Leo Gallery has just installed a selection of wild sculptures called "Art in Space" in Shanghai Times Square, the cavernous luxury brands mall on Huaihai Lu.

According to the press materials, Kum Chi Keung’s “Big Boy” (above) is “a vigorous, optimistic and active kid, not an astronaut. He is natural green and loves sunshine and clear water.” But that’s just a description of spearmint flavoured Haibao.

This guy is really lime green space radiation, his existence just a collection of cages, like anyone’s existence. “Big Boy” is assembled from wickerwork boxes of different sizes. Check out the really small boxes in the bends of the knees – the bars are as close as sinews.

"Big Boy" must be three metres tall, but he is totally dwarfed by another of Kum Chi Keung’s works, “Space for Lease” (right). From its launching pad on the second floor, the wicker work space rocket reaches all the way to the sixth floor.

It’s a feat of engineering that testifies to the strength of traditional art forms even as it celebrates the opportunities of modern advancements.

What look like birds from below are actually 40-50 small “Big Boys” romping around inside the rocket. They have green, Lego-ish bodies and basket heads.

The guy in the picture below, looking up at the rocket in awe, is “Meeting Dong Yuan Again” by Shanghai artist Zhang Ning. Dong Yuan was a landscape painter (hence his little mound of earth) way back in the tenth century, but Zhang Ning's homage to him establishes a clear connection. Sure, the angles from which we observe the urban landscape are different but the act of looking remains the same.

These works are all situated in the second floor lobby, but you can also find Qu Guangci’s pop coloured Mao cherubs on the first floor, and Xu Hongfei’s jubilant, jumbo-sized women in the piazza in front of Times Square.

In other Leo news, later this summer the gallery is opening an additional, two storey, 85 sqm gallery space in Ferguson lane, right opposite Franck. They’ll be throwing a cocktail party for the launch from 5-7pm, Saturday July 24. The new space will open with a group show of portraiture called “Faces”. 

Art in Space @ Shanghai Times Square. Until July 19, Shanghai Times Square, 99 Huaihai Zhong Lu, near Liu Lin Lu.

Leo Gallery. Ferguson Lane, 376 Wukang Lu, near Tai'an Lu. Tel: 5465 8785.