Abilene Christian University and The Grace Museum will host visiting Chinese artists and dignitaries from Jan. 15-17 for collaborative exhibitions, a public dialogue and a live painting experience, all part of an intercultural project conceived by Robert Green (’79), department chair and professor of art and design at ACU.

The show in ACU’s Shore Gallery, titled “Boundless: A U.S.-China Collaborative Exhibition,” features works by Chinese artists: Zhai You, Gao Yun, Fan Lei, Shao Lian, Wang Ping and Wei Dong, alongside American artists: Dallas-area artist Bonny Leibowitz; ACU adjunct instructor of art and design Hollie Brown; ACU art and design professor Kenny Jones (’82); Abilene artist Polly (Compton ’82) Jones; and Green. A smaller companion exhibition entitled “Boundless: Origins” will be in the ACU Brown Library, featuring works by Green and Chinese artist Sheng Dongqiao. Zhai, Gao, and Fan will be in Abilene for the openings and events. In addition, Chen Chunmei, minister-counselor for cultural affairs for the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Washington, D.C., will attend the opening of these exhibitions on Jan. 17.

Three main events are planned:

• Public Dialogue: A public dialogue between American and Chinese artists, from 6:30-7:30 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 15 at The Grace Museum. A piano recital by Hanqiu Xu, visiting college assistant professor of piano and collaborative arts at ACU, will follow at 8 p.m. in the Williams Performing Arts Center Recital Hall.
• Opening Reception: The opening reception for “Boundless: A U.S.-China Collaborative Exhibition,” 10 a.m.-noon, Saturday, Jan. 17, at ACU’s Shore Gallery. This event will include a poetry reading by Dr. Steven Moore, professor of language and literature at ACU; a musical performance by Austin-based actor Ryan Chu (’24); and opening statements by Green and Zhai. Zhai is vice president and secretary general of the Jiangsu Chinese Painting Society.
• Collaborative Live Painting: A public collaborative painting experience where Chinese and American artists will create two works together from 2-4 p.m., Jan. 17, at The Grace Museum.
  

All events are free and open to the public.

Green’s project – “Boundless: An Intercultural Exhibition and Dialogue” – centers around exhibiting Chinese and American art, along with public dialogue, in both China and in the U.S. The Chinese exhibition, “Connecting Hearts Through Art: A China-U.S. Artistic Exchange” took place in May and June at the Yuan Contemporary Art Museum in Nanjing, China. Green and Kenny Jones traveled to China for the opening of the show. They were joined by ACU alumnus Allen Smith and Chinese-American artists Kiki Liu (a ceramicist from Los Angeles), Zhao Jianmin (from San Francisco), and Wang Qingxiang (from Brooklyn, New York). Two other American artists’ works were included in the exhibition – Leibowitz and Abilenian Jingyi Teng, although they did not make the trip to China.

“The greatest benefit of this exhibition is that it appears in China and America,” Green said. “Though it will speak differently in each setting, it will amplify the importance of cross-cultural dialogues and creative initiatives on both sides of the Pacific.”

The concept for this project emerged about two years ago when Green connected with Sheng to discuss shared interests in Chinese art, and their conversations sparked the idea of exhibiting works together. 

“I was motivated to reach out to him because our paintings were indebted to traditional Chinese landscape painting styles that date back to the 18th century and beyond,” Green said. “It seemed to us that as we were in dialogue with one another, so, too, were our works. Our paintings carried on a conversation with the past and with each other.”

The two collaboratively planned both events, developing a catalog of works and agreeing on exhibition titles. 

“We were also convinced that having the artists attend the exhibition, come to the opening reception, sit for a public dialogue with local audiences and include interactive elements were necessary to promote mutual understanding and respect,” Green said. “The public dialogue will allow us to discuss our different approaches to artmaking and the things that we admire in the art of our respective cultures. Additionally, it will emphasize a theme of respect between Chinese and American people during an era marked by distrust and sometimes demonization.”