James Madison University - Index

James Madison University - Madison Magazine - Summer 2008 - Index

W
52
EXPRESSIONS
Xu Bing’s
‘new ways
of seeing’
When I first saw the work of the Macarthur
award-winning Chinese artist Xu Bing in Berlin several
years ago, i never imagined i would have the opportunity
to curate an exhibition of his work here at JMU.
But in late January, Picturing Equality: Xu Bing’s New
Ways of Seeing, a survey of more than 30 years of the
artist’s work including woodblock prints, calligraphic
scrolls and even a computer program opened in the
school of art and art History’s sawhill gallery in duke
Hall. Two weeks later, Xu lectured before an audience
of more than 800 in Memorial Hall auditorium.
Throughout his career, Xu Bing’s life and work have
been inextricably intertwined with Chinese history.
Born into a highly educated family in Beijing, he came
of age in the midst of Mao zedong’s Cultural Revolution.
since then, he has believed that the artist must
contribute to society by offering people new ways of
looking at the world. after emigrating to the United
states in 1990, in the aftermath of the Tiananmen
square protests, he began work on the Square Word
Calligraphy Project, in which he combined Chinese and
Western scripts to create an accessible middle ground
for both cultures. Bing continues to explore the connections
between language and culture, and those between
image and text. in his current project, Book from the
Ground, using symbols from modern life, he is attempting
to create a visual language that anyone can read.
Madison Magazine
Extraordinary visit
fostErs collaboration
By David Ehrenpreis
director of the Institute for Visual Studies
Visitors decipher a set of scrolls written
in square word calligraphy at the exhibition
opening in Sawhill Gallery. The script
combines the strokes of Chinese calligraphy
with English letter forms. (Inset) David
Ehrenpreis, curator of Picturing Equality
talks with Xu Bing before the artist’s lecture.
PhotograPhs by aaron stewart (’08)