Outside In : Chinese x American x Contemporary Art

The Princeton University Art Museum has mounted a thought-provoking show of contemporary Chinese art that challenges the meaning of the phrase. Should the digitally manipulated Chinese images bound into traditional Chinese books by New York-born, Beijing-based Michael Cherney be considered contemporary Chinese art? Other artists in the exhibition and this catalog include Zhang Hongtu, an American citizen, raised in China by a devout Muslim family, who paints Chinese landscapes in oil in the mode of Czanne, and Vannessa Tran, an American of Vietnamese heritage who paints in a style that has nothing to do with China. In this catalog, for each of six artists, a personal statement by the subject is followed by a biographical essay by Silbergeld (Chinese art, Princeton Univ.) and a critical essay from a curator or doctoral student contributor. The high-quality color images of the artworks are complemented by many additional smaller images in the essays to stress comparisons with other artists. Although the catalog is intended for the art and academic world, the writing is clear and accessible to the educated public.David McClelland, Philadelphia Copyright Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.