennale.  Water #10 is a sort of companion to the piece entitled Freezing Water that is located in Vancouver’s Vanier Park.

Dan Fairchild photographed some of the installation of Water #10 and got these sweet shots of the mercurial vertical sculpture in the mist at night.

Strange Movement in this Sculpture. A solid liquid form.

More on this sculpture coming very soon.

In the meantime, here’s a close-up by Dan Fairchild.

This is what water looks like real close up!

Jun Ren's Water Number 7 Reflects in Vanier Park. Photo by Dan Fairchild.

There’s lots of reasons to look forward to summer in Vancouver especially when we’re living through the cold winter rains of February and March.

Limitless blue skies and sunlight, open spaces with mountain views, wine on Jericho beach with friends at twilight, Stanley Park.  Longer days, the city alive with travelers, long bike rides along the seawall.

It’s an amazing time.

Ravens are Just Chillin' with Water #7 in Vanier Park. Photo by Dan Fairchild.

One of the things about Vancouver that I am excited to see in the context of endless warmth and sunlight is Jun Ren’s Water #7.

Water #7 sits at the edge of False Creek in Vanier Park and it’s like the best kept secret of public sculpture in Vancouver.

Ravens Take Flight as Water #7 Stretches its Wings. Photo by Dan Fairchild.

I can remember the first time that I heard about this sculpture.  It was just an idea, a few preliminary drawings and a promise.

When I asked Biennale president, Barrie Mowatt, what Water #7 would look like he poured a tiny amount of water from his drinking glass on the table.  It created a little puddle.

Then Barrie gently flicked the puddle and the water exploded like wings on the wooden table top.  “It’ll look something like that,” he said.

It was a pretty exciting moment.  And difficult to believe but pretty soon the Biennale received some photos of the piece as it was being built.

One look at those photos and you just knew that Water #7 was going to be a showstopper.  It was going to be immense and magnificent.

But… it had to be completed, then broken down, put into boxes and shipped across the Pacific to Vancouver.

Water #7 Imitates the Clouds in the Sky at Sunset. Photo by Dan Fairchild.

Water #7 was installed in Vanier Park at the edge of False Creek as the rains came in late October to wash away the memories of summer.

It was a big and unwieldy installation process that took more than a week to complete.  A sturdy concrete base needed to be installed in the ground to support the 8 tonne structure and then the machines that lifted the piece into place ripped apart the grass.

The oncoming rains turned the entire area into a thick mud soup.

Water #7 Bides it Time (An Imaginary Flight over the Mountains). Photo by Dan Fairchild.

So there hasn’t been a lot of talk about Water #7.  It hasn’t really had the chance to works its way into the city’s imagination.

It’s like a secret.

But as Dan Fairchild’s photos show, the grass is coming back up around it.  The ravens like it.

The piece is starting to fit into the landscape.  It’s starting to speak the language of its surroundings; sublimating the mountains, reflecting the birds in flight, forcing passersby to linger a moment in wonder.

All of this to say that Jun Ren’s Water #7 is awaiting spring and the long days of summer when the ground around it will be green and alive and it will reflect and imitate all aspects of life surrounding it.

It’s going to be amazing when it happens.

Go see it now to get a sense of the mystery, to give yourself some context for seeing it again on a brilliant summer day.

Water #7, Stainless steel, Jun Ren, (China) Photo by Dan Fairchild

The long-awaited installation of Jun Ren’s amazing, mind-blowingly engineered piece entitled Water #7 has been finished.  This long, gorgeous, expectation defying piece resides along the entrance to False Creek in Vanier Park.

Once the sun gets a-hold of these polished curves in the summertime it’s gonna be the talk of the town.  As it is, it’s still an outstanding piece and a great addition to the Vancouver Biennale.

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