Qian Lin Talks About the Art Gallery

Over the next two weeks, you are organizing two significant events at NYU Shanghai. Tell us about them?

On Tuesday October13th, Tisch’s Prof. Zhen Zhang and I are organizing a screening and panel discussion with leading Chinese filmmaker Zheng Dasheng, along with NYU Prof. Angela Zito. On October 25th, we will inaugurate the new Art Gallery Exhibition Program with a solo show for  internationally acclaimed artist Qin Feng whose works can be found in many collections around the world, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art, the British Museum, Yale Gallery of Art and the Fogg museum. These are two examples of what the program will bring to campus. 

What are your plans for the Art Gallery?

First, we will mount a few exhibitions every year, including works of faculty and students, to contribute to NYU Shanghai’s intellectual vibrancy. Second, we will organize a series of public lectures, forums and workshops to benefit our students and the local community. The Gallery’s events will expose all of us to new ideas, experimental works and thought-provoking discussions that challenge, for the better, our ways of experiencing life.   

How will the program deepen NYU Shanghai’s presence in and of the city?

Because of NYU Shanghai’s special position, we can serve as a bridge between cultures. We will take advantage of our proximity to the Chinese art world to showcase local artists, and at the same time leverage our links to western museums and foundations to bring international art to Shanghai.

Tell us a little about your own career as an artist.  What interests you? 

Honestly, I've never approached art as a career or a profession. Like a cave painter, I observe, with immense curiosity, life’s miraculous ways unfolding in front of me.  The urge to create art comes from my need to chronicle, to process and to reflect on the world around and inside me.  Making art always renders me anew, never a dull moment.  I was trained as an aerospace scientist and switched to art in the middle of my graduate studies. The interplay between science and art has always been very intriguing and interesting to me. I consider myself an old-fashioned painter who does not hesitate to employ unconventional media in creating my own works.