Focus: China
Art from the People's Republic dominates a series of exhibitions and lectures at Columbia College this fall.
The Chinese government must not realize how awesomely subversive printmakers can be, because it doesn’t stop Tibet’s Derge Parkhang—a “printing temple” founded in 1729—from disseminating Buddhist texts made with its collection of 300,000 printing blocks. Prints, books, photographs and videos from the temple are on view in this exhibition. “This photo shows a block cutter at the Derge Parkhang doing the first, rough cut on a double-sided printing block,” explains cocurator Patrick Dowdey, who spent three summers doing research at the Derge Parkhang with the show’s other cocurator, Columbia College prof Clifton Meador.
WHAT “Pearl of the Snowlands: Buddhist Printing at the Derge Parkhang” WHEN Sept 11–Dec 5 WHERE Center for Book and Paper Arts (1104 S Wabash Ave, second floor, 312-369-6631, bookandpaper.org)
Zhang Qing’s 603 Football Field (2006, pictured) proves you can hold a soccer game in your apartment. “I wanted to show a playful and ironic ‘inside’ situation,” says curator Davide Quadrio. “Zhang Qing’s work is always light, surreal and unpredictable, and I thought 603 Football Field could help the show to have a moment of ‘lightness.’”
WHAT “Reversed Images: Representations of Shanghai and Its Contemporary Material Culture” WHEN Sept 25–Dec 23 WHERE Museum of Contemporary Photography (600 S Michigan Ave, 312-663-5554, mocp.org)
Tao Huang wants you to stop associating Chinese design with knockoffs. “There’s still a lot of copycats,” the Columbia College prof acknowledges, “but there’s a lot of innovation and creative effort going on, too.” She curated this exhibition to introduce 14 Chinese designers’ and studios’ work to an American audience. Huang says she’s including Jianye Li’s Flexibin (pictured) because the award-winning design is a brilliant concept: Li, who works for Philips Design Hong Kong, created the trash can out of a single piece of stainless-steel wire.
WHAT “Found: Contemporary China Design” WHEN Oct 1–Nov 7 WHERE Leviton A+D Gallery (619 S Wabash Ave, 312-344-8687, www2.colum.edu/adgallery)
Check out the other sections in our 2009 Fall Preview:
RESTAURANTS & BARS | THE GET | AROUND TOWN | ART | BOOKS | CLUBS | COMEDY | DANCE | FILM | GAY & LESBIAN | KIDS | MUSIC | OPERA & CLASSICAL | THEATER
