A Quick Visit to San Antonio
Let's look at some art!
Most large cities in the USA have notable similarities. Every city has at least one gigantic metal abstract sculpture. As I walked down Commerce St. in downtown San Antonio, I came across this behemoth.
The artist is Sebastián, born Enrique Carbajal González, from Mexico. Sebastián apparently named himself after Saint Sebastian when he was in his early 20s. I have always found mononyms somewhat silly. I wonder if at age 55 Sebastián regrets giving himself a mononym at 21.
This is something I stumbled across while walking around downtown. This is the kind of public art one sees in every major city. I think of Monument by Mac Whitney in Houston, or Vortex by Richard Serra in Fort Worth. There is something in the DNA of an American city that says you aren’t worth taking seriously unless you get some big ass abstract sculpture decorating the place.
But if every city has at least one fully abstract monument, it also seems that every city has at least one really odd piece of public art. And here is the oddity I found at the other end of Commerce Street.
This 21-foot tall stainless steel sculpture depicts the bust of Vladimir Lenin with a tiny, female version of Mao Zedong holding a long rod from the middle, as if she were a tight-rope walker. The sculpture was produced by the artistic partnership between Gao Zhen and Gao Qiang, who go by the name the Gao Brothers. This is apparently an anti-Maoist sculpture—Gao Zhen’s father was a victim of the Cultural Revolution. That said, it feels unserious—about as unserious as a 21-foot tall stainless steel sculpture can be. But suppose you were an American citizen who had a fanatical hatred of Chinese communism, a violent nature, and who was too lazy to do even a minimal amount of research—you might take it seriously enough to try to blow up Miss Mao Trying to Poise Herself at the Top of Lenin’s Head. This attempted terror attack took place 2022. A man named Christopher Rodriguez from Panama City drove all the way to San Antonio, placed two explosives at the base of the bust, then detonated them by shooting at them with a rifle. In the next year, he tried to perform the same sort of terror attack on the Chinese Embassy in Washington, DC, but the explosives failed to detonate. Last year he went on trial and pleaded guilty.
How did this bizarre piece of art end up in San Antonio? I assume that the Cultural Revolution and the tragic story of Gao Zhen’s father would have no special meaning to San Antonians. But all that is needed to site a bizarrely out-of-place artwork like Miss Mao Trying to Poise Herself at the Top of Lenin’s Head here is a wealthy, eccentric art collector. In this case, San Antonio can thank real estate tycoon James Lifshutz, who is also the man behind the Blue Star Arts Complex, where we shall visit next.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to The Great God Pan Is Dead to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.