The 2024 Spring Global Artist Exhibition ‘Seeking Light’ opens in Los Angeles Promoting artists from diverse cultural backgrounds
LAPost Los Angeles (April 20, 2024) — Adhering to the mission of promoting artists from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds in the American art scene, The Bridge Arts Foundation hosted the opening reception for the 2024 Spring Global Artist Exhibition Seeking Light on April 20 at The Scholart Selection Gallery in San Gabriel, Los Angeles.”
From left to right: Cindy Wang, founder of The Bridge Arts Foundation and curator of The Scholart Selection Gallery; Seeking Light exhibition artists Jingyao Huang, Yi Gao, and Joanna Chrys. (Photo by: Luna Hao)
At the opening reception, Cindy Wang, the founder of The Bridge Arts Foundation and curator of The Scholart Selection Gallery, stated: “The Bridge Arts Foundation is dedicated to showcasing young artists on the world stage and promoting their work globally. Through the ‘Artist Recruitment Program,’ we offer artists a unique, exhibition fee-free platform, allowing them to fully display their works and gain international recognition. Following the success of our first artist recruitment group exhibition ‘Crossing Boundaries’ in 2023, I am delighted to see a more diverse group of artists from the US and around the world in this ‘Seeking Light’ exhibition. This inclusivity in the artworks adds more depth and thought-provoking elements to our exhibition and further demonstrates the broad recognition and impact of our recruitment within American society.”
Exhibition site of Seeking Light group exhibition. (Photo by: Luna Hao)
This group exhibition continues the recruitment approach, with a special jury panel from The Bridge Arts Foundation conducting a strict selection process from over 500 submitted works by around 100 artists. Ultimately, they showcased the works of 18 artists from diverse backgrounds, including Moxin Sunny Chen, Jia Chen, Ashoke Chhabra, Joanna Chrys, James Dietze, Sharon Draghi, Yi Gao, Elaine Gong, Jingyao Huang, Jing Qin, John Romi, Alex Selkowitz, Young Shin, Xiangjie Rebecca Wu, Shuo Phoebe Li, Yuanjie Chen, Nikhil Sharma, and Douglas Barrett. Ten of the exhibiting artists attended the opening reception, with some traveling specifically from New York and Virginia to attend.
The exhibition’s theme is Seeking Light, which signifies the interweaving of light and shadow, not only in a physical sense but also delving deep into humanity’s desire for understanding, truth, and transcendence, reflecting a philosophical journey towards knowledge and self-discovery. The concept of Seeking Light prompts contemplation of oppositional relationships such as light and darkness, knowledge and ignorance, as well as the strong expressive power of light in artistic expression. This theme runs through visual art and philosophical exploration, serving as a powerful metaphor.
Artist Yi Gao with her exhibited work. (Photo by: Richard Ren/LAPost)
Chinese-American female artist Yi Gao, who holds a master’s degree from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), has held solo and group exhibitions in Hong Kong, Shenzhen, and several cities in the United States. Her entry in this exhibition is an abstract representation of the imagery she observed as sunlight enters a room.
Yuanjie Chen with his exhibited work (Photo by: Richard Ren/LAPost)
Interdisciplinary young artist Yuanjie Chen, originally from Fuzhou, China, and now based in New York, graduated from the Shanghai Institute of Visual Arts and is currently pursuing a Master of Fine Arts in Visual Arts at the School of Visual Arts in New York. His work primarily revolves around painting and installation art, exploring the definitions of warmth and love. Chen’s selected piece for this group exhibition is the acrylic painting Answer 1. In this work, he uses red and cadmium red colors, which convey a warm, sun-like quality. The limited color palette allows for gradual changes to express shifts in emotions and thoughts: from black to maroon, then to cadmium red, and finally to white. Due to the unique properties of acrylic paint, creating a smooth, flowing gradient effect can be quite challenging. By altering colors with blurred brush strokes, the spiral square stripes appear like a spiritual journey, transitioning from abyss-like darkness to warm white. As a result, the artist recognizes that the central flower represents the answer he seeks.
The exhibition’s jury included renowned artists Charles Christopher Hill and Rain Lu. Curated by Tia Xu, the exhibition was supported by prominent art promotion organizations such as Li Tang and Art Yourself Atelier (AYA), both of which have significant influence in the mainstream art world.
Jinchi Gan (second from the left) with young artist Jingyao Huang (first on the right). (Photo by: Richard Ren/LAPost)
Renowned Chinese-American painter Jinchi Gan, who came to the United States to study in the 1980s and became part of the American mainstream art scene, and installation artist Jiaguo Jia carefully viewed the exhibited works at the event and exchanged creative ideas with the young artists present. Glass artist Xi Li, young designer Robert Cheng, prominent collectors Fu Yongqi, Tian Hua, and Hollywood-based Chinese-American actor Ran Wei also attended the opening.
The Scholart Selection is one of the few galleries in the Southern California mainstream art scene that is led by Chinese curators and is among the most influential. It hosts large-scale exhibitions of well-known artists throughout the year. This group exhibition is the largest in Southern California promoting artists from diverse cultural backgrounds, with a duration of one month. (By: Richard Ren/LAPost)
(Photo by: Richard Ren/LAPost)
