Alumnus Dennis Oppenheim Receives Beijing Olympic Games Commission

San Francisco, August 8, 2008 Alumnus Dennis Oppenheim (BFA 1965) is one of 19 international artists selected to create monumental sculpture for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, which begin today in Beijing, China. The sculptures are on public display during the games and will remain as part of an outdoor permanent collection in Beijing Sculpture Park. Of the 19 artists, only Oppenheim was awarded two commissions: Raining Halos will be installed in Beijing; Engagement in Hong Kong. Raining Halos, composed of 60 stainless steel rings, stands 35 feet high and pays homage to the Olympic emblem of interlocking rings, as well as the natural phenomenon of the aurora borealis. As the rings spin, a fine water mist cools spectators under the pavilion. Engagement, first created in 1998, is a 30-foot-tall sculpture of conjoined rings... [read full story]