ARTIST RESIDENCY CHINA — SHANGHAI, no. 27 There are few more evocative city names in the world than Shanghai. When Wang visited me in Beijing, he urged me not to leave China without seeing his city. The first day was a long one beginning at 4:30 a.m. Wang’s colleague Mr Li continued his generosity toward me by personally driving me the hour long ride to the airport. After a two-hour delay due to weather, the…
ARTIST RESIDENCY CHINA — BEIJING, no. 26 The opportunity offered by the Inside Out Art Museum for an artist residency in Beijing fulfilled my lifelong desire to go to China. While there, the museum made no demands on my time, in part because the residency manager left her job the week I arrived. Everyone else in the museum was busy installing and promoting major shows. I alternated studio days of painting and drawing with day…
ARTIST RESIDENCY CHINA — BEIJING, no.25 New friend Jiayu, who introduced herself on the subway using the English name Jessie while I was going to art openings the first weekend, offered to be my guide to see the oldest hutongs in Beijing on my last day in the city. Believing she was also my host meant she tried to pay for everything we ate despite our recent acquaintance, a courtesy pressed by many Chinese friends…
ARTIST RESIDENCY CHINA — BEIJING, no. 24 Beihai North subway station entrance was the first place I stepped outside in the city the first week in Beijing on my way to art openings further down the line. Across the street an imposing antique building made me wonder what it was. Plastic wrapped young women sold tours in the rain. Identically hatted tourist teams disappeared into worryingly maze-like narrow alleys. On the last day after a…
ARTIST RESIDENCY CHINA — BEIJING, no. 23 China has had a developing market economy since reforms led by Deng Xiaoping in 1978 following the death of Mao Zedong in 1976. There is a wide variety of individual color and style in women’s fashion. Clothing is plentiful and inexpensive. There are several trends in the city. Formal occasion dresses show up at all times of day in unlikely public places, made with sheer white flowing and layered…
ARTIST RESIDENCY CHINA — BEIJING, no. 22 Still with a lengthy list of unseen places in Beijing despite a month in the city, on my last day I returned to Beihai Park to be outside in a garden. The northwest section contains temples, pavilions, memorials, and a large lake-front walkway. Restoration produces a deceptive blend of ancient and contemporary sensibilities. Real people sing and dance in antique pavilions. The Buddhist Temples are active sites of…
ARTIST RESIDENCY CHINA — BEIJING, no. 21 Imperial gardens, temples, and pavilions of the 171 acre Beihai Park began to be built in 1163 AD. Located on one of three interconnected lakes adjacent to Imperial City in the center of Beijing, it has been a public park since 1925. People spend summer afternoons playing music, reading newspapers, strolling, and boating. The earthquake ravaged but still standing Tibetan Buddhist White Dagoba, original construction 1651, is on…
ARTIST RESIDENCY CHINA — BEIJING, no. 20 The front entrance to the Imperial City in Beijing is called Tian’anmen, or Gate of Heavenly Peacemaking. First built in 1415 during the Ming Dynasty, it is where Mao Zedong’s portrait is centrally hung. Forbidden city is within the Imperial City north of Tian’anmen. The immense open area called Tian’anmen Square is on the opposite side of a busy street from Imperial City gate. Tunnels are used to…
ARTIST RESIDENCY CHINA — BEIJING, no. 19 Begun in 500 BCE, the great wall is actually many walls built at different times with different materials depending on the era and region. (See Peter Hessler and David Spindler). An archaeological survey by China’s State Administration of Cultural Heritage announced in June 2012 the completion of a five year measurement of the wall at 21,196.18 km (13,170.69 miles), more than twice the length of previous estimates. With…
ARTIST RESIDENCY CHINA — BEIJING, no. 18 The exhibition In Riotous Profusion — The New Possibilities of Ink Art opened at Inside Out Art Museum, Haidian, Beijing with a symposium of distinguished speakers. President Fan Di’an of China Academy of Fine Art, CAFA toured the show. The collection highlights cultural roots of ink art in China with a contemporary lineage dating to 1960s Taiwan and 1980s mainland China. Eight artists working in ink with abstract…