Multiple Impressions

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diverse and broad as China itself. Striking and beautiful, the prints cover a dizzying array of styles and subjects--from pure abstraction to photorealism.

I was most intrigued by the prints that depict peasant life--which, according to these images, is a lonely existence. Despite using a diverse mix of styles and showing everything from field hands to shepherds, the artists almost always portray only one person in a vast landscape. Some of my favorites were Li Yangpen's Bright Autumn and Autumn Harvest. Both are highly detailed landscapes in various shades of ocher that give the pieces a nostalgic quality. You have to look hard to see the lone peasant in each. Tiny and obscured by the monochromatism, they have become part of the land they work.

Of the works in the exhibit that seem to have a political leaning, two stand out. Li Chuankang's A Family of Four is a photo of a young man in uniform standing with his wife and their baby and dog. One of the great strengths of this exhibit is the inclusion of short artist statements next to many of the works. Chuankang says of this 2004 print, "I seek to depict, realistically and at a sympathetic eye level, a scene in which a young People's Liberation Army soldier, who is Tibetan, returns home to visit his wife and child." It's a brave Chinese artist who turns a sympathetic eye toward Tibet.