I went to Guanshanyue Art Museum yesterday to check
out the illustrations, the exhibit was pretty big! I
was able to take pictures (without flash), in fact I
took quite a few, along with short video clips too so
that you guys can have a virtual tour :)
It was separated into 4 halls, two were works from
Chinese illustrators, one was Hong Kong and Pittsburgh
illustrators together, and one more on poster design.
The upper floors of the museum were Chinese paintings.
I thought the exhibition was very well put together.
There was a variety in the quality of works presented
in the entire show, ranging from some amateur work to
good quality professional pieces. I found that the Chinese
illustrators were more commercial-based and design-oriented.
A big part of their show was works illustrated for magazines,
small posters and advertisements. A number of pieces
also included comics. Besides the Western styles of
rendering, quite a bit of Japanese influence (anime
style) could be seen. There were also many computer-generated
works.
The works presented by Hong Kong illustrators also showed
a lot of western influence in their style as well. While
many of the works from PSI were book-illustrations or
commissioned for specific clients, the majority of Hong
Kong submissions were editorial illustrations and hence
were heavier in their social commentaries. I thought
it was a good selection, and was able to capture some
essence of the small city.
PSI's pieces drew lots of attention from the public
while I was there (not kidding, see pictures). While
some of the China pieces in the main hall may sometimes
find short-cuts from computer processed works, I must
say that out of the entire exhibition, PSI's pieces
showed most commitment to the traditional way of painting
and drawing. It seemed as if most of Pittsburgh illustrators
were from a fine-art background instead of design. Overall
it was a very good experience for me. It was nice to
see that Chinese illustrators are bringing more attention
to the field of illustration, and are very keen to learn
from artists across the boarder (Honk Kong, my 1st home)
and overseas in the USA (Pittsburgh, my 2nd home). I
am very proud of PSI! People definetely know more about
us now too!
Great job~~
Warm wishes,
Sarah
