"RAM Christmas Project 2011"
at Rockbund Art Museum
For the 2011 Christmas Holidays, the RockBund Art Museum has specially commissioned Just Call Me Nick, a unique interactive artwork. This unique Christmas-themed installation will be featured at RAM’s 2011 Christmas reception and for a month after.
Just Call Me Nick is a tongue-in-cheek satire of the wholly commercial entity of Santa Claus, commonly mistaken as a revered religious tradition. In the words of Coca-Cola, “the image of Santa most people have today is largely based on our advertising.” Invented in 1931 by illustrator Haddon Sundblom, the figure of St. Nicholas has morphed through the ages, depending on who the artist was, where he was based and what he was drawing for. The unkempt, greasy man in a wrinkled Santa suit exposes the sobering reality behind a well-loved myth, and comments on the effects of relentless commercialization on our lives and belief systems. This is reminiscent of Liu Dao’s works on increasing commercialization in China, a topic often explored by the artists to examine the effects of globalization and a rapidly growing economy on the lives of the people.
RockBund Art Museum is dedicated to the promotion of contemporary art. It is committed to the study and exchange of contemporary visual arts through diverse, internationally-acclaimed exhibitions and educational programs. It endeavors to integrate art, design and innovation into an aesthetic space for a promotion of a new Shanghai lifestyle. RockBund is housed in a beautiful, historical 1930s Art Deco-style building that was the home of the Royal Asiatic Society, founded in 1874. |
