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“Three Perfections”: A Mid-Autumn Chinese Australian Artists’ Exhibition

“Three Perfections”: A Mid-Autumn Chinese Australian Artists’ Exhibition

2018.3

Exhibition Details

Date: 20 August – 8 November 2018

Venue: Building EA.G.03, Australia-China Institute for Arts and Culture Gallery, Parramatta South Campus, Western Sydney University, Corner of James Ruse Drive and Victoria Road, Rydalmere

Gallery Opening Hours: Monday – Thursday 10.00 am – 3.00 pm, Friday 11:00am - 3pm

Contact: Lindsay Liu, (02) 9685 9943

Exhibition Opening Event

Hon. Don Harwin MLC, NSW Minister for the Arts, opened the exhibition

Dates: 22 September 2018

Time: 3.00pm for 3.30pm

Venue: Foyer of Building EA, Australia-China Institute for Arts and Culture, Parramatta South Campus, Western Sydney University, Corner of James Ruse Drive and Victoria Road, Rydalmere

This exhibition coincides with the Chinese Mid-Autumn Festival. In Chinese culture, the Festival falls on the fifteenth day of the eighth month on the lunar calendar. Also called the Moon Festival, it is meant to offer thanks for a great autumn harvest and to celebrate family reunion. While marking this Festival as an important part of the Chinese culture, this modest exhibition also joins in the effort at celebrating the artistic achievements of the Chinese Australian community here in Sydney.

The exhibition brings together eighteen artworks of five artists. They are Huang Qinghui (黄庆辉), David Liu (刘尧), Sun Mingcai (孙明才), Wang Mingke (王明科) and Chen Bingbing (陈冰冰). These five artists represent a curiously various and diverse combination. With Huang in his nineties and Chen in her thirties, they represent almost five different generations in the Chinese Australian community, whose works also give expression to radically different artistic sensibilities. Huang and Liu are well-renowned calligraphers whose works range from poetry to Buddhist scripture. Sun’s landscape scrolls take you back to the poetic grandeur of Tang Dynasty. Wang and Chen’s works are both miniatures in size but they stand on the ends of a broad stylistic spectrum: one is highly traditional, the other extremely avant-garde and expressionistic.

The five artists share an intense awareness of and a common interest in each other’s art forms. One sees in this exhibition a meaningful co-existence of poetry, calligraphy and painting. In ancient China, poetry, calligraphy and painting were separate artistic forms. But after the Tang Dynasty, they became frequently interconnected because, in the eyes of many, painting is “silent poetry” and poetry “painting with sound”. Since the seventh century, Chinese poets, calligraphers and painters have often worked together on an artwork, and merging different arts together, they have often created works known as “three perfections”.

This exhibition has its name from one of ACIAC’s Advisory Board members, Dr Edmund Capon, who is former Director of the Art Gallery of NSW and a celebrated expert on classical Chinese art. The exhibition was put together by another of our Advisory Board members, Dr Helen Sham-Ho, former NSW parliamentarian and incumbent President of the Asia Pacific Professional Managers Association. Dr Capon and Dr Sham-Ho, like our other Advisory Board members, share a genuine interest in the work of Chinese Australian artists and have stood firm on the importance of promoting cross-cultural exchange. The Chinese Mid-Autumn is a time of looking up and sharing the same moon in its fullness and it is hoped that exhibitions like this will help build mutual awareness in the Australian artistic community and promote collaboration between individual artists.

Artist Biographies

Chen Bingbing

Chen Bingbing (1980) is from Fujian Province, China. She is based in Sydney. Chen is Executive Director of Bingbing Art, Art Director of the Australian Fujian Association, and Art Curator of 541 Art Space.

Huang Qinghui

Huang Qinghui was born in Shanghai in 1922. His family is originally from Puning City, Guangdong Province. Now in his 97th Year, Huang is highly respected by Chinese Australian community for his devotion in promoting traditional Chinese culture.

Liu Yao (David)

Liu Yao (David), Sydney (1960), of Cantonese heritage. David learned calligraphy from his grandfather. A talented amateur calligrapher, particularly expert in oracle bone and cursive scripts, his work has been exhibited locally and internationally.

Sun Mingcai

Sun Mingcai is the Chair of the League of Australia-China Chinese Ink Painters, member of China National Arts and Crafts Society and member of Beijing Artists Association. His artworks have been exhibited in Australia, U.S.A., Japan and South Korea.

Wang Mingke

Wang Mingke is Director of the Australian Painting Academy Incorporated, Art Advisor of the Australian Artists Society, Deputy President of the Beijing Chinese Painting Research Society.

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