Brushing the Present: Contemporary Academy Painting from China

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Shi Rongqiang, The Arahat in the Mountains: No. 1, 2001, Ink, watercolor, gouache, and gold leaf on paper, 15 x 15 inches, Courtesy of the artist, From the exhibition: Brushing the Present: Contemporary Academy Painting from China, Tang Museum, October 16 - December 31, 2003

Brushing the Present: Contemporary Academy Painting from China presented a selection of academic artists’ responses to the cultural changes occurring in contemporary China. These portraits, models, and still lifes included themes of globalization, the Chinese landscape, folk arts and legends, and traditional and new expressions of Buddhism. Some of the pieces reconcile new and traditional Chinese motifs, others blend Western and regional styles, while some forego all conventions. Displayed together, these paintings showcased the spectrum of artwork produced by the professors in China’s universities and academies of fine arts.

Artists in this exhibition included Chen Yingjun, Chen Yupu, Du Chunsheng, Gao Zhonghua, Gu Liming, Han Changli, Hao Haibo, Kong Fantao, Li Chunxia, Li Guangping, Liu Changsheng, Liu Lei, Mao Lin, Shen Ling, Shi Rongqiang, Wang Chunyan, Wei Rong, Xu Zheng, Yang Dawei, Yao Ming, Yao Xianing, Yao Yong, Yue Dong, Zhang Hongbo, Zhang Ping, Zhang Yang, Zou Guanping.

Organized by Skidmore professor Doretta M. Miller, this exhibition was a product of Skidmore College’s academic and cultural exchange with China’s Qufu Teacher’s University.

This exhibition and its publication were funded in part through grants from the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation, the Office of the Dean of Faculty at Skidmore College, and The Friends of the Tang.

A catalogue is available with essays by Doretta M. Miller and Joan Lebold Cohen.