Artist Project Ⅲ - Chinese Contemporary Artist: Qiulin Chen

Qiulin Chen, one of famous Contemporary artist in China, was born in 1975 and graduated from Sichuan Fine Arts Institute in 2000. I chose this artist because the theme of her art attracted my attention.  For the last fifty years, the process of urbanization in China are accelerating. However, the urban growth created many problems. Most of her artworks focus on the confusion brought on by the fast pace of change, and the hope for a new and improved standard of living in China.

Her artworks include performance, photography, video, installation and sculpture. She has had many solo exhibitions and group shows in Asia, Europe, and America. Her artworks have been included in the 6th Asia Pacific Triennial of Contemporary Art, Queensland Art Gallery, Gallery of Modern Art and so on.

The Garden is one of her famous artworks. It is a photos’ collection. Because of the construction of the Three Gorges Dam on the Yangtze River, thousands of people should leave their hometown. She created this collection in order to notice people that some people were devoting and contributing while the country were developing.

Another famous artwork from her is One Hundred Surnames. Between 2014 and 2015, she used tofu to create one hundred most common Chinese family names and made videos to record the decaying process of the tofu. She also interviewed some people and record their story which related to

tofu. In China, tofu is one of the most common food. During their decaying process, their color and smell would change, and seeped out water slowly. Moreover, family name is a very important part in Chinese traditional culture, and it also means the inheritance of each families. She used this process to reflect that the Chinese traditional culture was decaying as well while the society were developing. Chinese people must pay more attention and take some measures to protect the traditional culture. 

Shadow Picture

It is a little fun game. People can use their hands and fingers and the reflection by light to create different shapes . It can look like a rabbit, a fox, a bird, and so on.

Architecture

I have been visited Macau, and the most attractable architecture for me is the Macau City Hall. Its architectural style is unique. It was the center of Macau's politics when Macau as a colony by Portugal. Although built in 1784, it was in a style like the plain style from 14th- to 15th-century Portugal. The main color of its appearance is white. It was a typical Portuguese style building, and it was fixed twice in 1876 and 1940. On the inside

almost all foot of walls had decorated by Portuguese cyan ceramic tile. There are a public library and beautiful garden inside. Unlike the bustling in outside, it’s very stately and quiet when you enter the Macau City Hall. It’s the offices of Macau’s government now, but it’s open to visitors as well. Their purpose is that people can learn or remind the colonial history in Macau.

In chapter 13 of our book, I learned various style architecture. Architecture is around of our lives, but most of us just can partition them with different colors and shapes. Actually, different architectural style have their own characteristic.

Chicago Public Art

        Art is in everywhere of our city. The Crown Fountain, which was designed by Jaume Plensa, opened in July 2004. The fountain is composed of a black granite reflecting pool placed

between a pair of glass brick towers, and each towers is fifteen meters tall. A thousand of different smile faces display on two LEDs screens.

        Near the Crown Fountain, it is the Cloud Gate. It is famous for its image which look likes a huge bean. It is the largest sculpture in the world. 
        In the same street, Art Institute Public Gardens and Art Institute Museum are here. The Gardens was designed by England artist Henry Moore. It look likes a soft body from a person.  In front of the Art Institute Museum, two lions are

standing in left and right. The lions were made by turquoise and designed by Edward Kemeys.

        The Chicago Civic Center is a place where we all knew, but not all of us can notice that there are two sculptures around the center, the Chicago Picasso and the Monument with Standing Beast.The Monument with Standing is a 8.8 meters white fiberglass artwork by Jean Dubuffet. The sculpture is known to many Chicago's people as "Snoopy in a blender". And the Cubist sculpture by Picasso which is 15.2 meters tall has become a well-known landmark in downtown Chicago. Visitors can climb on and slid down the base of the sculpture.

        Visiting those artworks, I saw many visitors played in there with smile. Those artworks support a best way to people touch art and enjoy art. Art is not just a noblest object in museum or gallery, it can be friendly and diverting as well. Thanks for this project, I have a chance to pay more attention on art in our city. 

Reflection Student Art Exhibit

In the Student Art Exhibit, i saw many creative artworks. They included many kind of works, such as paintings,sculptures, and photos. The best one I chose was a painting which called Lost Time. What can you see from this painting? A beautiful view outside of the window. Mussy toys all over the ground of the house. White and black are all colors in this painting. Less colors express more sadness from the painter. A photo of a woman place on a wall. I think she is a mother. Why she feels sad? What does she lose? Connecting with the toys, I guess she may lost her child. The painting was drawn by pencil. Humdrum colors and shadows construct a sad atmosphere. I found some colors or shapes what I have never seen. I chose a painting which named Dragon City. The painter created a fictitious image for dragon with shadow blue.

Art 21: Season 8

In the theme Chicago, an artist attract my eyes. Nick Cave, a performance artist, is famous for one of his works "Soundsults". He usually create a new atmosphere by using usual objects, such as hairs. I can found he is falling in love with art. He express the representations of social and material culture and usually dances and performs  in his sculptures or before the public. He wants to bring his interactive creations to life.

Another artist which I saw in the theme Mexico City is interesting as well. She is a film director. One of her famous films is EL General. Her films and works always focus on Mexican history, politics, and culture. She hopes that her film and documentary can notice people some social issues.

Reflection of MCA

Have you ever seen contemporary artworks? I had a nice trip with contemporary art in MCA on last Wednesday. Some museums look like very classical, but MCA is a modern building both external and inside. We visited an exhibition which called Eternal Youth at first. There were many photos and paintings, and they were expressing what the youth is in the artists’ ideas. Among them, a group of photos attracted my eyes. It’s a very clever idea to take photos with the same people

in the same place in different time. Compare two photos, I can find the time was flow, and the views may be change. However, something would not change forever, such as love from family. 

In the third floor, I saw something interesting. It is amazing that the artwork looks like a real view if you watch it closely.

Going through the Merce Cunningham: Common Time, it likes a mysterious space. One of show rooms. Several videos were showed one by one, it seems that the visitors were going through the time tunnel. After the viewing of artworks, we visited the bookstore and gift shop as well. I found many creative gifts, A simple gift card can become a three-dimensional adornment when it is opening.