Chinese Art, Day Two

What MAD doesn't do for you! Hot hot day -in case you didn't figure it out yesterday, MAD hates heat. I walked up 16th Street across from the lovely descending terraces of Meridian Hill a/k/a Malcolm X Park trying to stay in the shade. Followed the sign directing me left onto Belmont for the Meridian International Center, looking down at purple "snow" and sniffing up at what turned out to be the fragrance of wisteria hanging over a brick wall, only to find out (1) the turn onto Belmont (an uphill walk) only was necessary for drivers and (2) I was too early for Metropolis Now (shoulda paid attention to real, as opposed to perceived, time). Only thing to do was go away and come back later.

And am I glad I did - Metropolis Now is sort of the opposite of the calligraphy exhibit yesterday. That was as old as it gets in China and you can't get much newer than this stuff. That was one overlay for MAD. Add on MAD's trip to China in November 2008, the venue of the almost private White-Meyer House and the formality and thoughtfulness with which this show was hung and I had an extraordinary unexpected experience. Since I am not particularly interested in contemporary Chinese art.

At least I didn't used to be.


Across from the portico of the renovated house you are greeted by Chen Zhiguang's three gigantic stainless steel Ants - whose picture is the exhibit's logo. - so magical, even playful, in person with their size and many colors. Volunteer Amy Tomlinson told me that she thinks of them as a reminder of the contrast between the traditionally collective nature of Chinese society and a new emphasis on the individual. Wei Qingji's Spiderman 2 evoked the same connection to me.

Did what I saw yesterday heighten my response today? Over and over I was struck by the juxtaposition and connection between traditional Chinese art and the new in subject matter, materials and energy. Once inside your eyes are filled with a wall covered by Cao Jingping's enormous multi-panelled acrylic Summer, reminiscent of several of the spots MAD saw in China as well as of traditional paintings but wow! the scale and intensity of colors were brand new.


MAD also visited the Temple of Heaven -Liu Ren's Sleepwalker looked like the Temple inside a dream. Visits to both an embroidery and a silk factory were evoked by Liu Liyun's silk and cotton composition A Volume of Landscape depicting ordinary household objects in embroidery and silk sculpture. New Pictures, old materials and techniques.

Wang Xiaohui's self-portrait photos in a succession of clothes from the beginning of the 20th century through now - printed on rice paper .




Tu Shaohui's quiet ink wash on silk Red Wall Numbers 1,2 and 3 using traditional elements of landscape, birds and a person in new styles and configurations to show the current uncertainties of the young in today's China.

Liu Qinghe's Untitled scroll showing a diversity of faces in ink using a material as spiritual tool that both adheres to tradition and fosters innovation.

I better shut up - but I was so astonished by the many elements I encountered and the setting in which they were presented.

Just one more, OK?

Lv Shanchuan uses newstories to create scenes not only for their content but also for their location's power to move and inspire. With Chinese writing on the left hand side, focused on the U.S Capitol and the Mall, January 21, 2009 (wouldn't it have been the next day in China?) does just that.

On display right now in the metropolis of the District of Columbia.