The sculpture exhibition "Visible Temperature" by artist Cao Hui runs from September 25 to October 25 in the Pifo art gallery at the Beijing 798 art district.

The show includes about 20 pieces of Cao's work created in the past three years. Among them are bones with flesh and blood, a human foot with a bleeding scar, sheep wearing sweaters and huge gorillas without hair. All the works are carved strictly and vividly according to their real shape.

Bones: Many artists have chosen this subject to show its beauty. Cao depicts lacerated bones with blood and fascia on it to express life before disappearing. [China.org.cn]

Cao told China.org.cn that he wanted to show the "normal condition of life" by depicting the bloody life of the body. "Lives have no difference in the beginning. But civilization classifies lives into different social groups. And I also want to express the fragility and sadness of life. We human beings tend to use various concepts to conceal some states of life and choose what we want to see. Some things cannot be seen, but they exist. I'd like to reveal the hidden reality in my works," he said.

Cao's works comprise of "half wild imagination and half precise observation." This combination has a shocking power. After this exhibition, Cao will show it in other cities in China. He is also busy planning a new series of work.

Foot: Cao wants to make the audience feel pain by looking at it. [China.org.cn]

Sheep: Cao uses the sheep to represent the weak, such as animals oppressed by humans or disadvantaged social groups in society. [China.org.cn]

Gorilla: Through the development of civilization, humans have lost their original ability to live in nature. [China.org.cn]

(China.org.cn by Ren Zhongxi, September 27, 2009)