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May Issue 2005
The Sylvan Gallery in Charleston, SC, Offers Show Inspired by Tibet
The Sylvan Gallery in Charleston,
SC, proudly presents the exhibit, At the Top of the World,
Tibet Through the Eyes of Four Artists, featuring works by
Scott Burdick, Huihan Liu, Weizhen Liang and Sue Lyon. The exhibit
will be on view from May 6 - 31, 2005.
Scott Burdick, Huihan Liu, Weizhen Liang and Sue Lyon traveled
to Tibet in Sept. 2004 to paint on location. Since their return
they have continued expanding their series and Charleston is the
beneficiary of this exciting new work that documents Tibetan tradition
and the changes taking place.
Scott Burdick, as representative of the group, will also present a slide presentation on May 7 at 11am, illustrating the experience of painting en plein air and problems of travel in Tibet. The public is cordially invited. This will be a perfect opportunity for collectors, artists, travel buffs and those concerned for the changes occurring in that country since China's takeover.
These four artists are highly
accomplished painters of note whose work has been featured in
magazines such as American Artist, Southwest Art, International
Artist, Art Talk, Art of the West, including a feature article
and demonstration by Burdick in the Feb., 2005 issue of Plein
Air Magazine.
Figurative artist, Scott Burdick, was born and raised in Chicago, IL. He spent time in the hospital in casts and on crutches as a young boy. The introduction to drawing passed the time more quickly. Formal art training at the American Academy of Art and the Palette and Chisel Art Club, in Chicago sealed his commitment to an art career. Burdick and his wife, artist Susan Lyon, live in rural NC and travel extensively throughout the world in search of subject matter. The diverse cultures offer a wide variety of material for their work. Burdick's mostly figurative work is inspired by that which attracts each of us, beauty, character, the story behind the scene and solitude.
Lyon's paintings come from the
objects surrounding her whether at home or traveling with Burdick.
She says of her work "What I hope to accomplish is to convey
the whimsical beauty I see around me as well as to make the viewer
smile when they look at my work. When I started out as an artist,
I struggled against my own more feminine tastes." Lyon has
learned that what appeals to her artist eye also reaches others.
Lyon is a member and exhibiting award winner of the Palette and
Chisel Club, Oil Painters of America and the Northwest Rendezvous
Group and participates in the Masters of the West Exhibition at
the Autry Museum in Los Angeles.
Huihan Liu and Weizhen Liang were each born in China and their lives through the late 1980s were shaped by the restrictions and oppression of Chairman Mao. To view the impact of today's oppression placed on Tibet through their eyes is enlightening.
Liang's early interest in the
arts focused on the written word and she received her BA degree
in Chinese literature from Ji Nan University of Guang Zhou in
China. She studied with her aunt, An-Zhi Zhonng, painter and professor
at the Guang Zhou Academy of Fine Arts.
Liang's soft color palette and gentle, airy brush strokes combine
to create paintings of uncommon beauty and tranquility. She is
a member of the Oil Painters of America and was a guest artist
at the 2003 Northwest Rendezvous Exhibition in Montana.
The group flew out of China to Tibet from her previous hometown.
Her husband, Huihan Liu, also impressionist in his approach, was born in Guang Zhou, China in 1952. Since immigrating in 1987 he has lived near San Francisco. Liang and their son were able to join him after several years. Liu was not able to pursue his artistic dreams until he was in his early twenties. As his father was a professor at a Christian college, the family was sent to rural China to be "re-educated." Liu eventually was able to study at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Art where he earned undergraduate and master's degrees in fine art and then taught for twelve years. Liu earned a second, MFA from the Academy of Art in San Francisco. His story is one of talent triumphing over all stumbling blocks.
Liu's wide range of subject matter includes figurative, still life and landscape pieces in a soft Impressionistic style with a warm palette. He has traveled often to Tibet and brings this familiarity to us as well as the poignancy of viewing the oppression in Tibet that he and Liang experienced in China.
For further information check our SC Commercial Gallery listings, call the gallery at 843/722-2172, e-mail at (j_sylvan@msn.com) or at (www.thesylvangallery.com).
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