Great Walls

After a century of international irrelevance, Chinese painting and sculpture have stepped out big time in the past decade, storming into the international contemporary art scene. Reflecting this renaissance, the National Museum of China in Beijing mounted an exhibit in 2007 exploring the connections between Chinese and American art. That...

By Michael Paglia

July 7, 2011

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After a century of international irrelevance, Chinese painting and sculpture have stepped out big time in the past decade, storming into the international contemporary art scene. Reflecting this renaissance, the National Museum of China in Beijing mounted an exhibit in 2007 exploring the connections between Chinese and American art. That show was one half of an exchange between the two superpowers, and now it’s our turn.

Giving and Receiving: A Collaborative Exhibition of Contemporary Artists From China and the United States opens tonight and runs through July 22 at the CU Art Museum in Boulder. “The show is an artist-driven cultural exchange that provides a connection between Colorado and China,” explains museum director Lisa Tamiris Becker. “It was sparked by James Surls, who made a beautiful suspension piece for the exhibit and gifted it to us for our lobby.”

There will be a preview for members today at 5 p.m. and a reception for the general public from 6 to 8 p.m. On Saturday, April 9, a symposium will be held, with presentations by many of these artists; the symposium is designed to “facilitate cross-cultural dialogue and discussion about artistic concerns,” according to the university.

The museum is at 1085 18th Street in Boulder; for information, call 303-492-1320 or go to www.colorado.edu/cuartmuseum.
Mondays-Fridays. Starts: April 7. Continues through July 22, 2011

Michael Paglia is an art historian and writer whose columns have appeared in Westword since 1995; his essays on the visual arts have also been published in national periodicals including Art News, Architecture, Art Ltd., Modernism, Art & Auction and Sculpture Magazine. He taught art history at the University of Colorado Denver.

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