LARAINE ARMENTI

Student of Painting

Qingming Scroll

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ARTIST RESIDENCY CHINA — SHANGHAI, no. 38 The China Art Museum, built as the Expo 2010 China Pavilion in Shanghai, houses an installation originally created for the fair. Based on a 12th century scroll by Zhang Zeduan (1085–1145 AD), the original Song Dynasty painting is one of China's greatest cultural treasures. The projection is about 30 times larger than the original 10 x 207 inch … [Read more...]

China Art Museum

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ARTIST RESIDENCY CHINA — SHANGHAI, no. 37 The China Art Museum in Shanghai was originally built for the China Pavilion of Expo 2010. It is the largest art museum in Asia. The permanent collection is mainly Chinese modern art with substantial special exhibitions. The building design references several traditional forms of joinery, cap style, and bronze pots. It is enormous and visited by … [Read more...]

Dian Xin Restaurant

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ARTIST RESIDENCY CHINA — SHANGHAI, no. 36 Lunch on Nanjing Road after the exhilaration of the Shanghai Tower was an exquisite meal. The taste of every dish was unbelievable. The second floor restaurant is through a nondescript corner door next to a food stall window. Among the regional dishes were steamed dumplings, eel soup, prawns, soft crab tofu, and crab shell pies. If I could return to … [Read more...]

Shanghai Tower

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ARTIST RESIDENCY CHINA — SHANGHAI, no. 35 Three days after arrival, following an unexpected bus trip to Hangzhou, I was finally able to enter Shanghai. My colleague Wang assigned a new chaperone to me from his student pool. Mr Li's daughter Jaiyi met me at my hotel where we coordinated our plan for the day: her list, my list, and Wang's list. First on his list was the Museum of Contemporary … [Read more...]

Vanke Dignified Life

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ARTIST RESIDENCY CHINA — HANGZHOU, no. 34 A short distance from the Liangzhu Museum is the Vanke Dignified Life Cultural Village, a retirement zone of residential, hospital, nursing and rehab services, shops, restaurants, an international youth hostel, and 35% green space. The bus dropped us off near the non-denominational church Mei Li Zhou. It was designed by Tsushima Design Studio of Tokyo … [Read more...]

Liangzhu Museum

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ARTIST RESIDENCY CHINA — HANGZHOU, no. 33 Hangzhou is known as "a paradise on earth" for its picturesque wonders. The threadbare hotel we stayed in must once have been elegant. The broad marble stairway had been roped off. Photographs were prohibited inside. Elena and I shared a spartan room on the second floor. I slept well despite the smell of cigarettes and street noise coming through the … [Read more...]

Quan Shanshi Art Center

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ARTIST RESIDENCY CHINA — HANGZHOU, no. 32 After lunch in the tea plantation region outside Hangzhou, the bus delivered six of us to the Quan Shanshi Art Center. It is a private museum that displays, collects, and promotes oil paintings from around the world. The center includes instruction, research, and free public access. The special exhibit during my visit was 19th Century French Realist … [Read more...]

Somewhere in China

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ARTIST RESIDENCY CHINA — ZHEJIANG, no. 31 Except for scant details, my courteous young interpreter had limited knowledge of our location, destination, or itinerary. The adults were speaking among themselves, merrily enjoying a family-style vacation in the country. They barely looked out the bus windows. Twenty-four hours after leaving Beijing for Shanghai, I was somewhere in China without a … [Read more...]