Racial Discrimination Disquised As Editorial Policy

I have bemoaned at the consequences of rote learning with regards to Chinese brush painting, not expecting to find racial discrimination can also be a victim of  habitual procedure,  even in today's society.

Recently a bunch of us were involved with an exhibition, under the banner of Wang Gongyi and her students.    A press release was sent out to a local newspaper.  This particular agency caters to Asian interests but is published in English, since Asian is such a diverse group.

There were 18 of us in the exhibition. 12 of us are Chinese and 6 are Caucasians.  The following is a copy of what appeared in the paper (defaced to protect privacy)

What was apparent was that none of the Caucasian names were published.  The press release was somehow whittled down to 12 Asian names.  The bleeding heart would cut the editor some slack, "perhaps of space constraints!"  How about just publishing the last names so everybody is included?
To deliberately filter out the Caucasians and label them as " and others" is unconscionable.   I could not find any plausible reason why this editor would commit such acts, other than to adhere to his/her agenda, regardless of how insidious or otherwise innocent it might seem.  I might even go as far to say that the intent was not malicious, but somehow the attitude was inextricably ingrained.

I drafted a letter to the editor of the publication, but was never delivered because it was deemed to be too "in your face" by some members of the group ( is this Asian humility? Sigh )
"As participants of an arts exhibition, we all look to your August 6^th edition with eager anticipation, to catch a glimpse of our names being mentioned as cohorts in this event.

Imagine the disappointment we felt after witnessing your excerpt about us on page 12 under the Arts Culture & Entertainment heading, where only some of us were mentioned, and the omissions appear to follow a racial divide.

The students of Wang Gongyi are comprised of people from all walks of life and ethnicities. In her words, “ I was an office worker, He was a teacher, She was a physician,….. Now, We are bound by our passion for calligraphy and painting”. We had supplied you with the names of all participants for the press release and somehow all the names of non-Asians were conveniently omitted and replaced by the words “and others”. Such editing can be construed as deliberate and nefarious exclusion of non-Asians.

Obviously such malfeasance does not belong to your organization and we are hoping for an explanation from you to put our vetting and concerns to rest. Thank you for your attention in this matter."

I need to vent my anguish by documenting some of the works by these omitted fellow artists. Yes they are Caucasians interested in Asian arts.

P.S.   The reply from the newspaper when asked about the omission (with a less accusatory tone) :

"Thanks for your e-mail and questions. Firstly, yes, the list of artists was prohibitively long to include them all. Secondly, because we are The Asian XXxxxter, the focus of our calendar listings is on artists, etc. of Asian ethnicity. This is a standard applied to all requests for submission that we receive.  

Have a good afternoon."

Well, Mr. Editor, based on your bias, General Robert Lee of the Confederate Army during the American Civil War might be considered Asian !     Furthermore, which of the following last names would you deem to be non Asian: Chan, Lee, Wong, de Castro, Rivera, Aquino,Gupta, Haryana, Bose, Dutta, Mistry, Navarro ?  Are you qualified to identify ethnicity based on a person's last name?

Shame on you Mr. Editor.

 porte

Peony

Had a chance encounter with some peonies earlier this summer.  As I was contemplating on how to paint these flowers, I couldn't help but be reminded of the deeply rooted traditions of painting peony.

Peony is dubbed the "King" of flowers in China and is symbolic for wealth and riches.  There must be a million books on "How To Paint Peony" and most of them are pretty intense and rigid.  They would show us how to load our brush with crimson and white such that each stroke creates a 2 toned swath of inviting curvatures.  Some of them would tutor us on how to roll and dab our brush to achieve the scalloped edges of the flower petals.  Perhaps because of the symbolism, the peony is always portrayed in a  rather regal setting, with vivid and vibrant color and a perfect arrangement of leaves.  Some of the Gonbi style peony would even summon the help of gold lined petals to epitomize riches.
These doctrines can be so stubborn that one of my friend who painted a beautiful Gonbi peony was lectured by an ostensible  peony expert for daring to paint a gentian colored peony with no stamens.  This expert gained his knowledge from his master, who resided in Luoyang ( commonly accepted as the Home of Peony) and therefore unabashedly exerted his inflexible view of what a peony painting should look like.  Here the pundit allowed no room for artistic interpretation or deviation from tradition.  I would be remiss not to  point out that Double Peony possesses no stamens because they have transformed into petals.  There you have it!

So what does all that have to do with my peony painting? 

 

Well I just wanted to try something different.  Something devoid of traditional constraints and rendering.  I was trying for the how I interpretate the plant rather than a sanctimonious attempt at regurgitating what a Chinese painting on peony should look like.

I used to think Xieyi is about jazzing up something.  I realize now that it is about finding something in all that jazz.