China Institute in America - Exhibitions

Blooming in the Shadows: Unofficial Chinese Art, 1974-1985
September 15, 2011 – December 12, 2011

Contemporary Chinese art has taken the art world by storm in the last decade through heralded museum exhibitions, well-read publications, and heavily attended art auctions. However, even with all this attention, few exhibitions have asked the question of how—against the background of thirty-five years of Socialist Realism—this internationally-oriented artwork suddenly appeared and why it captured the attention of the international art market. Blooming in the Shadows: Unofficial Chinese Art, 1974-1985 will introduce the work of three unofficial Chinese art groups who worked in this vein: the No Names, the Stars, and the Grass Society—all of which arose following the end of the Cultural Revolution and helped launch the avant-garde movement in China. These artists pursued creatively diverse paths to personal artistic freedom under the political circumstances of the time. Blooming in the Shadows will examine this work produced in the critical decade after the end of the Cultural Revolution leading up the Communist party’s 1985 decision to allow modern artistic practices.

This is an original exhibition organized by China Institute Gallery. It is directed by Willow Hai Chang, Director of China Institute Gallery, and co-curated by Kuiyi Shen, Director of the Chinese Studies Program and Professor of Asian Art History, Theory, and Criticism, at the University of California San Diego, and Julia Andrews, Professor of Art History at Ohio State University and a specialist in Chinese painting and modern Chinese art.

For various press coverage, please visit the following links:

Blooming in the Shadows exhibition review on ArtDaily

For additional information, please visit the following links:

China Institute Gallery Large Print Didactics
Exhibition Related Resources
Catalogue

Along the Yangzi River: Regional Culture of the Bronze Age from Hunan
January 27, 2011 – June 12, 2011

Uncover the mysterious story of the middle bank of the Yangzi River, one of the most significant cradles of Chinese civilization and a historical area for study of Chinese bronze culture. Several important excavations in the past few decades have enabled us to examine the undeveloped aspects of this culture through exquisite bronze vessels from the Hunan Provincial Museum. This exhibition will explore regional culture along the Yangzi River in three parts: the development and characteristics of regional bronzes, their function and patronage, and their cultural connection to Central China.

This is an original exhibition organized by China Institute Gallery in collaboration with the Hunan Provincial Museum accompanied by a bilingual catalogue published by China Institute Gallery. It is directed by Willow Hai Chang, Director of China Institute Gallery, and co-curated by Chen Jianming, Director of the Hunan Provincial Museum, Jay Xu, Director of Asian Art Museum in San Francisco, and Fu Juliang, Curator of Bronze Collections, Hunan Provincial Museum.

For various press coverage, please visit the following links:

Along the Yangzi River exhibition review on The New York Times
Antiques & Fine Art Magazine
“Living Fossils” by Eti Bonn-Muller

For additional information, please visit the following links:

Woodcuts in Modern China, 1937-2008: Towards a Universal Pictorial Language
September 16—December 5, 2010

Though China has had a long history in woodcuts and printing, the western woodcut, printed with oil-based ink, was adapted in the early 20th century by Chinese artists searching for a simplified pictorial language that would resonate with the illiterate masses. They not only created the beginnings of communist art in China, but laid the foundation of modern Chinese art in the most general sense. While past scholarly publications and survey exhibitions have familiarized wider audiences with aspects of the modern Chinese woodcut movement, this exhibition is the first in the U.S. to present a comprehensive overview of the beginnings and development of this important art form during the modern period of Chinese history from the 1930s to the present.

Woodcuts in Modern China is organized by the Picker Art Gallery at Colgate University.

For various press coverage, please visit the following links:

For additional information, please visit the following links:

CONFUCIUS: His Life and Legacy in Art
February 11—June 13, 2010

Although the arts of Buddhism and Daoism are well known, the study of art forms related to Confucianism is only just beginning. Confucianism, a philosophy based on the teachings of Confucius (551 BCE – 479 BCE), pervades the customs of many Asian cultures from ancient times to the present day, but we are left to wonder, who is Confucius? In this ground-breaking exhibition, intriguing aspects of Confucius and Confucianism are explored through material and visual culture, explaining his teachings and ritual practices. Selected from the Shandong Provincial Museum and the Confucius Museum in Qufu, Shandong, the hometown of Confucius, this group of artworks, including paintings, bronzes, jades, books, costumes, stone carvings, and enamel vessels represent the first exhibition organized in the United States that illuminates Confucius as an historical figure and how he has been venerated for the past 2,000 years. A fully illustrated scholarly catalogue accompanies the exhibition.

The exhibition is directed by Willow Hai Chang, Director of China Institute Gallery, and co-curated by Lu Wensheng, Director of the Shandong Provincial Museum, and Julia K. Murray, Professor of Art History and East Asian Studies at the University of Wisconsin.

For various press coverage, please visit the following links:

The Gallery Director, Willow Weilan Hai Chang Profile on The New York Times

Confucius Exhibition Review on The New York Times

Archeology Magazine

New York One

Thirteen.org

Sinovision

Xinhua (open in Internet Explorer)

For additional information, please visit the following links:

Large Print Didactics

China Institute Gallery Press Release

Exhibition Related Resources

Catalogue

This program is supported, in part, by an award from the National Endowment for the Arts and by public funds from the New York State Council on the Arts and the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs, in partnership with the City Council.

Humanism in China: A Contemporary Record of Photography
September 24– December 13, 2009

For two years a Chinese curatorial committee, from Guangdong Art Museum (in Guangdong, China), travelled to twenty provinces and viewed an estimated 100,000 photographs by 1000 photographers. Dedicated to presenting a visual truth about China during a period when notions of truth and reality were rapidly and radically changing, the team selected approximately 600 photos by 248 photographers. Thus the first major museum collection of documentary photographs in China, produced by the nation’s own photographers, was assembled.

Humanism in China: a Contemporary Record of Photography offers a revealing glimpse into rural and urban daily life in China, beyond the glossy veneer of the economic boom. For the debut presentation of this traveling exhibition in America, 100 of these photographs have been selected for their union of social documentation and aesthetic expression. Taken during the years 1951 through 2003, these photographs are of a very high aesthetic order, displaying an extraordinary range of human emotion and activity, urban and rural, public and private. The exhibit is not a study of things or of places, but of people; not famous people but the anonymous and ordinary, engaged in daily life. It presents neither ideological paragons nor moral admonitions but the vitality of a nation, lodged in its diversity. These photographs reflect the radical change the country has gone through in the past half century and break through all the stereotypes of life in China that photography itself has sometimes been used to create.

Curators: Organized by the Guangdong Museum of Art
Re-organized for China Institute by Jerome Silbergeld and China Institute Gallery

Humanism in China is chosen as one of the top ten museum exhibitions for the fall by Time Out New York.

A link to Wall Street Journal review.

A link to China Press coverage.

A link to China Institute Gallery Press Release.

A link to Exhibition Related Resources.

Noble Tombs at Mawangdui: Art and Life in the Changsha Kingdom, Third Century BCE to First Century CE
February 12– June 7, 2009

Audio Slide Shows »

In the 1970s, archaeologists in China’s Hunan Province unearthed three tombs dating back to the early Han Dynasty (206 BCE – 24 CE) containing the remains and possessions of the Marquis of the Changsha Kingdom and his family. Over 3,000 cultural relics reflecting the opulent life of this noble family were recovered from the site. Noble Tombs at Mawangdui: Art and Life in the Changsha Kingdom, Third Century BCE to First Century CE presents 68 treasures including silk costumes, wood carvings, bronze objects, lacquer ware, jade ornaments, and seals, as well as sections of the Yang Sheng Fang manuscript, a medical text that outlines various techniques of enhancing vitality and lengthening life. These artworks, portraying aspects of daily life ranging from food to cosmetics and fashion, from entertainment to healthcare and exercise, provide a fascinating picture of reverence to the afterlife imparted by the ancients more than 2,000 years ago. Noble Tombs at Mawangdui represents the most extensive collection of Mawangdui items ever on view in the United States. A fully-illustrated bilingual catalogue accompanies the exhibition.

Curator: Chen Jianming

A link to China Institute Gallery Press Release.

A link to Exhibition Related Resources.

Below are links to various press coverage.

New York Times
Archaeology Magazine
China Press
Xinhua News Agency

Xinhua News Agency: Video Clip (open in Internet Explorer)
The Last Emperor’s Collection: Masterpieces of Painting and Calligraphy from the Liaoning Provincial Museum
September 25 – December 14, 2008

Painting and calligraphy, China’s most revered art forms, were collected by its emperors from at least the fifth century AD. These two art forms have been a treasured part of the imperial collection throughout Chinese history and a particular passion of several emperors in different time periods. In the early twentieth century, China’s last emperor, Pu Yi, sold off and dispersed countless palace treasures. Since 1949, however, the Liaoning Provincial Museum has successfully reassembled a large part of that collection, ranging from the earliest masterworks of painting and calligraphy created in the Eastern Jin dynasty (317–420) to works from the Qing dynasty (1644–1911). The Museum’s holdings in this area, formed mainly from the imperial collection, have made it one of the top-ranked museums in China after the Palace Museum in Beijing. This project provides an extraordinary opportunity to bring these world-renowned treasures to the United States for the first time in a single exhibition, offering a rare chance to introduce the famed collection of the Liaoning Provincial Museum to the American public.

This exhibition includes 24 works of Ming (1368 – 1644) and Qing dynasty (1644 – 1911) calligraphy and painting, all from the former imperial collection. Using these select masterpieces as a focus, this exhibition introduces an understudied topic in Chinese art: the history of imperial collecting. The exhibition looks at the impact of imperial collecting on the contemporary art world and society, specifically looking at those emperors who were noted as passionate collectors. In addition, the exhibition gives insight into the imperial collection management system and illustrates critical standards used in the appreciation and recording of the works at that time.

Curators: Willow Weilan Hai Chang, Yang Renkai and David Ake Sensabaugh

A link to New York Times review.

A link to China Institute Gallery Press Release.

A link to Exhibition Related Resources.

Beijing 2008: A Photographic Journey
June 12 – August 18, 2008

From the 15th century Forbidden City to the new titanium egg-shaped National Opera House, Beijing offers visitors some of the world’s most stunning architectural views. The exhibition at China Institute Gallery, Beijing 2008: A Photographic Journey, offers an architectural overview of this world famous city – the political, educational and cultural center of China.

Timed to coincide with the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, the exhibition presents 60 photographs including contemporary images by 20 Chinese photographers from the Beijing City Photographers Association. Beijing 2008: A Photographic Journey includes images of buildings by some of the most important architects working today — the CCTV headquarters by Rem Koolhaas, the National Stadium (also called the Bird’s Nest) by Herzog & de Meuron and Terminal 3 at the Beijing Capital International Airport conceived by Norman Foster. Providing historical context for some locations, photographs dating from the 1930s are exhibited beside the contemporary scenes.

Organized by China Institute Gallery and the Beijing City Archive Bureau.

Enchanted Stories: Chinese Shadow Theater in Shaanxi
January 31 – May 11, 2008

As the first shadow puppet exhibition from China to be presented in the United States, this exhibition presents rare shadow puppets dating to the Qing dynasty (1644- 1911). Drawn from the rich collection of the Shaanxi Provincial Art Gallery, approximately 90 translucent and dramatically colored puppets made of animal hide are presented thematically through famous Chinese legends and characters such as A Journey to the West, Madam White Snake, and The Twice-Visited Netherworld. Perfectly preserved, the two-dimensional shadow puppets with moving parts are illuminated through the use of a light box to show off the distinctive style and technical mastery of the late Qing dynasty craftsmen of central China. As one of the most beloved forms of folk entertainment in China, the puppets and their fascinating stories explore the history and life of the Chinese throughout the centuries.

Curators: Chen Shanqiao, Li Hongjun and Zhao Nong. Organized by the China Institute Gallery in collaboration with the Shaanxi Provincial Art Gallery.
Buddhist Sculpture from China: Selections from the Xi’an Beilin Museum, Fifth through Ninth Centuries

September 13 – December 8, 2007

As the first true exhibition of Chinese Buddhist Art at China Institute Gallery, this exhibition presents more than seventy magnificent stone sculptures, steles, gilt bronze objects and clay votive tablets spanning from the 5^th through 9^th centuries. The Beilin Museum houses one of the world’s most important collections of Buddhist stone sculptures. Among the artworks, many have only been unearthed through recent archaeological findings within the last 25 years and will be introduced to the West for the first time. Through tracing four decades of stylistic development that span from the Northern dynasties to the Tang dynasty, this exhibition illuminates important themes in Buddhist art and religion that have never been explored before, paving new paths for scholarship.

Curator: Annette L. Juliano

Tea, Wine and Poetry: Qing Dynasty Literati and their Drinking Vessels
March 24 – June 16, 2007

Tea, Wine and Poetry features more than fifty works of ceramics, pewter and other media drawn from various collections. Collectively these works will introduce the concept of tea culture as a medium for cultural communication, highlighting the esteemed artistic and social environment of the literati and reflect the academic and literary currents from the late Ming to the Qing dynasties.

Curator: Guo Ruoyu

A traveling show organized by the Soong Design Co.
Shu: Reinventing Books in Contemporary Chinese Art
Part I: September 28 – November 11, 2006
Part II: December 13 – February 24, 2007

The book—as subject, inspiration, or artistic medium—lies behind some of the best known works of the Chinese avant-garde. Since the 1980’s avant-garde Chinese artists have undertaken many book related projects. The high frequency and impressive creativity of such projects demonstrate the important roles that “books” have played as sources of artistic imagination and visual vocabulary in contemporary Chinese art. More than 30 works by 22 prominent Chinese artists are presented, illuminating complex relations with tradition as well as a surprising diversity of artistic approach. This exhibition is the first serious examination of the influence books have had in contemporary Chinese art and demonstrates how contemporary Chinese artists have conducted artistic experiments to engage both China’s cultural heritage and contemporary concerns.

Exhibited according to three themes, the first section “Reimagining Tradition” includes works which derive visual elements from traditional Chinese books and painting/calligraphy albums. The second section, “Negotiating History and Memory”, is more closely connected to the historical experiences of contemporary Chinese artists and will examine the roles that books have played in education, globalization, and politics. The third section, “Displaying Books” consists of a few works which reflect on how books are “displayed” in public and private spaces.

Curator: Wu Hung

The Beauty of Chinese Gardens
June 28 – August 12, 2006

This exhibition showcases 38 photographs of classical gardens found in the Suzhou and Shanghai regions of China. Taken by David Engel in the 1980s, these black-and-white photographs capture the most unique architectural and aesthetic elements of private gardens in the lower Yangzi region. Based upon a tradition which spans over four centuries, these gardens embody a distinctive Chinese philosophy which emphasizes harmony between nature and humans. The serene and beautiful photographs allow visitors a striking glimpse into how man-made architecture can be ingeniously fused with the natural environment.

Organized by China Institute Gallery

Trade Taste and Transformation: Jingdezhen Porcelain for Japan , 1620 – 1645
February 2 – June 10, 2006

While the official, court-controlled kilns of Jingdezhen produced imperial products, many civilian kilns produced large quantities of ceramics for the overseas market. In the final decades of the Ming dynasty, the potters of Jingdezhen, known as the Chinese Capital of Ceramics, produced a blue-and-white porcelain, kosometsuke, and an underglaze-blue and polychrome porcelain ware, ko’akae, for the Japanese market, particularly for use in the popular tea ceremony. Chinese decorative themes and manufacturing standards were transformed to accommodate traditional Japanese forms and aesthetics. This exhibition showcases examples of this export porcelain from international and domestic collections and explores the relationship of tea culture and trade patterns between China and Japan.

Curator: Julia B. Curtis
Masterpieces of Chinese Lacquer from the Mike Healy Collection
September 16 – December 3, 2005

The Han dynasty experienced an exciting surge in the production of lacquer objects and vessels both for use in the home and court as well as for burial. Works that demonstrate the highest quality of production range from the Han (205 BC – 220 AD) through the Ming dynasty (1368-1644). This exhibition will present lacquer, one of the great decorative art traditions of China, in a chronological format that will focus on the varied types of lacquer produced between the periods of the 2nd through the 17th centuries. Lacquer was an important art form in ancient China, invented during the Neolithic period (the earliest evidence dated around 6000 years ago). Often made of wood, or layered fabrics that form the body of the objects and then later coated with lacquer paints, lacquer products efficiently prevent the wood from rotting due to damp weather, or high heat. Lacquer was easily decorated with various paints colors, and could also be carved, or inlaid with precious stones, shell, gold or silver. Technique was highly influenced by neighboring countries, especially Japan.

This exhibition presents rare, infrequently seen lacquer objects in a chronological format that focuses on the varied types of lacquer produced between the periods of the 2^nd through the 17^th centuries. Works that demonstrate the highest quality of production range from the Han (205 BCE-220 CE) through the Ming dynasty (1368-1644) and reveal the customs and aesthetics of the time.

Curator: Julia M. White

Organized by Honolulu Academy of Arts

Providing for the Afterlife: "Brilliant Artifacts" from Shandong
February 3 – June 4, 2005

Shandong has long been recognized as one of the great centers of Han dynasty art and is the source of some of the most intriguing and important recent archaeological finds. This exhibition provides much-needed insight and exposure to the important role of Shandong Province in the cultural history of China, as well as the fascinating faith and afterlife settings in ancient Chinese tombs. Selected art treasures from Western Han imperial tombs in bronze, ceramic, gold and jade are seen for the first time in the United States. The exhibition explores the concept of tomb architecture and burial items as an ensemble of “brilliant artifacts” (mingqi) and attempts to place these extraordinary objects in their architectural, ritual, cosmological, religious, and cultural contexts. There is a companion exhibition of Eastern Han dynasty material held at Princeton Art Museum, also in the spring of 2005, focusing on the Wu Liang Shrines in Shandong.

Curators: Susan Beningson and Cary Liu
The Scholar as Collector: Chinese Art at Yale
September 23 – December 11, 2004

This exhibition is a re-visit to the treasures from the Yale Art Gallery’s collection, which was originally featured in the 1982 show “The Communion of Scholars.” The return to China Institute shows how the collection has grown in the twenty years since the first show. 60 items are featured, including bronze, ceramics, paintings, and furniture. This exhibition interprets the two worlds of Chinese culture: the realm of ritual and the tomb and the precinct of the scholar-connoisseur.

Curator: David Ake Sensabaugh

Jade and Gold: Imperial Jewelry of the Ming Dynasty From the Nanjing Municipal Museum
February 12 – June 5, 2004

Drawn from the prominent collection of the Nanjing Municipal Museum, this exhibition presents over 80 pieces of jewelry from the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), including hairpins, earrings, head ornaments, crown ornaments, bracelets, and pendants in the media of jade, gold and precious stones. These unearthed objects provide a first hand standard for the dated jewelries in this period. This is the first time these objects have been exhibited overseas.

An exhibition from the Nanjing Municipal Museum, condensed and reorganized by the China Institute Gallery.
Passion for the Mountains: 17th Century Landscape Paintings from the Nanjing Museum
September 18 – December 20, 2003

In the seventeenth century, the city of Nanjing, known in ancient times as Jinling, played an important role in what is seen as the last great florescence of landscape paintings in Chinese art. The region’s physical environment, as well as its complex of social and cultural traditions, had a great role in attracting and shaping the paintings of many of the leading artists that came to visit or live there. As a cultural center at that time, Jinling nurtured a group of masters known as the Eight Masters of Nanjing, whose work reflected the contemporary customs and the literati’s bearing. The exhibition explores the context of the political climate of the day and the artists’ passionate response to this place and their social milieu. Considered to be the peak period of the literati landscape painting, the Jinling style influenced generations of artists. For many of the artworks selected from the Nanjing Museum in China it is their first time exhibited overseas.

Curator: Willow Hai Chang

Weaving China‘s Past: The Amy S. Clague Collection of Chinese Textiles
January 30 – June 7, 2003

Similar to painting and calligraphy, textile arts have long been appreciated by fine art collectors and scholars. This exhibition features the extraordinary private collection of Chinese textiles assembled by Amy Sanders Clague. With works that range in date from the Song dynasty (960-1279) through the Qing dynasty (1644-1911), this exhibition will explore the various roles of silk textiles.

Curator: Julia White

Organized by the Phoenix Art Museum
Blanc de Chine: Divine Images in Porcelain
September 19 – December 7, 2002

This exhibition examines the production, uses, international trade and dating of the white porcelain wares produced in Dehua, Fujian Province, which became known as “Blanc-de-Chine” in the West. Featuring nearly 80 pieces with production dates ranging from the 14th century through the early 20th century, the exhibition includes house wares, devotional figure models and export figures and wares.

Curator: John Ayers

Circles of Reflection: The Carter Collection of Chinese Bronze Mirrors
February 7 – June 2, 2002

Curator: Ju-hsi Chou
Exquisite Moments: West Lake and Southern Song Art
September 25 – December 9, 2001

Curator: Hui-shu Lee

Living Heritage:
Vernacular Environment in China
January 25 – June 10, 2001

Curator: Kai-Yin Lo
The Chinese Painter as Poet
September 14 – December 10, 2000

Curator: Jonathan Chaves
[Catalogue Available]

Dawn of the Yellow Earth:
Ancient Chinese Ceramics from the Meiyintang Collection
March 21 – June 18, 2000

Curator: Regina Krahl
[Catalogue Available]