Make Room Los Angeles is proud to announce the debut of "Freemartins," a new body of work by Yeni Mao, a Chinese-American sculptor based in Mexico City. "Freemartins" will consist of seven new sculptures made of steel armatures, interspersed with porcelain, leather, and volcanic rock. Additionally, the exhibition will feature two felt wall works created in 2017 shortly after the artist relocated to Mexico City from the US.
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    fig 39.1 freemartin, 2024, Blackened steel, porcelain, ceramic with graphite finish, calcite, leather, 25 x 48 x 31 in. (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
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    fig 39.1 freemartin, 2024, Blackened steel, porcelain, ceramic with graphite finish, calcite, leather, 25 x 48 x 31 in.
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  • The exhibition builds upon the artist's exploration of a set of tunnels underneath the Mexico–U.S. border town of Mexicali. These...
    fig 39.2 chiron, 2024
    Blackened steel, leather, volcanic rock, aluminum
    17½ x 15 x 15 in.
    The exhibition builds upon the artist's exploration of a set of tunnels underneath the Mexico–U.S. border town of Mexicali. These tunnels were inhabited by Chinese and Chinese-Mexican populations at the beginning of the 20th century, during the time of the Mexican Revolution and as the U.S. enacted discriminatory policies against Asian immigrants. The artist cuts the tunnel floor plans in steel plate, creating sculptures of extruded space by linking them with steel bars. Inside these anthropomorphic sculptures, visible pieces of organic matter represent the life within the architectural host. The presentation of the sculptures can also be interpreted as an imaginary urban scape, blending the past, present, and future.
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  • fig 39.6 juarez 88, 2024, Nickel and brass-plated steel, leather, 29 x 16 x 23 in. (Larger version of this image opens in a popup).
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    fig 39.6 juarez 88, 2024, Nickel and brass-plated steel, leather, 29 x 16 x 23 in.
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  • fig 39.7 bardo, 2024，Blackened steel, volcanic rock, aluminum，28 x 12 x 17½ in.
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  • Yeni Mao's sculptures possess a captivating narrative undertone, often drawing from the Canadian-born Chinese artist's transnational background. Themes of displacement, migration, fragmented and sexualized bodies, and their connection to the built environment are interwoven throughout Mao's work. Using a variety of materials such as ceramic, volcanic rock, brass, steel, and leather, Mao skillfully contrasts textures, volumes, and densities to create sculptures and installations that evoke both abstract and anthropomorphic elements, occasionally taking on a zoomorphic quality. These artworks possess a domestic allure or industrial character, serving as a subtle nod to the cultural influences surrounding the artist and the non-Western traditions he has left behind. Mao’s practice is alchemic insofar as his work is reduced to the most primal materials in order to transform them into what he terms “objects of significance”.
  • Yeni Mao (b. 1971) is a Chinese-American sculptor based in Mexico City. He received a BFA from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago and subsequently trained in foundry work in California and the architectural industries of New York.” Among his recent notable exhibitions are “Yerba Mala” at Campeche in Mexico City, “I desire the strength of nine tigers” at Fierman Gallery in New York, and a public sculpture with Brooke Benington at Canary Wharf, London. Additionally, his work is included in the collection of the Kadist Foundation, and he was recently commissioned by the new SOHO House Mexico City for an installation.