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Overseas Chinese artists express mixed feelings| Until Nov. 15

Writer:   | Editor: Doria Nan  | From: Cao Zhen

Time

Until Nov. 15

Tickets

Free

Venue

He Xiangning Art Museum, Overseas Chinese Town, 9013 Shennan Boulevard, Nanshan District (南山区深南大道9013号华侨城何香凝美术馆)


Metro

Line 1 to OCT Station (华侨城站), Exit C


Please Note

Hours: 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m., closed Mondays

“Here/Elsewhere: The Sample of Overseas Chinese Art,” an exhibition featuring artworks by 18 Chinese artists who live abroad, is being held at He Xiangning Art Museum in Nanshan District.



“The exhibition focuses on the issues of the identity and creation of overseas Chinese artists,” said Wang Huangsheng, curator of the exhibition. “Using sociological sampling methods, the exhibition presents, studies and analyzes 18 overseas Chinese artists and their experiences of studying and creating over the past 40 years.”

Wang explained the meaning behind the title, saying “elsewhere” reflects the special identities of overseas Chinese people and “here” expresses the role of individuality in the globalized present. “Sample” refers to the method of selecting and presenting these overseas Chinese artists who were born in different eras and have diverse cultural backgrounds.

Some overseas Chinese artists agree that although they experienced uneasy moments due to cultural clashes after moving abroad, these experiences, in some way, influenced them to stick to their own styles when doing art creations. “If you develop your style and do not follow others, you can achieve more in art creation,” said Wang Keping, a Beijing-born sculptor who moved to France in 1984. “To be a unique artist, you need longtime effort, confidence and deep thoughts,” he added.

Wang exhibited a series of wooden sculptures at the exhibition. Favoring the abstract style of Romanian sculptor Constantin Brancusi (1876-1957), Wang has also researched African sculptures and China’s Han Dynasty sculptures for 40 years, so his sculptures have strange but sensual shapes, singular and powerful.


A visitor at the exhibition in He Xiangning Art Museum.


Jiangsu-born artist and collector Xi Jianjun moved to Britain in 1987 and has exhibited his oil painting at the “Silent Energy” exhibition in Modern Art Oxford. “I created a dialogue between modern time and history in my painting, which is my style in my other creations,” said Xi.

At the Shenzhen exhibition, Xi set up a 7.5-meter-tall wooden “Tower of Babel” with world icons’ photos hung inside and old newspapers pasted outside. “The Tower of Babel is an origin myth meant to explain why the world’s peoples speak different languages. Here, I hope to create a meeting point of human civilizations and thoughts, so I hang some great people’s photos inside, such as Michael Jackson, Mahatma Gandhi, Lu Xun, Nelson Mandela and Confucius. They came from different parts of the world, contributed a lot, and now gather here,” Xi explained.


Visitors inside Xi Jianjun’s “Tower of Babel.” Photos by Ouyang Yong


The exhibition also features young artists who were born overseas or moved abroad during their childhood. Canada-born Karen Tam was raised in an apartment above her parents’ Chinese restaurant in Montreal. “The Chinese restaurant was where my creation began. I’m fascinated with North American Chinese history, Chinese art and my family’s experience,” said Tam.

Her research focuses on the space aesthetics of the early 20th century Chinese restaurants in North America and antique shops in Chinatowns, so she installed a pavilion, titled “Kiosk for the Silent Traveler,” with a strong Chinese style at the exhibition. “Through my installation, I hope to discover which element greatly influenced the West’s understanding on Chinese culture. I want to know how culture is comprehended and influences our living,” she said.


Dates: Until Nov. 15

Hours: 9:30 a.m.-5 p.m., closed Mondays

Venue: He Xiangning Art Museum, Overseas Chinese Town, 9013 Shennan Boulevard, Nanshan District (南山区深南大道9013号华侨城何香凝美术馆)

Metro: Line 1 to OCT Station (华侨城站), Exit C

Map