2col Happiness.jpg

“Happiness Chair,” Qing Dynasty, rawhide carved with pigments, approximately 6 by 8¾ inches.

2col  Descending.jpg

“Descending to the Underworld,” Qing Dynasty, rawhide carved with pigments, approximately 18 by 14¼ inches.

MUST RUN 1/25

‘ENCHANTED STORIES’ WILL OPEN AT CHINA INSTITUTE JAN. 31 w/2 cuts

avv/gs set 1/16 #725901

NEW YORK CITY — Brilliantly colored courtiers, clowns, celestial deities and underworld demons come to life in a new Chinese folk art exhibition, “Enchanted Stories: Chinese Shadow Theater in Shaanxi,” on view at China Institute Gallery January 31–May 11.

The rich history of Chinese shadow theater from the Qing dynasty (1644–1911) will be celebrated with more than 90 figures and screens on loan from the Shaanxi Provincial Art Gallery, on view in the United States for the first time. A fully illustrated catalog will accompany the exhibition.

For more than a thousand years in China, brilliantly colored rawhide figures have artfully depicted the great heroes and immortal deities of China’s legendary past in miniature. Animated by puppeteers from behind a transparent cloth screen, these figures showcase the distinctive style and technical finesse of the late Qing dynasty craftsmen of central China.

“As one of the oldest of the Chinese performing arts, shadow theater reflects multiple facets of Chinese culture and has entertained a broad audience from the emperors to rural peasants for more than a thousand years,” says Willow Hai Chang, director, China Institute Gallery. The exhibition is curated by Li Hongjun, associate researcher, Shaanxi Provincial Art Research Institute; Chen Shanqiao, associate researcher, Shaanxi Provincial Art Research Institute, and Zhao Nong, professor of art history and theory, Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts.

The exhibition is organized in five parts. The first section, “Scenes from Dramas,” includes depictions of famous operas, myths, historical legends and farcical comedies. The second section focuses on “Deities.”

The third section, “The Chinese Underworld,” offers a look at journeying to what was called “Yellow Springs” or the underworld. “Transformation,” the fourth section, shows how figures or animals with special powers could change into monsters, scorpions, centipedes or snakes. The last section is made up of all the characters of shadow theater, including supernatural gods, Buddhas, kings, generals, ministers, scholars, farmers and beautiful women.

Exhibition highlights include “Three Immortals of Happiness, Fortune and Longevity,” which shows three Taoist deities that date to the Song and Yuan dynasties; “Journey to the West,” which narrates the pilgrimage of the monk Xuan Zang to the West (India) to seek Buddhist scriptures during the Zhenguan era of the Tang dynasty, and “Madam White Snake,” depicting a legendary story that has been repeated for more than a thousand years in China of the heroine, Bai Suzhen, is actually a white snake spirit who is centuries old.

In conjunction with the exhibition, Mary Hirsch, an independent scholar and specialist in Chinese Shadow theater, will give a lecture January 31 on the topic.

China Institute Gallery is at 125 East 65th Street. For information, 212-744-8181 or www.chinainstitute.org.