For Dennis Oppenheim, a trip to Hong Kong and the mainland this month is as close as it gets to discovering his roots. 'My father was a Russian Jew who was born in 1911 in Harbin,' says the New York-based conceptual artist. 'My paternal grandparents, who came from Russia, put him in a secondary private boarding school in Hong Kong. He later went to the University of Hong Kong, so he spent lots of time there.'
Oppenheim arrives in Hong Kong today where his ongoing exhibition is being held at Para/Site Art Space. Dennis Oppenheim: Six Models, exhibits the miniature models, drawings and sketches of his recent projects, including Crystal Garden, a large public artwork in Spain, Light Chamber for the Denver Justice Centre in Colorado, and Tumbling Mirage for the city of Phoenix, Arizona.
It's his first show in China and he'll give a public talk at the Hong Kong Museum of Art before heading to Beijing, where he'll complete an Olympic sculpture commission called Raining Halos - one of 20 international artists whose works will be displayed at the Olympic Park.
He's also completing another sculpture commission, Engagement, for the Olympics equestrian sports committee in Hong Kong.
The work is a pair of giant rings adorned with glass 'jewels', which was shown at Vancouver Sculpture Biennale 2007 before a new version was commissioned for Hong Kong. Rings are also the feature of Raining Halos. 'It has a certain poetic expression, and is also very architectural,' the 69-year-old Oppenheim says. 'It incorporates many rings that can turn in the air. I guess they like it because the Olympics are often demonstrated with multiple rings.'
In 1988, Oppenheim and another 37 artists were invited by the Seoul Olympics organising committee to create artworks for the games. His Impersonation Station, still on show in the South Korean capital, is a curious creation, described as 'a house structure that is capable of disguising itself', which incorporates window wheels, rotating door structures and a central spinning drum.
