Chelsea Foxwell to present on Meiji art on March 28

The Institute for Japanese Studies will present a lecture by Chelsea Foxwell, University of Chicago, on March 28 from 3:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. at 050 Jennings Hall. Prof. Foxwell will present "Exhibiting Meiji Art as Global Modern Art History: Challenges and Possibilities."

Abstract: The four decades of unprecedented political, economic, and cultural change that constituted Japan’s Meiji era (1868-1912) profoundly impacted the visual arts. This presentation will offer a curatorial and scholarly perspective on the forthcoming exhibition Meiji Modern: Fifty Years of New Japan. Throughout the twentieth century, art historians around the world downplayed the significance of Meiji art and craft objects, considering them “merely” decorative and technical, lacking in restraint, and derivative of Western trends. Today, new possibilities for understanding Meiji art abound thanks to a) the ascendance of cultural criticism that problematizes notions of purity and hybridity; and b) growing support for the idea that modernity is multiple, with trajectories that resist, comment on, or add to hitherto dominant narratives. How do we capitalize on these new possibilities while working with objects from local collections that were acquired under a different set of priorities?

Xu Bing to discuss his art on March 9

The Department of History of Art, with support from the Institute for Chinese Studies and the Department of East Asian Languages and Literatures, will present an artist's talk with Xu Bing, contemporary artist, on March 9 from 5:00 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. at 160 Pomerene Hall. He will present "Xu Bing: My Approach to Art."

Abstract: In this talk the artist Xu Bing, whose work spans the fields of ecological art, printmaking, new media installations, drawing, and sculpture, will reflect on his methods of art making. After laboring in the countryside for two years during the Cultural Revolution, Xu Bing received his BA and MFA degrees in 1981 and 1987 from the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) in Beijing, where he became an instructor. In the late 1980s he devoted four years to creating more than four thousand “fake” Chinese characters (components of the Chinese script were recomposed to construct non-existent Chinese characters). The resulting work, “The Book from the Sky,” was presented in 1989 in the first major exhibition of contemporary art in China, “China/Avant Garde,” in Beijing. On invitation from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, he moved to the United States in 1990, after which he quickly established himself as a major figure in the international art world. He exhibited at the Wexner Center for the Arts at OSU in 1993.

2024-25 Fulbright U.S. Scholar competition now open

The Fulbright U.S. Scholar Program offers teaching and research awards to United States citizens in more than 135 countries. The Fulbright Scholar competition for academic year 2024-25 is open. Opportunities are available for university faculty and administrators.

In addition to new program models to meet the changing needs of U.S. academics and professionals, Fulbright offers more opportunities for flexible, multi-country grants.

Faculty and staff interested in learning more about the program and application process should contact Joanna Kukielka-Blaser in the Office of International Affairs.

NBR accepting applications for Japan Studies Research Fellowship