By Rich Bockmann
As mediums of expression, bronze and stone have their own unique characteristics. Bronze’s color is solid, whereas clay’s is fluid. Clay shrinks 10 percent when it is fired, while bronze shrinks 1 percent during the casting process.
It is this concept of individuality that artist Wenzhi Zhang attempts to convey through the whimsical and satirical statues in her show “Duality: Stoneware and Bronze,” which is currently on display at Queensborough Community College.
“In America, there are many voices. You can talk to President Obama and the government,” the Chinese-born artist. “But in China there is only one voice. You need to hear from the government and other people.”
Each of the exhibition’s five series comments on the life, history and culture of China, beginning with “That Era,” which concerns the impact the country’s Cultural Revolution (1966-76) had on Zhang.
“For 10 years there were no schools in China — no education, no economy,” she said of the time when the Red Guard was instructed to burn books as well as scholarly publications and culture was deemed unnecessary.
“This Time” shifts the narrative to the present, a time which Zhang said over-emphasizes academic diplomas instead of actual skills.
Zhang, a recently minted Ph.D. and vice professor of architectural and environmental art at China’s Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, criticized China’s university professors for focusing too heavily on theories instead of hands-on working experience to the detriment of students who face high unemployment upon graduation.
Bronze statues of smoking academics with the tops of their heads cast abruptly short signify the “empty-headedness” Zhang said is endemic of her contemporaries.
“Professors in China talk to students, but they need to make more works for their students to see. Some professors just talk,” she said.
Zhang said she completed the 44 sculptures in the exhibit between 2007 and 2010 while she pursued her degree in Seoul, South Korea, and worked on public mural projects to finance her art.
Outside the college’s art gallery, Zhang also exhibits the 32 sculptures of “New Mankind: My Family.”
“Part of this exhibit’s charm and power is that it extends from inside the main gallery out onto the college’s Great Lawn and throughout the garden,” said Faustino Quintanilla, executive director of the QCC Art Gallery. “It is a way of reaching out to our students and the entire community — inviting visitors to go ‘through the looking glass,’ if only for a little while.”
The exhibition marks the first cultural collaboration between QCC and its Asian Community Advisory Board, which was formed in July with the intent of helping the college to reach out to the Asian community in northeast Queens.
“The board offers us guidance as to how we can help make a connection and serve our community,” QCC President Diane Call said. “It is important for our students, many of whom are Asian, to see that the contributions made by their ancestors and their traditions are recognized.”
Zhang’s exhibitions are on display at the QCC Art Gallery, at 222-05 56th Ave. in Bayside, through Feb. 3.
Reach reporter Rich Bockmann by e-mail at rbockmann@cnglocal.com or by phone at 718-260-4574.
