Arturo Di Modica: Shanghai Bull (2009-10)

  • Back to: HOME PAGE The Shanghai Bull is one of Arturo Di Modica’s final monumental public sculptures and an important...

    The Bund (Shanghai Bull), located in Shanghai's Financial District

    ©Arturo Di Modica

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    The Shanghai Bull is one of Arturo Di Modica’s final monumental public sculptures and an important extension of the ideas first explored in Charging Bull. Created for Shanghai’s financial district, the work reflects the city’s rapid economic growth and its position as a global centre of commerce. Like its New York counterpart, the sculpture embodies strength, momentum and confidence, but its form is more streamlined and energised, echoing the forward-looking character of the city it inhabits.
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  • MAKING THE SHANGHAI BULL: 2009

    “This is what a young bull full of energy and aspiration looks like. He is the younger brother to the one in New York City.”

     

    -Arturo Di Modica

    Completed in the late 2000s, the Shanghai Bull demonstrates how Di Modica adapted his visual language to different cultures while remaining faithful to his core themes. The sculpture captures the same muscular force and sense of propulsion that define Charging Bull, yet its posture and detailing are uniquely calibrated to express optimism and progress in a distinctly Chinese context. 
  • 2010: Installed at The Bund, Shanghai

    2010: Installed at The Bund, Shanghai

    After creating a small model of the bull, Di Modica undertook the upscaling in his Wyoming foundry, working there until the sculpture was complete. The bull that emerged was deliberately younger and stronger than the original, symbolic of Shanghai’s rising status as an international financial hub. Its looped tail pointed upward and the deep red patina paid homage to the national colour of China. The sculpture quickly began drawing crowds, and when asked about it.

  • Rockerfeller Center

    1977

  • Il Cavallo

    1988

  • Charging Bull

    1989