On July 27, we reported that the statue called “Miss Mao Trying to Poise Herself at the Top of Lenin’s Head,” which was recently removed from the SE corner of 4th and La Brea at the request of the building’s landlord, has turned up on a private property in the Mojave Desert, near Newberry Springs, CA.
The statue has been partially reassembled there, but little more was known at the time, except that the property is listed as the home of a trucking company, which might indicate how it got there.
We did a bit more digging, however, and found out that the property is also home to Chinese artist Weiming Chen, a friend of the Gao Brothers, the artists who created “Miss Mao.” Â We contacted Chen to ask about the statue and its location, and whether its current home is going to be permanent or only temporary. He confirmed that the statue is on a property where he keeps art supplies and “some of my own sculptures, such as the Statue of Democracy and Crazy Horse.”
Chen also explained that he has permission from the Gao Brothers to leave the top piece (containing the Mao figure) off of the statue for now, due to “resource constraints” (it would likely require a crane to lift it into place).
And as to whether the statue will be there for a while, Chen says, “It will be here for the foreseeable future. There might be plans to eventually move it to a sculpture park along with some of my own sculptures, but currently there are no plans for relocation.”
So it appears that Mr. Lenin’s stern visage will continue to focus on the desert for now – a slightly more tranquil location than our busy local thoroughfare…but still quite striking.
