Top German art on show in China

Markus Lüpertz's statue "Uranus" is named after the Greek god who imprisoned his own children deep within the earth and was castrated by his own son Cronos, but is meant to commemorate the bygone mining industry in Germany's Ruhr region. The 700-kilogram (over 300-pound) statue was removed from its site in Essen and sent off to China for the "Deutschland 8 - German Art in China" exhibition.

German Foreign Minister Sigmar Gabriel was in Beijing to open the "Deutschland 8 - Art from Germany" exhibition. A broad spectrum of German art, including some 350 works by over 50 artists, is displayed at eight venues.

"The Door" is a 1973 work by Anselm Kiefer, one of Germany's most significant sculptors and painters. Organizers hope the piece, created with coal, red oil paint, rabbit fur, wood and green thread, will serve as a door opener at the "Deutschland 8" show, leading to opportunities for intercultural dialogue.

With "Kohl at the Gate" (2014), Andreas Mühe has painted more than simply a man in a wheelchair at Berlin's Brandenburg Gate. The work with strong political implications questions the role of former German Chancellor Helmut Kohl, who saw Germany through reunification during his 16 years in office and just recently passed away in June 2017.

Chinese audiences may wonder whether German painter and sculptor Georg Baselitz works upside down. Indeed, his "Father John" painting won't provide a conclusive answer to that question. It's part of a series of family portraits Baselitz painted in 1996.

Many of the artworks in the "Deutschland 8" exhibition are on loan from the Küppersmühle museum in Duisburg, including many works from the Ströher collection of that same museum. Katharina Grosse's untitled painting from 2014 is no exception. The Berlin-based artist uses a pressurized spray gun to create her large-format works.