Time & Date: 7 November - 25 November, 2016. (Regular Library Hours)

Gallery Talk: 7 November 2016, 1:30-3:00PM

Opening Reception: 7 November 2016, 3:00-3:30PM

Venue: Learning Resource Center (LRC) Gallery Space

About the Exhibition

Both the East and the West have long and complex histories in which painting has evolved in tandem. These artistic histories can be viewed as equal but different or overlapping and complimentary. Actually both definitions can apply, the former more relevant to the far past, and the later definition more relevant to our contemporary globalized culture.

Painters in the West have drawn inspiration from the East for at least 150 years, from Paul Gaugin to Brice Marden. The list is equally as long (or longer) amongst Asian artist influenced by the West . In this exhibition these ideas are once again explored and intermingled. Themes of scenography, consumerism and cultural ambiguity are explored through the surface of painting while making reference to both Eastern and Western art histories, from Dadaism to Classical Chinese Painting.

 "Western Surface- Chinese Soul" created by Andy Dada (CCM, DCC, UIC)

This exhibition concept realizes a structure of exhibitions and thought-forms of scenography, while reflecting a border/ post-industrial site in-between Western and China. The controversial statement defines and redefines the new and cross-territory contexts of Western-Chinese (ie. Western Surface-Chinese Soul), positioning and re-positioning the physical-psychological, visual-conceptual, and structural-spatial urban-rural, geo-political, infra/ inter-structural, socio-cultural, virtual-mediated, physical-metaphysical… CULTURAL BORDER, in a structure of thought-forms and exhibition-events…, is also opting for new scenography for trans-city SUSTAINABILITY… Mostly importantly it also demonstrates to echo crossing-border and interactivity with the nature of cultural discourse, visual imagination, and retinal pleasure in general.

Being within awareness of social concern/ memory, the audience perceives the material social and economic structures into non-material abstract quality (gender, class, religion, and nationality) and even more corporeal realities. (Pierre Bourdieu, 1977) By Creating scenography an archive as a 'Nostalgia of History'，it creates the foundation of the territory and society, "peculiar cultural anxiety", and awareness of the historicity of capitalist modernization (overwhelming by heavily industrial development and "cultural neurosis" too much mechanistic/ repetitive life in factory). Creating scenography an archive as a self-reflexive process, the people overview a past-present-future status quo and explore more cultural tensions involved by the process of industrial Turning a static archive in an aesthetic, sensory, and intellectual response. Finally the audience reflects the 'constant', 'living' revolutionizing of life in China (i.e. economic/ social/ cultural/ political/ religious, etc...), creating an organic, living, and growing archive.

Artist Biography

daDa (Shenzhen, Zhuhai, Hong Kong Art critic and cultural Industry Researcher) Graduated at the University of Arts London, Wimbledon College of Art, with supervision by William Furlong (founder of audio art). His art works are widely exhibited and he also participates in the projects of Kwangju Art Biennial (2005), Guangzhou Art Triennial (2005), Bi-City Biennale of Urbanism/ Architecture (Shenzhen and Hong Kong (2012 & 2015)), Shenzhen Biennale of Contmeporary Art (2015), MAAP Media Art Festival (2004), Hong Kong Biennale of Art (1996 & 1998), , etc. His art writings were released in MIT-LEA Press, 2nd APAEC (Asia-Pacific Art Education Conference), 2nd Guangzhou triennial, Korean National Commission for UNESCO, etc. Now he is teaching at United International College, Zhuhai.

Andy Dada (CCM, DCC, UIC)

Waving Victoria Harbor and hitting rock by countercurrent/ 维港浪漂漂逆流水打石，2015

135cm x 220cm Acrylic Paint and Ink on canvas

Andy Dada (CCM,DCC,UIC)

Blue Lotus/蓝蓮花，2015

135cm x 440cm Acrylic Paint and Ink on canvas

"Eastern Surface-Western Content" created by Craig Voligny (MAD, DCC, UIC)

Being an artist who has always worked from my surroundings  in terms of materials , subject matter and culture, I've found Zhuhai to be inspirational for its greenery and access to consumer materials, plastics, LED lights, etc. This was a starting point for this body of work which has resulted in an attempt to reinstate the aesthetic of the quite, poetic imagery found in Southern Song Flower and Bird Painting (花鸟画)through the loud, artificial consumerism that dominates modern China, which consequently is largely a Western cultural import.

Finding areas where artistic histories overlap , and reinstating them in a contemporary context has served as a point of creative research for this work. Flora and fauna is an established subject matter across the venerated histories of painting in both  the Eastern and Western tradition; however, each approached this subject matter with different intents. In the West, plants and animals started to be crudely represented naturalistically around the 12^th century when they appeared as decorative elements to religious scripture in Illuminated manuscripts – thus beginning the role of art in Western science as medieval Christian monasteries became the first universities as we know them. While in  China, plants and animals being represented naturalistically quite possibly came to its zenith  around the same time in the late Southern Song Dynasty(南宋) (1127-1279 AD) through the tradition of Flower and Bird Painting, which was often infused with poetic undertones and Daoist philosophy . These artistic intents say a lot about the cultural values of people of the past.

It seems cultural values have changed dramatically, especially in context to modern China. On any given weekend in any given city in mainland China, shopping malls will be packed and art museums relatively empty, especially devoid of young people. Cultural values have obviously shifted towards consumerism and a love of the mass produced.  Therefore, I've attempted to reach this audience with a mass produced aesthetic through a merging of retail visual fashion merchandising materials with classical Flower and Bird Painting.

Artist Biography

Craig Voligny  received a Master of Fine Arts (MFA) from the University of Arkansas and a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) from the Columbus College of Art and Design . In 2010, he received a  Fulbright Research Fellowship  which he utilized to spend one year as a visiting artist at the National Museum of Marine Biology of Taiwan researching the Kenting Reef. Recently, his work was hosted by the North Carolina Arboretum where it was exhibited to instigate awareness of shifting climatic zones. Over the past 20 years, he has held ten solo exhibitions and participated in over 25 international and national juried or invitational group exhibitions at museums, galleries and alternative spaces in Asia and the United States. He currently lives and works in Zhuhai, China - adjacent to Hong Kong and Macao.（Website:craigvoligny.com）

Craig Voligny (MAD,DCC,UIC)

Anonymous, 2016
oil on panel
80 x 80 cm

You are all welcome to attend and we look forward to your participation!

Division of Culture and Creativity