“Common Ground” – UCI NEWS

As the curators of graduates Jianda “Dada” Wang, Ileana de Giuseppe and Zachary Korol Gold wandered at the storage facility filled with paintings from South California, their minds were fixed at their upcoming exhibition. Soon visitors will fill the UC Irvine Jack and Shanaz Langson Institute and Museum of California Art, eager to experience the visual dialogue among the carefully selected works of art – how the seemingly transitional nature of the art scene generates social networks and scholarships that continue today.

On display from February 8 to May 17, 2025, New Exhibition, “Common Ground: Early 20^th-Century Artisty Communities in southern California, “emphasizes 36 pieces, exploring the influence of art groups in Los Angeles, Laguna Beach and La Jola left to Plein Air Rainting in California.

“Many of these paintings depict a completely uninhabited desert feeding on the imaginary [view] of California as a virgin, unbeaten border, “says Wang. “However, the artists and social formulations that brought these paintings … were sociable. They formed lively communities, exchanged ideas, held joint exhibitions, supported themselves spiritually, financially – and this is actually the heart of the California Plein Air Rainting. “

Born in Beijing, Wang grew up with an affinity for art – something she attributes to her parents’ assessment of traditional Chinese ink. This led her to a shorter trainee at the UCCA Contemporary Art Center in Beijing, where, Wang says, she was exposed to the internal work of the Museum of Arts and is further captured by the art world.

Traveling to the United States for College, Wang pursues his bachelor’s and master’s degree in art history and in 2022 entered the visual studies of UC Irvine Ph.D. Program. She started working as a graduate student at the Institute of Jack and Shanaz Langson and the curatorial department of the California Art Museum in 2023, helping the assistant coatorist Michaera Mohamman with the “Spiritual Geographic” exhibition of Langson IMCA.

“Me and my colleagues Ileana and Zack dived deeper into the minute of the exhibition,” says Wang. “Then at one point Michaela suggested we [do just that]S We all loved the idea and started a brain attack. “

The approaching show stemming from the intersectionism of the California lands, the artists who share them and the emblematic art created in these spaces, emphasizes the common ground that has past and current artists.

Focusing on Plein Air Painting, art style, deeply rooted in the tradition of California, the exhibition includes both natural and artistic landscapes from the beginning of 20^th A century made in and from three cities of southern California: Los Angeles, Laguna Beach and La Jola. Attracted to the popular Los Angeles industrial city center, the underdeveloped terrain of Laguna Beach and the presence of wealth in La Jola, the student curators aim to balance the differences in each area, but also convey the common ones.

While the paintings broadcast archaic California, says Wang, there are many aspects of the Playin Air Style, which are still relevant to this day, exceeding the limits of time.

“Many of these artists were inspired by their love for nature, promoting this idea for it not as a resource that must be exploited, but something to be appreciated by itself – something that can lift the spirits and facilitate The connections between and between people. ” She says. “We are now reviewing this story of the individual genius to emphasize the municipal efforts in the process of art.”

Therefore, The Selected Works – By Such Luminaries As Franz A. Bischoff, Alfred R. Mitchell, Edgar Payne, Elsie Payne o Telling the Tale of the Dynamic Nature of Their relevant communities forming a coalition of artists and artistry worthy of an exhibition.

The doctorate of visual research is expected to complete. In 2028, Wang is currently intending to continue curatorial work in the arts museums. The doctoral student of the third year will also welcome the ongoing academics, further examining abstraction as a visual language and conceptual practice in 20^th Chinese art.

However, Vang is currently focused on the upcoming Langson IMCA exhibition. Seeing the art on the walls, according to her, will be a surreal and rewarding experience for student curators.

Asked what hopes that viewers will take away from “common place”, Wang says: “Do not accept visual images for granted, not to read them at their nominal value, because there is always more beyond the surface of the picture. There is always something to learn. “

If you would like to learn more about the support of these or other activities in UC Irvine, please visit Brilliant future websiteS Public -launched on October 4, 2019, the brilliant future campaign aims to raise awareness and support for UC Irvine. The Jack and Shanaz Langson Institute and the California Museum of California plays a vital role in the success of the campaign. Learn more by visiting https://imca.uci.edu/supportS