Margaret Whitlam Galleries

OTHER CHINESE LANDSCAPES:

The four traditional Chinese arts comprise the following: Qín, Music; Qí, Go or ‘Chess’(the game); ShÅ«, Chinese calligraphy; Huà, Chinese painting. Together over millennia these art forms identify the four accomplishments anticipated of a Chinese scholar and gentleman. This early and constant formation of art is widely and deeply embedded culturally within the Chinese psyche.

Photography is far too recent and modern a form to be considered a part of such illustrious company. However, the aesthetic that comprises Chinese art has affect and resonates through contemporary practice, that includes the unique realism inherent within photography. Similarly, Chinese music corresponds faithfully to nature, landscape and not primarily to any internal coda of melody and rhythm.

What you may witness throughout these 'Other Chinese Landscapes' is a certain interiorized Chinese aesthetic, reminiscent of calligraphic swoops and dashes. Perhaps it is its looping, rolling sound interspersed with sharp, tiny, detailed dissonant notes hinting at meaning and puzzlement, much as you would experience nature observed or listened to. Then, the appearance of water-colour and precise ink stroke, of dimension separated only by light and its absence. Dave Cubby, January 2015

“Other Chinese Landscapes:” curated by David Lai, features the following Chinese Photographers:

陈剑 Chen Jian, 陈鹏陟 Chen Pengzhi, 陈志华 Chen Zhihua, 陈体根 Chen Tigen, 赖渭 David Lai, 洪灿华 Hong Canhua, 黄起 Huang Qi, 黄玮 Huang Wei, 刘昂 Liu Ang, 刘伶俐 Liu Lingli, 刘通国 Liu Tongguo, 沈向群 Shen Xiangqun, 隋力 Sui Li, 谭森元 Tan Shenyuan, 谭文东 Tan Wendong, 王文晶 Wang Wenjing, 吴树文 Wu Shuwen, 肖东升 Xiao Dongshen, 谢庆文 Xie Qingwen, 杨志雄 Yang Zhixiong, 赵冬宝 Zhao Dongbao, 赵智芳 Zhao Zhifang, 周鹏飞 Zhou Pengfei.

 Installation  arranged and curated by Western Sydney University Art Curator, Monica McMahon. ( monica.mcmahon@westernsydney.edu.au )

 Installed by Western Sydney University Art Collection and Exhibition Technician, James McMahon