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PICNIC IN THE SCULPTURE GARDEN
Pick up breakfast, lunch, coffee, or snacks at Cafe Express in the Beck Building, and dine alfresco in this outdoor art gallery where admission is always FREE. Open 9 a.m. to 10 p.m. daily at the corner of Montrose Boulevard and Bissonnet Street.
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The Great Wall of China: Photographs by Chen Changfen
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On view through August 12, 2007 at the Audrey Jones Beck Building
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Chen Changfen, Beijingjie, Beijing, 1999, 2006.371
The MFAH, gift of Anne H. Bushman
Born in 1941, Chen Changfen became a professional photographer at 18, and six years later, in 1965, photographed the Great Wall of China for the first time. Although he has continually photographed the wall over the last 30 years, the project was most actively pursued after the Cultural Revolution when he needed a restorative project. He decided that the Wall was a creation of beauty, a potential source of national pride, a physical challenge, and the basis of endless aesthetic, philosophical and historical ponderings for an intelligent, talented, and driven man. As Chen read, explored, and continued to photograph the Wall , his pictures evolved in distinct stages.
This exhibition and book concentrates on the work of the last fifteen years. There are seventy works in the show:
- 27 color photographs printed by inkjet on rice paper, primarily made between 1986 and 1997
- 35 gelatin silver photographs made between 1997 and 2004
- 8 large panoramas mounted as traditional Chinese scrolls, also created in the last 10 years
At a time when China is rapidly entering the global community and China´s cities are abandoning traditional architecture and neighborhoods to build glass and steel, international style skyscrapers, Chen Changfen is making art deeply rooted in traditional values. Chen´s images are informed by years of walking the Wall in all seasons and conditions of light and weather. At 65, he scrambles upright and surefooted along the often dangerously deteriorated Wall. He has returned to some sections of the Wall over 100 times, not always to photograph. This is what he calls "keeping the placid mood," which is essential for his work. This solitary and contemplative approach yields different images than one would make while walking the streets of densely populated, quickly changing cities. Given the rapid changes in China, his respect for the Wall and his contemplative photographs are out of sync with art by other, internationally embraced, contemporary Chinese artists, whose works are more experimental, idiosyncratic, and purposefully subversive of the status quo. Younger artists have been more inclined to question the Wall as a worthy symbol of modern China. In Chinese contemporary art since the 1980s the meaning of the Wall has evolved relative to each artist´s embrace or rejection of prior perceptions and Chen´s imbuing the pictures with meanings based on traditional Chinese philosophies is in sharp contrast to those who see the Wall as a manifestation of the Chinese conservatism that blocked China from the outside world in the past and remains as a symbol of that conservatism today.
Besides his intention to honor the wall as a great accomplishment of engineering and the human spirit, other traditional values that have been important to Chen are the philosophical religion Taoism and the aesthetic tradition of Chinese painting.
By choosing his viewpoint, he makes the Wall look whole or reduced to rubble. Sometimes it dominates the picture; other times one must carefully scan the landscape to find its traces. When using color film, Chen relishes the orange glow from late afternoon light that sets the stone and bricks afire. In other images, he draws more attention to the trees that now grow mid wall and densely along its sides. He uses light to emphasize the Wall or shadows to obscure it, depending on the components or relationships he wishes to reveal. The more one reads about the wall and experiences it personally, the more one understands the depth of perceptions embedded in each picture and how much knowledge can be perceived through his vision beyond the sheer aesthetic pleasures offered.
 read more
This exhibition has been organized by the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston
Generous funding is provided by:
Luther King Capital Management
The Freeman Foundation
The E. Rhodes and Leona B. Carpenter Foundation
Anne and Albert Chao
Related Events:
Homeschool Workshop: Seven Shades of Black
At the Audrey Jones Beck Building
Tuesday, April 3, 2007 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM
Members Daytime Preview
At the Audrey Jones Beck Building
Saturday, March 31, 2007 10:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Members Preview Party, Opening Ceremony, Ribbon Cutting, and Lecture
At the Audrey Jones Beck Building
Friday, March 30, 2007 6:00 PM
Spotlight Tour: The Great Wall of China: Photographs by Chen Changfen
At the Audrey Jones Beck Building
Saturday, April 7, 2007 12:00 PM - 12:30 PM
Saturday, April 14, 2007 12:00 PM - 12:30 PM
Saturday, April 21, 2007 12:00 PM - 12:30 PM
Saturday, April 28, 2007 12:00 PM - 12:30 PM
Thursday, May 3, 2007 7:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Thursday, May 10, 2007 7:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Thursday, May 17, 2007 7:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Thursday, May 24, 2007 7:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Thursday, May 31, 2007 7:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Spotlight Tour: The Great Wall of China: Photographs by Chen Changfen
At the Audrey Jones Beck Building
Saturday, April 7, 2007 2:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Saturday, April 14, 2007 2:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Saturday, April 21, 2007 2:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Saturday, April 28, 2007 2:00 PM - 2:30 PM
Thursday, July 5, 2007 7:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Thursday, July 12, 2007 7:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Thursday, July 19, 2007 7:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Thursday, July 26, 2007 7:30 PM - 8:00 PM
Teacher Workshop: Photographs of the Great Wall of China
At the Audrey Jones Beck Building
Saturday, April 21, 2007 9:00 AM - 3:00 PM
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