News | Tai Xiangzhou - Intersection: International Art and Culture

Five years ago we started the Dame Jillian Sackler International Artists Exhibition Program to showcase Contemporary artists from around the world, and as a thank you for Dame Jillian’s donation to Peking University it was named after her. Each exhibition in the past dealt with a variety of subjects, including: war, slavery, human rights, enlightenment, deforestation and the environment. The exhibitions were very well received and traveled and will travel to other museums.

For the 25th Anniversary of the Museum we decided to have a group show with the artists that had already exhibited at the Museum and a number of artists from China and abroad who are creating work that stimulates the imagination of the viewer and who represent the culture at large.

Intersection: International Art & Culture is about humanity and human interaction: how artists from diverse backgrounds influence one another and the viewer, creating a better understanding amongst world cultures. The exhibition will include video installations, photography, paintings, sculptures and drawings by the following artists:

Bao Pei, Cui Xiuwen, E.V. Day, Anindita Dutta, Mark Fox, Anita Glesta, Patricia Guzman, Nicolas, Herrera, Maryam Najd, Frieder Nake, Toni Scott, Tai Xiangzhou, Xu Bing, Zhan Wang

Each artist will show a representative work. Bao Pei and Tai Xiangzhou will present abstract works entitled “Space Time” and “Celestial – Placeless and Timeless” respectively; Cui Xiuwen will present a never-before-seen work from her new series about the Buddha; E.V. Day will showcase a “Waterlily” work, complementing the water lilies found in lakes around China but more specifically the lakes that surround the Sackler Museum; Anindita Dutta will present a large photograph entitled “Flight” from her Indian butterfly performance work; Mark Fox will present a cloud-like sculpture made out of randomly arranged cut-out lines of texts. From afar, the viewer sees the form; at closer range the use of texts is revealed, although it is impossible to read them, their meaning or origin; Anita Glesta will present “Pulse,” a video installation about the heart; Patricia Guzman will showcase a new watercolor work from her series “Roots,” which deals with the human condition of the native population of Mexico; Nicolas Herrera is presenting “Somos Uno,” or “We are One,” a sculpture representing the different races and his mythical figures in one composition; Maryam Najd will present a new work about the refugees fleeing to Europe; Frieder Nake, a pioneer “Computer Artist” who participated in the renowned “Cybernetic Serendipity” exhibition in 1968 (which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year), will showcase “12/7/65 No. 2, 1965,” a computer-generated automatic drawing. It is the first time that an artist in this genre of work is participating in a general art exhibition; Toni Scott will participate with “Circle and Cycle of Life,” representing her Native American heritage; Xu Bing and Zhang Wang will present new works for the exhibition. Xu’s work is from his Background Stories series. To fully appreciate the series, the viewer must see the beautiful traditional painting at the front of the work, then proceed to the back to see how it was created. Zhan is presenting a new stainless-steel rock, created using sheets of stainless steel hammered on to the surface of a rock. After welding and buffering, the rock becomes shiny and reflective, like a mirror.