"Just us," a six-ton stainless steel sculpture designed by British artist Richard Deacon, has been placed in the lobby of Ocean Plaza, a new office building on Chang'an Avenue in Beijing.

The abstract piece, which is 7.1 metres long, 6.5 metres wide and 4.8 metres high, was purchased at 3 million yuan (US$361,000) by the plaza, which is run by the big-name Chinese shipping company COSCO.

The work was produced according to Deacon's design in Beijing under the supervision of sculptor Sui Jianguo, professor and director of the Sculpture Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts.

This is the first time that a Chinese enterprise has purchased a sculpture designed by a leading European sculptor, and it is especially significant given the fact that the piece has been placed in an important venue on Chang'an Avenue.

It indicates China's growing openness to Western modern art, awareness of enterprise culture and the capacity to compete on the international art market.

(China Daily)