Event: Summer Art Exhibition 2003: “The Arts of China,” Artworks Inspired by the Great Chinese Traditions
Date: June 13-August 11, 2003 galleries closed July 4
Time: Summer gallery hours: Friday-Monday, 12-3 p.m.
*Please note: These hours differ from the gallery hours during the academic year.
Opening Reception and Special Events:
Sunday, June 15, 2-5 p.m. in the galleries, special events will begin at 2:30 p.m.
--Chinese Dragon Dance and Chinese Ribbon Dance, performed by Bloomington/Normal youth
--Calligraphy Demonstration presented by Tony Chan
Location: Merwin & Wakeley Galleries, Ames School of Art, 6 Ames Plaza West, Bloomington
Admission: Free, open to the public
Background: “The Arts of China” exhibition will feature works inspired by the great Chinese artistic traditions. Including both historical and contemporary examples, the works on display have been collected and generously lent for the exhibition by members of the Bloomington-Normal community.
The opening reception, to be held on Father’s Day, will feature three special events and the opportunity to sample Chinese foods. Lian will lead local children in the Dragon Dance and Chinese Ribbon Dance. Local artist Tony Chan will also present a demonstration of Chinese calligraphy.
Plans for the exhibition began last fall when Ellen Myers, who oversees the art galleries at Illinois Wesleyan during the summer months, approached her friend Ning-Hsin Lian of Normal, and the two met with a group of local individuals interested in the arts.
Myers, Lian and eight others soon formed the “China Show Committee,” and the group began contacting Chinese families in the community as well as individuals who had traveled in China. Lian, who moved to the United States from Taiwan over 20 years ago, expressed her enthusiasm for the exhibition, “Our major purpose is to celebrate Chinese culture and to allow everyone to be involved.”
The exhibition includes ceramics, textiles, paintings, calligraphy, paper cuttings, carvings and other traditional Chinese art forms. There are also artifacts collected by two generations of the local Merwin family, including “stamp art” images from the last century. From a distance, these framed images appear to be traditional paintings of landscapes and figures, but as one looks closely, it becomes apparent that each color in the image is carefully cut from a different Chinese postage stamp. Some of the cut pieces are as thin as pencil lines, and the various illustrations on the stamps weave together to create the illusion of folds in a woman’s garment or branches in a tree.
Among the many textile pieces in the show is a silk Dragon Robe, circa 1800, with dragons and spiral patterns depicted in gold embroidery. Two local businesses, “Other Ports in Normal, and “A. Gridley Antiques” in Bloomington, will also contribute artistic pieces, including pieces of antique Chinese furniture.
Contact: For additional information, contact Jennifer Lapham, director, Merwin & Wakeley Galleries, Ames School of Art, at (309) 556-3391.
