INEZ: April 2011

“Access to China” is a three-part exhibition sponsored by the International Chinese Fine Arts Council and Miami Design District showcasing distinctly diverse selection of Chinese art. "The Feminine Flair" by ART LEXING presents a dialog between two acclaimed Chinese artists: Ye Hongxing and Wang Xiaojin. "Emerging Art on Paper" curated by Inez Suen will show four recent graduates from the China Academy of Art in Hangzhou. Chinese Iconography on Porcelain from the Mr. and Mrs. Frank Tse Collection is an educational exhibiting targeted at informing the public of various iconographic motifs on Chinese porcelain.

“The Feminine Flair” by ART LEXING
Ye Hongxing employs traditional Chinese motifs and modern elements in her Fusion series. She expresses a unique vision by combining the traditionally Western medium of oil paint together with Chinese porcelain decorative patterns. Her paintings are very alluring self-portraits in which her face, with eyes-closed, appears behind bright winding floral patterns. Composed of shades of grey, her facial expression is of particular significance. As the artist is very concerned with the juxta position of “peace and luxury”, one can detect a tranquil or almost mundane emotion in her gaze. In contrast to using somber tones, the vibrant colors and exquisite composition of flowers and vines elicit the feeling of luxury. Consequently, her work seems to embrace a duality of notions: realism and visionary. Unlike many contemporary Chinese artists who are attracted by all things modern, Wang Xiaojin is a modernist driven and inspired by the distant past, particularly its women and artistry. Critics claimed that Wang Xiaojin’s artworks have best captured the mood of a bygone era that was altogether most refined and conservative and a time when being “feminine” typified a woman’s existence. Possessing a neoclassical position within contemporary Chinese artists, Wang Xiaojin crosses chronological boundaries in his work, challenging us to see the new in the old...and the old in the new.

Emerging art on Paper” curated by Inez Suen
China’s art market, which has spread the idea of art as a strong social force within Chinese culture, has cultivated vast exposure for younger Chinese visual artists in the east through curators based outside the country. Fresh out of the China Academy of Art, these Western-influenced artists who have also trained within the Eastern Chinese tradition have given the Chinese art market a modern sensibility and expression primed for the international stage. This exhibition pries open the minds of four of these young Chinese artists: Guo Tiantian, Qi Yuan, Su Xianpan and Zheng Tianming. These are artists who grew up in the new China, the post Tiananmen Square government that slowly recognized that stagnation equaled death. These artists’ works reflect the evolving sense of individuality and personal identity formulated because of, or in spite of, a culture that still remains quintessentially Chinese.

Chinese Iconography on Porcelain is an ICFAC sponsored exhibition targeted at educating the general public on the symbols and motif that are commonly found in Chinese art. Mr. and Mrs. Franklin Tse are avid collectors of Chinese porcelain and have generously donated a portion of their collection to this exciting event. All the porcelain in this show will be on silent auction until May 28, 2011, where the bidding will close and the highest bidder will go home with their precious ceramics.