Christine Liggio

(609) 258-7615/cliggio@princeton.edu

 

Press Preview: Wednesday, March 4, 2009, 10:30 a.m. to 12:00 p.m.

Princeton University Art Museum, RSVP: (609) 258-7615

 

PRINCETON, N.J.─Princeton University Art Museum is pleased to present Outside In: Chinese x American x Contemporary Art, on view from March 7 through June 7, 2009. This diverse selection of more than fifty works by six artists includes paintings, drawings, photography, book arts, sculpture and installations which expand on the current popularity of contemporary Chinese art and simultaneously challenge the curatorial practices on which this popularity has been based. Guest curator Jerome Silbergeld, director of the P.Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Center for East Asian Art at Princeton University, has organized this exhibition together with Cary Liu, curator of Asian art at the Princeton University Art Museum, and Dora Ching, associate director of the Tang Center.

 

"The art world," says Jerome Silbergeld, "is currently enthralled with contemporary Chinese art. This exhibition argues, however, that American audiences have been exposed to only a narrow range of what is available — with the majority of attention having been given to 'avant-garde' or 'experimental' art, frequently selected for its dissident political content or 'shock value' rather than for its artistic quality. Outside In presents contemporary Chinese art in a far wider range of styles and subject matter and substantially expands on our understanding of this work." The six artists featured in this exhibition, Arnold Chang, Michael Cherney, Zhi Lin, Liu Dan, Vannessa Tran, and Zhang Hongtu, are widely diverse in terms of their style and subject matter, age and experience, and geographic and ethnic origin. Some are well known internationally, others are introduced for the first time, yet each makes a unique contribution to contemporary art. Collectively, these artists represent a far wider range in Chinese artistic practice than the work shown in most exhibitions, art fairs, and galleries today.

 

Many of the finest “Chinese” artists now work, or have recently worked, in the United States. This raises the question of what is meant by “Chinese” art in this age of globalization, and it equally questions what is meant by “American” art. The six artists selected for Outside In are all American citizens: some are immigrants, others were born in America, some are ethnically Chinese, and others have simply adopted Chinese art and culture as their own. All the works on view have been “made in the USA” —or were at least conceived and designed here. All six artists are keenly mindful of their historical roots, which they have integrated into their art, and their awareness of Chinese traditions challenges the meaning of “contemporary” in today’s Chinese art.

 

The accompanying 304-page, full-color catalogue, Outside In: Chinese x American x Contemporary Art, substantially expands on the contributions of earlier exhibition publications in this field, examining the work and lives of the six artists in detail, with much of it told in their voices. In addition to extensive personal interviews and artists’ statements, the book includes essays that challenge the categorization of art into such focused genres as “Chinese,” “contemporary,” and “American,” and reexamine the factors that shape the development of “Chinese art” in America.

 

 

Michael Hatch, Ph.D. student, Department of Art and Archaeology

 

Gregory Seiffert, Ph.D. student, Department of Art and Archaeology

Michelle Lim, Ph.D. candidate, Department of Art and Archaeology

Jun Hu, Ph.D. student, Department of Art and Archaeology

Yellow Ox Mountain, directed by Miao Wang, 2006

A short documentary, which reflects on the artistic endeavors and the personal journeys of two contemporary artists, Zhang Hongtu (born 1943) and Zhang Jian-Jun (born 1955). Their prolific body of work spans reactions to the Cultural Revolution to cultural negotiations in today’s thriving contemporary Chinese art community in New York.

McCormick 101, Princeton University

 

The museum invites undergraduates, graduate students, and the community for an evening of refreshments, music, and tours of the exhibition. Free and open to the public.

 

Saturday, March 7, 2009

 

The six artists represented in Outside In: Chinese x American  x Contemporary Art are distinguished by the high quality of their work as well as by their ability to verbally articulate their own artistic visions. The one-day symposium will feature talks by the six artists and leading experts on modern and contemporary Chinese and American art. More information about the symposium and registration is available on the Tang Center Web site: http://tang.princeton.edu/Articulations.html. 

Helm Auditorium, McCosh 50, Princeton University

Family Day: Outside In

Family day will offer activities and performances highlighting the art museum’s major exhibition, Outside In: Chinese x American x Contemporary Art. Pizza and refreshments will be served.

Princeton University Art Museum

Free and open to the public

The exhibition, catalogue, and symposium are co-organized by the Princeton University Art Museum and the P.Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Center for East Asian Art at Princeton University. Support for the exhibition and catalogue and for the accompanying symposium has been provided by the P.Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Center for East Asian Art; The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; the John B. Elliott Fund for Asian Art; the Mildred Clarke Pressinger von Kienbusch Memorial Fund; the Joseph L. Shulman Fund for Publications; the E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation; the National Endowment for the Arts; the Frances E. and Elias Wolf Fund; The Blakemore Foundation; the Princeton University Art Museum Art and Apparatus Fund; and The Publications Fund, Department of Art and Archaeology, Princeton University.  The opening reception and associated programming have been made possible by the Friends and the Partners of the Princeton University Art Museum.

 

Founded in 1882, the Princeton University Art Museum is one of the finest art museums in the country. Its collection features approximately 70,000 works ranging from ancient to contemporary art, and concentrating geographically on the Mediterranean regions, Western Europe, China, the United States, and Latin America, with particular strengths in Chinese painting and calligraphy, art of the ancient Americas, and pictorial photography. As a public institution, the museum is committed to serving the local community, the region, and beyond through innovative and dynamic programming, original research and new scholarship, an active loan program, and the organization of touring exhibitions of its works. By collaborating with faculty, students, and staff, and through direct and sustained access to original works of art, the museum contributes to the development of critical thinking and visual literacy at Princeton University.

 

The Princeton University Art Museum is located in the center of the Princeton University campus, next to Prospect House and only a short walk from Princeton’s Nassau Street. Museum admission is free and open to the general public. Hours are Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m., and Sunday, 1:00 to 5:00 p.m. The museum is closed Mondays and major holidays. Free highlights tours of the collection are given every Saturday and Sunday at 2:00 p.m. For information, please call (609) 258-3788 or visit the museum’s Web site at http://artmuseum.princeton.edu.

Zhang Hongtu, born 1943, Pingliang, Gansu province, China.

Moved to New York City, 1982.

Current residence, New York City.

Fish , 1985

Oil on canvas, 165.0 x 183.0 cm.

Princeton University Art Museum, gift of the P.Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Center for East Asian Art, and museum purchase, Asian Art Department Fund (2008-365)

Photo: Bruce M. White