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JULY 15, 2010 - Sharp Memorial Hospital Named #1 Most Beautiful Hospital in the U.S. AE Art Consultants Debbie Linn and Patty Smith were called upon to come up with art concepts, acquire and place art, and design custom framing for the state-of-the art facility, Sharp Memorial Hospital, located in Kearny Mesa (San Diego, CA). Recently, Sharp Memorial Hospital was named the "#1 Most Beautiful Hospital in the U.S." by Soliant Health. To read more about Sharp Memorial Hospital and the other Top 20 Most Beautiful Hospitals, click here.
JULY 12, 2010 - AE Represented Artists featured at Oceanside Museum of Art
Art Expressions Gallery Artists Robin Hall and Jeff Yeomans were featured at the Oceanside Museum of Art in an exhibition entitled "Impressions of Southern California," which ran from May 25 through July 11, 2010. Description from the Oceanside Museum of Art's website: "Impressions of southern California presents captivating views of San Diego and beyond from the illimitable coastline to dense urban landscapes that color the city. Orange County artist Robin Hall and San Diego artist Jeff Yeomans will display new paintings of Oceanside inspired by the recent transformation of urban development in the area as well as endearing scenery from Southern California. Meet the Artists Robin Hall and Jeff Yeomans on Saturday, June 12 at 2:00pm and hear them discuss the artistic process behind their artwork. The talk is free with museum admission and complimentary for OMA members. Impressions of Southern California will be on view May 25 through July 11, 2010 in the Oceanside Museum of Art Groves Gallery.
JUNE 14, 2010 - Jian Wang Solo Exhibition "Fluid Discourse" Art Expressions Gallery featured the latest works by Chinese-American Artist, Jian Wang, in his latest exhibition "Fluid Discourse." Jian Wang, a prolific painter working in oils, gives a surreal mood his works while grounding his subjects in realism. He describes his own painting style as a silent dialogue that occurs between himself and his subject. The exhibition opened on Thursday, April 29, 2010 with an evening reception and book signing with the artist. Several adjunct events took place to celebrate Jian Wang's work, including The 2010 Asian Heritage Awards Nominee Reception, which took place on Tuesday, May 4, 2010, and a special guest lecture and book signing featuring Giovanna Pang Garcia and her book Why Chinese Women Are Not Broke, which took place on Thursday, May 13, 2010. The exhibition closed on Saturday, June 12, 2010.
April 30, 2010 - Feature from Asia Journal: "Artist Jian Wang: Pushing the boundaries is his style and passion" By Leonard Novarro Special to ASIA
Artist Jian Wang’s early life was not exactly conducive to being creative.
At the age of 12, when he first developed an interest in art, he lived in a small 120-square-foot apartment in Dalian, China, with his parents, grandmother, brothers and a sister.
When they went to bed at night, the family would fold up the dinner table and put it away so they could pull out a bed, which they all slept on. He found a small place behind the door, where he created.
“It was like a children’s desk,” he recalled. “I would sit up and draw until midnight. My mother would read to me while I still practiced. For many years I practiced like that.”
His work earned him admission to the Dalian Youth Palace Arts, where he studied for six years. But art was not a money maker in China. Urged by his parents, he earned a science degree and for four years taught at the Dalian Railway Institute, which later became a turning point in his life. There he met Marjorie Francisco, a retired Sacramento art teacher, who sponsored him to come to this country. He has lived in Sacramento ever since, in between exhibiting all over the world, including at the Olympics in Beijing, along with only one other artist.
The latest retrospective of his work, with many of the paintings that have earned him widespread critical acclaim, is on display at Art Expressions Gallery, 2645 Financial Court in San Diego. A reception in honor of this year’s Asian Heritage Awards nominees will also be held there Tuesday, May 4, in conjunction with the exhibition.
Wang is a student of the Russian school of social realism, but his landscapes and portraits are more reminiscent of Van Gogh, showing traces of Rembrandt and Michelangelo, who also inspired him. The way he paints in some ways is reminiscent of the way Van Gogh has been depicted over the years—feverish and frantic, according to Wang’s own admission.
As one curator wrote: “Jian Wang’s buffet of visual delights emerges from the concept of method itself of the painter’s technique, of the practice of applying paint. The process of creation is as important as the product created….No matter the subject, be it landscape, still life or figural, Jian Wang’s paintings express more than the essence of the scene, but also push against the boundaries of his medium.”
Says Wang: “I may not have Picasso’s talents, but I work harder.”
With his broad strokes, heavy paint and brushes that often measure three inches in width, he attacks his canvas with an intensity that is both rewarding to him and art aficionados, which has not only earned him praise but a recent bad case of tendonitis, similar to carpel tunnel syndrome.
“When a painter holds a brush, his fingers are not moving. For a time I couldn’t get my fingers to open up,” Wang explained. Rather than discourage him, the long hours of work were inspiring.
“It forced me to keep the excitement going like a 100-meter rather than a long-distance runner. I want to keep that freshness.”
Of the 2,000 or so pieces he has done, his series “Beijing Girls,” 50 portraits of young Chinese women, remains his favorite.
While living in China in 2007, preparing for an exhibition, he sought fresh subjects but found none to his taste.
“The same subjects were being painted a million times over,” he said. The changing character of the city inspired a lot of filming and art work, but I didn’t’ see the uniqueness of China as changing. I got really discouraged about finding a subject,: he explained.
Then he noticed something—in the faces of many of the young women he saw on the streets. Many had migrated to the city from the country in search of jobs, usually as waitresses or in some other service.
What distinguished them was the unusual ruddiness in their complexions, characteristic of the rural outdoors. At the same time, they possessed an outward expression that exuded confidence. “They didn’t shy away,” Wang said. “They would spend a month’s salary to have their hair dyed, to make them very stylish. I thought that was a very profound testimony for the newly developed China.”
Several pieces from the series, many of them measuring six-by-six-feet, are featured in the San Diego exhibition.
“The philosophy of what I think as an artist is that I paint all different subjects. It is testimony to an artist’s ability to handle all material. That is why I look back in history at the great masters who came across in all different subject matters,” said Wang, who remains immediately attracted to landscapes, such as the American River near his home in Sacramento. “The first time I walked along (the river), it inspired me. The scenery itself when a storm comes in, bringing very dramatic clouds, the seasons and all those elements that give an extended life to the river—that is what I wanted to paint.”
Married to his childhood sweetheart, Bonnie, the couple, both 53, have a grown daughter.
When he is not religiously practicing painting Wang practices Chinese calligraphy and collects stamps, with more than 100,000 in his collection.
“It has helped me a great deal, knowing the history of the world,” he says.
When he is not otherwise engaged, Wang is ruminating on his next subject, which, in all probability, will be a landscape.
He says: “When the sun bursts from the clouds, my heart is thumping. I get that excited. Every day is an inspiration.”
-Article posted with permission from Asia Journal.
JAN. 12, 2010 - Art Expressions Gallery is proud to host the annual "Movers & Shakers" Exhibition, in conjunction with the San Diego Visual Arts Network (SDVAN) and San Diego Visual Artists Guild for the second year in a row. "Movers & Shakers" is a collection of portraits created by San Diego regional artists celebrating influential people involved in the arts community in all of San Diego County. The exhibition runs from Thursday, January 21, 2010 through Saturday, February 6, 2010, with the opening reception taking place on Thursday, January 21st from 6:30 to 8:30. There will also be a closing reception and Children's Educational Event on Thursday, February 4th from 6:30 to 8:30. For more information, contact Patricia Frischer at 760-943-0148 or visit the SDVAN website by clicking here.
APR. 27, 2009 - ART TALK: "Japanese Woodblock Prints & the Art of Collecting" |