The buddha and the butterfly

0 CommentsPrint E-mail Global Times, April 6, 2010
Adjust font size:

A famous face gets a new friend: the Buddha viewing the world through butterfly-tinted glasses in Beijing-based artist Li Shuang's new exhibition at Dialogue Space.

A famous face gets a new friend: the Buddha viewing the world through butterfly-tinted glasses in Beijing-based artist Li Shuang's new exhibition at Dialogue Space.

Beijing's late spring is finally in full bloom with The Butterfly Dream, a tranquil exhibition by Chinese artist Li Shuang recently opened at Dialogue Space in the International Art Plaza.

Borrowing the name of a classic work from ancient Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi, the exhibition comes across as an intimate, personal meditation by the artist. Li cites the probing metaphysical questions posed in Zhuangzi's book as her inspiration to create a series of artwork centered around a Buddha and a butterfly. Zhuangzi's famous central quandary — whether a man who dreams he is a butterfly is in fact a butterfly dreaming he is a man — drove Li to offer her own interpretation, mixing images of Buddhas and butterflies in what quickly would become the most prominent subjects on her canvas.

"For the past year, I've wanted to experience what Zhuangzi wrote: 'I dream of turning into a butterfly, and I'm quite happy as a butterfly,'" Li said, "so I started my painting my first image of a peaceful, happy-go-lucky butterfly. Then, while I was still working on the first piece, the idea for the second just came into being naturally."

Li invokes a calm and somewhat mysterious ambience via the Buddha's largely unreadable facial expression, while the butterfly, paused in mid-flight, gives the Buddha a diaphanous, delicately hazy mask.

Though different pieces see the Buddha's face tilted at subtly different angles, his unchanging, dreamlike gaze gives the entire series a common emotion and suggests a Mona Lisa-esque question: is the Buddha smiling or not? With each successive glance, viewers may not reach a same conclusion.

The Buddha, in all his welcoming postures and gentle grins, is a resoundingly familiar image to Chinese viewers — and, as presented in Li's exhibit, a clear tribute to traditional Chinese artwork. At the same time, however, The Butterfly Dream offers a fresh interpretation of this classic visage via Li's use of oil paint, an element of Western painting not typically found in Chinese art, which uses ink at its main medium.

"This exhibit harmoniously blends a timeless Buddhist image with the structural features of Christian painting," exhibition curator Li Ying said in a statement. "But it is not a tribute to religion or divinity. It is a rediscovery of the ecumenical values of purity, tranquility, peace and tolerance."

Where: Dialogue Space, #6-97, 22 International Art Plaza, No. 32 Baiziwan Road

When: Until May 11

Price: Free

Contact: 5876-9392

Print E-mail Bookmark and Share

Go to Forum >>0 Comments

No comments.

Add your comments...

  • User Name Required
  • Your Comment
  • Racist, abusive and off-topic comments may be removed by the moderator.
Send your storiesGet more from China.org.cnMobileRSSNewsletter
主站蜘蛛池模板: 特级xxxxx欧美| 高潮插的我好爽再干噢在线欢看| 少妇高潮无套内谢| 久久亚洲精品中文字幕无码| 欧美性最猛xxxx在线观看视频| 人人狠狠综合久久亚洲| 精品国产三级a∨在线欧美| 国产亚洲精品美女久久久久| 久久综合狠狠综合久久综合88 | 在线观看国产一区亚洲bd| 三级网站在线免费观看| 日本h片无遮挡在线观看| 久久精品国产福利电影网| 欧美与黑人午夜性猛交久久久 | 久久久99精品成人片| 日韩欧美中文字幕在线观看| 亚洲人成在线精品| 欧美日韩一区视频| 亚洲精品乱码久久久久久蜜桃不卡 | 欧美特黄一片aa大片免费看| 亚洲综合AV在线在线播放| 男男同志chinese中年壮汉| 午夜成人在线视频| 美女视频黄的全免费视频网站| 国产乱子经典视频在线观看| 香蕉久久夜色精品升级完成| 国产婷婷色一区二区三区| chinese乱子伦xxxx视频播放| 性xxxx视频播放免费| 中文字幕人妻无码一夲道| 无码日韩精品一区二区免费暖暖| 久久午夜无码免费| 日本天堂在线视频| 久久午夜夜伦鲁鲁片免费无码 | 黄色一级毛片看一级毛片| 国产模特众筹精品视频| 欧美亚洲777| 天天摸天天爽天天碰天天弄| 一级肉体片在线观看| 成人做受120秒试看动态图| 中文字幕一区二区三区精彩视频|