On May 1st, the American Chinese Museum held a Chinese and Western Culture and Art Forum in the museum as part of its “Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month” celebration. Participating speakers delivered valuable speeches on a wide range of art topics. The forum was organized and presented by International Chinese Arts Society of Americas, and American Fujian Artist Association.
First, Sue Cheng, President of the International Chinese Arts Society of Americas, on behalf of the oil painting master, Special Advisor of International Chinese Arts Society of Americas Mr. Zongzhou Wang, presented to the forum on the comparison of the Chinese and Western painting. Mr. Wang described the characteristics of Chinese and Western art in an easy to understand way, and used his own artistic practices to show the uniqueness of Chinese and Western arts.
Alexander Shanks, a native American painter and art educator in Pennsylvania, spoke on the classical art method in contemporary art, illustrating many famous paintings to describe 800 years history of Western painting in a short period of time. He not only gave everyone a class on the history of Western art, but also compared Western and Eastern painting techniques.
John Baker of West Chester University, Honorary President of the International Chinese Arts Society of Americas, presented his original pottery. He introduced his studio, his unique creative method, and how he drew materials from his life, from his visits around the world, how he obtained inspiration, generated creative impulses, and finally created works of art with rich meanings.
Song Feihong, an entrepreneur, Peking Opera singer and calligrapher in Philadelphia, told artists and guests how to create art works that are more suitable for American art collectors and art buyers. She also performed her unique, multi-media artistic creation that integrates Chinese culture, poetry, calligraphy and Peking Opera singing.
Cheng Sida, chief software engineer of Capital One, told artists about the current situation and future trends of digital art and the impact of the extremely popular NFT technology in the art world.
In the end, the art forum played a video specially recorded by the famous Chinese calligrapher, Honorary President of International Chinese arts society of Americas Meifu Luo, for the forum, the History Behind the Words. It tells in detail the history of Chinese characters, the reasons for their formation and the stories hidden behind Chinese characters.
The forum kicked off the week-long 2022 Spring Joint Exhibition of Chinese and Western Culture and Art. A total of 50 art works from Chinese and Western artists have been selected for this exhibition, presenting artistic styles from different cultural backgrounds and bringing visitors to different visual enjoyment.
