I had no intention of attending the opening of Norwegian Artist Marian Hayerdahl's "The Terracotta Women," a sculpture exhibit recasting the famed terracotta warriors as, well, terracotta women. An impromptu trip to an art gallery district in northeast Beijing turned into a wine filled afternoon rubbing elbows with Norwegian Embassy officials. One of the guests (who had actually flown in from Norway for the event) asked me my affiliation with the artist: friend? art critic? guest of the embassy? Errrr, try cheap student with cheap student friends getting some free food and booze. While I didn't use those precise words, I did feel somewhat guilty about crashing this artist's shindig. In a lame effort to ease my conscience, I offer a review of "The Terracotta Women."
Several words come to mind when viewing Marian Hayerdahl's "The Terracotta Women": mini pizzas, cocktail wieners, poofy cheese thingies. The exhibit, which opened at the 798 art space in Dashanzi, Beijing features just the right mix of sweet and savory to appease any art fan.
The pizza crust is just crisp yet not brittle, while the mini sausages are complemented by a refreshingly tangy Spanish mustard. Addressing some critics' complaints over the spread at her Shanghai exhibit, Hayerdahl pulled out all the stops in Beijing, setting up not one, but two food tables and offering an unprecedented 3 dipping sauces.
"What Hayerdahl has done here today is truly amazing," offered one art fan from Peking University. "I never though I'd find a decent cocktail wiener in Beijing, but these things are amazing!" he said as he popped another mini sausage into his mouth.
Others in attendance praised the tireless work of Hayerdahl and her associates. "Every time I'm about to finish my wine *hiccup* some dude in a bow tie pops up refills my glass. It's really hard to keep count... I love art!" gushed one particularly effusive art aficionado.
After briefly experimenting with organic and vegan offerings, Hayerdahl returned to basics: poofy cheese thingies. Art fans everywhere are breathing a collective sigh of relief.
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