A museum in China is facing public criticism over a statue of Olympic diving hero Quan Hongchan. - Photo: SCMP composite/Douyin/YouTube
BEIJING: A new sculpture of China’s three-time Olympic gold medallist Quan Hongchan has come under fire for being badly created and not looking at all like the diving queen.
The bronze statue, created by Guangdong-based sculptor Xu Hongfei, was unveiled at Guangzhou Sports Culture Museum in September, the news outlet Net Ease reported.
It aims to capture Quan’s gesture as she is about to make a dive.
Behind the installation is a big board describing the 17-year-old’s achievements, especially her winning of top medals at the Olympics and other international competitions.
Quan, who is from a village in Zhanjiang in Guangdong, southern China, is among the most famous sports stars in China after she won the 10 metre platform diving gold medal at Tokyo Olympics three years ago and successfully defended her title at the Paris Olympics in August.
She and her teammate Chen Yuxi also teamed up to win the top prize in the synchronised 10m platform event at the Paris Olympics.
Quan is loved by people on the mainland because of her pure and straightforward character.
The sculpture has provoked a torrent of comments, many of them negative, on mainland social media.
“Whose face is this? The only place resembling Quan is the mole under her lip. Without that mole, I can’t tell it is Quan Hongchan,” said one online observer.
“It is such a rude craftsmanship,” commented another person. “She is wearing a swimming suit, but the belly button is visible. Hasn’t the sculptor seen a diving competition before?”
While another said: “It’s too ugly. Please remove it from the public display.”
The artist Xu was the president of the Guangzhou Sculpture Academy until this year. He is a member of the council at China Sculpture Institute.
It is not the first time he has produced controversial work.
Two years ago, his sculpture of a scantily-clad, ample woman placed in the Guangzhou Baiyun International Airport caused public backlash because it “damages the image of all Chinese women”.
The artwork is one of Xu’s signature “fat ladies” series of sculptures that have been exhibited overseas in the past decade.
Xu defended his “fat ladies” work by telling Guangdong TV that “there are fat women in China”.
“You can’t say large-sized women aren’t beautiful. They are happy and they have upbeat personalities,” said Xu.
The artist declined to answer questions from the Post about his Quan sculpture. - South China Morning Post
