The Shanghai Art Museum will host a display of 14 large installations created by Chen Zhen (1955-2000), one of China's most famous contemporary artists, starting Saturday.

The show, which will run through March 18, will include one of Chen's most famous artworks "Jue Chang -- Dancing Body and Singing Soul." The piece, which has never been shown on the mainland before, features 10 drums formed out of beds and chairs that were collected from around the world.

"We are very honored to display Chen's representative art pieces to the public," said Zhang Qing, the museum's curator and deputy director.

Chen was born in Shanghai in 1955 and graduated from the Shanghai Theater Academy.

In 1985, he moved to France to continue pursuing his art. Since 1989, he participated in hundreds of exhibitions around the world, including the Venice Biennale. He was heavily praised for creating art that inspires a dialogue between oriental culture and Western culture.

In 2003, a retrospective of Chen's work was held in Paris. "Jue Chang," created in 1989, was the highlight of the event.

(Shanghai Daily February 20, 2006)