Wynn Magazine - Las Vegas
Issue link: http://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/725934
45 which allows us to reinterpret the idea of chi- noiserie." From earnest 17th- and 18th-century depictions by French artisans of a place they had only read about in books to a contemporary Chinese sculptor playing with the global obses- sion with Chinese and American counterfeiting through monumental "super-fake" stainless-steel stilettos, the conversation between East and West that takes place in art all over Wynn Palace might be described as postmodern chinoiserie: vivid, floral (sometimes florid), often provocative, and in total, exuberant. Undoubtedly the most famous new residents of Wynn Palace are the four Buccleuch vases, which now greet guests on the West Esplanade. Formerly flanking another Beauvais tapestry, The Emperor on a Journey, in the lobby of Wynn Macau, they made their final journey on a two- century voyage that took them from China to various residences of the dukes of Buccleuch (still the largest landowners in the United Kingdom), and finally repatriated to Macau by Steve Wynn in 2011. Robert Copley, Christie's Deputy Chairman and International Head of the Exceptional Sale of Decorative Arts, points to the rarity of this quite literal fusion of Chinese art (in the porcelain) with European (in their gilt ormolu mounts made by Parisian bronziers). Purchased during a period when so- called "foreign curiosities" from China were wildly popular, most of the French artisans who crafted the mounts pierced the porcelain to attach them. Understanding the phenomenal quality of the porcelain on the vases purchased by the Buccleuch family, however, "The French respected the porcelain enough to leave it intact," Copley says. Their only known equivalents were an 1814 commission for the Prince Regent (George, Prince of Wales, later George IV) that still reside in Buckingham Palace. Although there is, of course, ample security in Wynn Palace, Steve Wynn's philosophy about art has always been that it is meant to be shared with everybody; in fact, his credo occupies the frontis page of a book about the art in Wynn Las Vegas. "You never own any of this stuff; you just have custody. And frankly, that's enough," it reads. One of Wynn's most publicly enjoyed pieces has been Tulips, the seven-foot-high rainbow of translucent, shim- mering balloon flowers by Jeff Koons, which debuted at the Wynn Theater Rotunda in Wynn Las Vegas in 2012 and now seemingly floats from the east atrium of Wynn Palace (despite its weight of more than three tons of cast stainless steel). An expression of pure joy, Koons calls the sculpture—one in a series of five unique pieces, of which one version can be seen at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain—"a symbol of hope and the strength of life's energy." Is the sentiment so different from the fantastic, swooping bats on the Buccleuch vases' celadon surface—a homophone in Chinese for a word meaning "happiness"? Tulips moved from Las Vegas at roughly the same time as Amphora III, a monumental ves- sel by ceramicist Viola Frey that once occupied the Esplanades at Wynn Las Vegas, and now holds court in the Palace. "There is an essence that we all agree to call beauty," Thomas says. "An object may not be historically important, or it may not be the size to fit a room. The most important question I ask is, Is its beauty memorable?" Which is not to say that Thomas steers away from gentle, witty provocation. Contemporary Chinese artist Liao Yibai, internationally renowned for his hand-welded, large-scale stainless-steel Pop art sculptures that explore the global obsession with luxury brands (and the glut of counterfeits) in both American Fake High Heel Channel X (2010) by Liao Yibai. and Chinese culture, is represented in nine pieces around the resort. For instance, look for his Fake High Heel Channel X on the main Promenade near the North Atrium—a per- fectly rendered stiletto that also spotlights the real artistry of both "real" and "fake" luxury goods. As you wander the resort, take special note of Yibai's stainless-steel vases, also from his Fake Antiques series. Borrowing liberally from cultural treasures of the Ming, Qing, and Yuan Dynasties, he combines traditional lotus and dragon motifs with playful characters wearing slippers or boxing gloves, in a series of irresistible "fakes" that are themselves valu- able original pieces—and, one could even say, bring the East-West conversation full circle. "If you base a collection on joy and beauty, it transcends ethnicity, time, and cultural and economic factors," Thomas says. "The art is all a beautiful celebration of life's moments, and we hope it produces the same kind of experi- ence that the guests are having." photography by barbara Kraft (tulips); roger Davies (Heel)