an art teacher in China: Chinese art from NYC

Wednesday, October 3, 2012

Chinese art from NYC

Here in New York for a holiday, and of course immersion in galleries, museums and any other manifestation of the art world I can find, the highlight thus far has been the Lin Tianmiao show, 'Bound Unbound' at the Asia Society Museum. I was fascinated by the work of this artist, one of the very few female artists to emerge in the 90s, along with all the boys of the Political Pop and Cynical Realist movements, and an artist who uses her gendered experience of the world to inform her imagery and choices of materials.


	Lin Tianmiao, 'Here? or There?' (detail) 2002, fiberglass, fabric, thread, mixed media, dimensions variable, collection of the artist, courtesy of Galerie Lelong

Her 'thread winding' technique recalls Louise Bourgeois in its use of textiles - silk and felt - as a metaphor, inspired by her childhood memories of her mother sewing clothes for the family.

She deals with big themes - birth, sex, death and what it means to be a human being in a physical body - using a language of forms and materials that is unabashedly and unapologetically female. I wonder as I wander around the gallery if her work has inspired young artist Gao Rong, who works also with fabric and embroidery, creating life sized simulacra of her Beijing apartment, or her grandparents' traditional Mongolian house.

Lin Tianmiao, 'Chatting' (detail) 2004, fiberglass, silk threads, mixed media, sound,
collection of the artist
courtesy Galerie Lelong

I wrote a longer and more detailed review of the exhibition for The Art Life - you can read it here: New York Postcard

Another show that I loved was an artist new to me - and there were definitely parallels with the techniques pioneered by Ling Tianmiao. Diana Al-Hadid is a sculptor from Texas. Her show at Marianne Boesky was a knockout. I took these photographs in the gallery, loved her use of scale and surface, and the multiple meanings evoked in these installations.