Pacific Lecture and Exhibition Series held through Oct. 7

The Pacific Lecture and Exhibition Series, a collaborative exchange between Claremont Graduate University’s (CGU) School of Arts and Humanities and the 53 Art Museum in Guangzhou, China, is scheduled to run through October 7.

The inaugural program features China’s Landscape, exhibitions of paintings, videos, sculpture, and installations by three visiting artists from China—Feng Feng, He Jiancheng, and Che Jianquan—as well as lectures by the artists. The exhibitions are being held in the East and Peggy Phelps Galleries.

The goal of the exchange, also known as the United States-China Art Invitation Exhibition Series, is to build communication and understanding between artists in China and the United States, said art theory and art history Professor David Pagel, who co-curated China’s Landscape along with 53 Art Museum curator Li Qiongbo.

“We see art as a great way to cross borders and break down barriers—to open the present and the future to the best possibilities,” he said.

The visiting artist will meet with CGU art faculty Professors Rachel Lachowicz and David Amico, adjunct faculty, including Iva Gueorguieva and Carmine Iannaccone, and accomplished alumni such as Cole James, Kim Alexander, Damaris Rivera, Sally Bruno, Patch Wright, and Kyla Hansen.

A group of three artists (a CGU faculty member, an adjunct professor, and a CGU alumnus/alumna) will be selected later to travel to Guangzhou in June 2017. There, they will present at the 53 Art Museum, give lectures at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, the Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts, and Pearl River College; and meet with Chinese artists and faculty. The cycle will continue with the subsequent selection of three Chinese artists who will be invited to CGU in September 2018.

“We look forward to these developments and the transformations they lead to, as a means for understanding both ourselves and everyone else in the global world, no matter which nation in which they reside,” Pagel said.