What is the place of the spiritual in contemporary life, particularly in highly materialistic—and increasingly secular—cultures, like the United States and China? This is the central question of Matter + Spirit: A Chinese/American Exhibition, a collection of artworks that engage the great diversity of issues it raises and a range of perspectives on them.
It is the product of a gathering of North American art professors with their Chinese counterparts in June 2018 in China sponsored by the Nagel Institute for the Study of World Christianity. Visiting artists’ enclaves and cultural sites in Beijing, Nanjing, and Shanghai, they considered issues of art, contemporary society, spirituality, and their role as culture makers, critics, and seers. The works you see in this exhibition represent this encounter, its conversations, and what was summoned by the artists’ interactions—with China, with the arts scene there, and with each other. Matter + Spirit presents a remarkable body of art that reflects on the perennial tensions between the material and the spiritual in human life and in society.
It is hardly necessary to explain the interest in doing a project in China. Chinese contemporary art has swept onto the international art scene and is, without question, a leading cultural force. As late as 1990 there were no private art galleries in Beijing. But twenty years later, there were 300 galleries in the capital, energized by the social space that opened up in Chinese society between the state and the market. These forerunners focused on the effects of rapid social change and cultural globalization in China, laying the foundation for the vital and rapidly evolving cultural landscape we see today.
This project is the third of its kind; two prior projects were undertaken in Indonesia in 2008 and in South Africa in 2013. The ensuing exhibits, Charis: Boundary Crossings (2009-2013) and Between the Shadow & the Light (2014-2018) drew a total of 25,000 visitors as they traveled to more than 30 venues across North America. Given the excitement that Chinese contemporary art has stirred among Western viewers, we expect this exhibition to touch even more people.
Come, then, and see this remarkable body of art that reflects on the perennial tensions between the material and the spiritual in human life and in society.
NOTE: While the Chinese convention is to place the surname first, for consistency, surnames of the artists are listed after the individual’s given name wherever possible.
Matter is spirit moving slowly enough to be seen.
― Pierre Teilhard de Chardin, philosopher and Jesuit Priest
Yefu Bai
Illumination 1
Ink and acrylic on paper
2018
Illumination 2
Ink and acrylic on paper
2018
Ying Cao
Seeds, Seasons, Situations
Porcelain with wood, stone, metal, dried plants, and wheat kernels
2018-2019
Life is the hyphen between matter and spirit.
—Augustus William Hare, scholar and cleric
Yuanming Cao
I have no enemies
Chalk in concrete and iron frame
2016
Chinese Village Churches Series
Fuxu Village Church and Its Gatekeeper
Caomiao Village Church and Its Gatekeeper
Wanan Village Church and Its Gatekeeper
Dawang Village Church and Its Evangelist
Dazhuang Village Church and Its Gatekeeper
Digital prints on metal
2004-2008
Sacred Humility
Old bible, notes, pencil, sand,
transparent resin
2008
Chinese Village Churches Series:
Church Interiors
Digital prints on metal
2004-2008
Shin-hee Chin
Intertwined
Silk thread, cotton, polyester thread on round form
2018-2019
My Soul Magnifies the Lord
Mixed media on mulberry paper
2018-2019
Wantian Cui
I Confess
Oil on canvas
2018
DaoZi
The Light in the Darkness
Ink on paper
2018
The Portrait of a Deceased Thinker
Ink on paper
2017
The Blessing of Autumn Rain
Ink on paper
2018
To know and not to act is not to know.
—Yangming Wang, Neo-Confucian scholar
Wei Ding
Love No. 6
Oil on canvas
2018
Scott Fisk
Hidden Spirit #1
Digital prints on Birch with augmented reality using Artivive App
2018
Hidden Spirit #2
Digital prints on Birch with augmented reality using Artivive App
2018
Brenton Good
Pine Waves/Cloud Ravines Series:
Pine Waves/Cloud Ravines 4
Pine Waves/Cloud Ravines 5
Pine Waves/Cloud Ravines 7
Pine Waves/Cloud Ravines 8
Pine Waves/Cloud Ravines 9
Pine Waves/Cloud Ravines 11
Pine Waves/Cloud Ravines 13
Pine Waves/Cloud Ravines 14
Pine Waves/Cloud Ravines 15
Pine Waves/Cloud Ravines 18
Monotype on paper
2019
Xin Guo
Mourning Series:
Mourning #1
Funeral cloth, wood, synthetic pearl, found object
2018
Mourning #2
Funeral cloth, silver filigree, wood, crystal beads, base metal, found object
2018
Mourning #3
Funeral cloth, silver filigree, wood, synthetic pearl, found object
2018
Chunye He
Liang Jiang
Suki Kwon
We have two lives, and the second begins when we realize we only have one.
—Confucius, philosopher
Leah Samuelson
Document Dragon
Graphite and watercolor on arches paper
2018
Lauren Schiller
Meditation: Renewal
Oil on panel
2019
Justin Sorensen
Untitled (Wild Swans)
Paper (book cover)
2018
Our technological aspirations always seem to have hints of spiritual desires about them as well.
—Kenneth Steinbach, artist
Kenneth Steinbach
Studies in Experimental Aircraft
Double Negative
Ursa Major
Graphite and gold on mylar
2019
Laura Stevenson
Come to the Table
Serigraph on paper, wood, steel, cast iron, aluminum, paint, plastic chairs, LED lights, motor
2019
Beyond the Structure
Wood, aluminum, LED lights with acrylic light diffusers
2019
Parallel Realities
Serigraphs on paper, wood, aluminum, paint, LED lights, Arduino software
2019
“I had no card”
Serigraphs on paper, wood, aluminum, paint, step motors, Arduino software
2019
Digging a Hole to China (September-November 2018)
Performance stills - Photo credit: M. Bradley Elliott
Inkjet prints on paper
2018
Calamity has its roots in prosperity, prosperity has its roots in calamity.
—Chinese proverb, sometimes attributed to Laozi
Ziyun Tong
News
Oil on canvas
2015
Jo-Ann VanReeuwyk
Portrait
Altered book
2018
Zhishi Qingnian (Educated Youth)
Zhongshan (Mao Suit)
Fiber (teabag construction)
2019
Yongliang Wang
Mountain Rain
Oil on canvas
2011
Body (Sweet Potatoes)
Oil on canvas
2013
Yong You
Cheers
Oil on wood
2016
Avenue
Oil on canvas
2018
Erjun Zhao
My Jesus
Pencil on rice paper
2017
My Student
Pencil on rice paper
2017
Figure
Pencil on rice paper
2017
In our spiritual lives, we are missing a form of love that goes beyond the carnal. If we each judge others from a position of moral superiority, by what standards do we determine our own righteousness?...Yu Hong once wrote, “We lack a conviction that all life is of equal value.” If it’s not possible to popularize such values, then is it even possible to have forgiveness in our lives?
—Jiuyang Zhu, artist
Jiuyang Zhu
Waiting for a Reconciled Day
Photograph on paper
2013
Waiting for a Reconciled Day
Photograph on paper
2013
curated by Rachel Hostetter Smith
cosponsored by:
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with major support from:
Walter and Darlene Hansen
John and Mary Loeks
Bradley C. Miller
Doug and Lois Nagel
Jacob and Barbara Smit
The Calvin Center for Christian Scholarship