LA exhibition showcases folk arts from China

The “art of Chinese people”, or Chinese folk art, is on display in an exhibition aimed at showcasing Chinese culture and enhancing US-China cultural exchange.

The “2018 China-US Arts and Cultural Festival” exhibition will be on display at the Sino-Asian Art Gallery “until Friday. The gallery is in a storefront in an industrial complex in the city of El Monte in Los Angeles County.

Around 11 Chinese artists’ creations, ranging from paper cuttings, dough figurines, calligraphy, shadow puppet figures, luban pillows, silk scarves and gourd paintings are on display.

It is co-hosted by the Global Arts and Crafts Association, Cultural Foundations of Zhendai He USA, Window Way (Beijing) Culture Development Co Ltd and California Music and Art Alliance.

“Handicraft works is the accumulation of wisdom and history of the Chinese nation. It’s a valuable cultural heritage that needs to be passed down and carried on by Chinese all over the world,” said Chen Yuancai, honorary president of the Global Arts and Crafts Association and executive vice-president of the National Women’s Handicraft Association.

The gallery’s owner is Andrew Y. Zhao, a retired paleontologist whose experiences include tenures at the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Nanjing Institute of Geology and Paleontology and the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County.

Zhao said he has always had a knack for calligraphy and art, due to the influence of his mother, Li Xiuren, a folk artist in her own rights from Shandong whose avant-garde paper cutting works won her the title “Picasso of Paper Cutting” by her fellow artists.

Zhao’s passion for art prompted him to open the gallery after retirement, and it has since held exhibitions related to Chinese culture.

“Chinese handicraft art is an important heritage of mankind,” Zhao said. “We have the important responsibility to act as the communicator and promoter of Chinese culture overseas.”

Folk art, by definition, is visual art created by ordinary people to meet ordinary social needs. It stands in contrast to the work of career artists and the art of aristocrats.

The exhibition includes works from Chinese artists in the US and from various Chinese province.

It includes shadow puppet works from Jiang Tianwen, kites made by artist Zhang Lei, paper cutting by Sun Shaocheng and silk-scarf design by Fan Yanyan, who draws her inspiration from the history of the Silk Road.

Another set of art is dough figurines made by Shi Zhenshan, a Chinese artist living in the US whose work features historical Chinese characters and National Basketball Association players as well as cartoon characters.

“Luban pillow”, a wooden object thought to be invented by Luban, a well-known Chinese carpenter, engineer and inventor who lived around 507-444 BC, is also on display.

The pillow suitable for laying one’s head on it to sleep, but also serves as a portable stool, Zhao said. A miniature version of “Luban pillow” could even be used as a foldable penholder.

“The importance of cultural exchange in international affairs is becoming more and more important,” said Li Huafeng, secretary-general of the Global Arts and Crafts Association.

PHOTOS LIU YINMENG / CHINA DAILY Andrew Y Zhao, director of Sino-Asian Art Gallery, poses in front of his calligraphy.

Clay figurines depicting cartoon characters are placed in front of Chinese tea cups at the Sino-Asian gallery.