Description:

The Environmental Humanities Research Workshop of the Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities presents:

Michael Cherney/Qiu Mai

One would be hard-pressed to find a “more Chinese" artist than Michael Cherney [b. 1969], who also goes by the Chinese name Qiu Mai. Photographer, calligrapher, and book artist, Qiu Mai's work is done with a sophistication that draws on the subtleties of China's most scholarly and esoteric traditions. Based in Beijing and a successful artist whose works have been collected by The Metropolitan Museum of Art's Department of Asian Art [the first photographic works ever to enter the collection of that department], Qiu Mai's art is less provocative than it is intellectually engaging, meditative, and often simply beautiful.

His lecture will provide an overview of his artistic process and the ways in which his photography allows us to view the present day environment and landscape in China through the lens of art history. Qiu Mai will also guide the audience through viewing several handscrolls and other original works.

This event is made possible by generous support from the Alice Kaplan Institute for the Humanities, the Departments of Art History and Asian Languages and Cultures, and the Program in Asian Studies.