Asian Art and History

Lecture

Asian Art and History Xu Bing China’s Foremost Avant-Garde Artist

Clarissa von Spee, Ph.D., Chair of Asian Art and Donna and James Reid Curator of Chinese Art, The Cleveland Museum of Art

Learn about the extraordinary life and career of one of the world’s most innovative and resourceful artists, Xu Bing, from printmaking to landscripts, which combine Chinese calligraphy with landscape painting, and the use of AI and rocket science in his art. Fascinated by human scripture, communication and language, Xu Bing had his international breakthrough with his 1989 monumental installation Book from the Sky in Beijing. As the former director of the prestigious Beijing Chinese Academy of Fine Art (CAFA), Xu Bing has found a balance between creativity, innovation and political directives.

This presentation is part of the Asian Art and History series.

Clarissa von Spee

Clarissa von Spee

Clarissa von Spee is chair of Asian art and Donna and James Reid Curator of Chinese Art at the Cleveland Museum of Art. She was curator of the Chinese and Central Asian collections at the British Museum from 2008 to 2016, and she taught East Asian art history at Heidelberg University from 2005 to 2008. Von Spee studied in Heidelberg, Paris and Taipei and received her Ph.D. from Heidelberg University.

Von Spee has curated numerous exhibitions, such as The Printed Image in China from the 8th to the 21st Centuries and, most recently, China’s Southern Paradise: Treasures from the Lower Yangzi Delta. Her publications include, Wu Hufan: A Twentieth Century Art Connoisseur in Shanghai and The Perfect Brush: Chinese Painting 1300-1900.