East End Arts in Riverhead will present Finding Qi, a gallery exhibition of artwork by internationally acclaimed Chinese scholar and North Fork resident Robert Oxnam April 5 through May 10 at its two downtown Riverhead galleries at 133 East Main Street and 11 West Main Street.
Oxnam died at his Greenport home in April, 2024, and Finding Qi, co-curated by his wife, Asian art scholar Vishakha Desai, and friend and filmmaker Amei Wallach, honors his legacy.
An opening reception will be held on Saturday, April 5 from 4 to 7 p.m.
Finding Qi (pronounced chee) showcases Oxnam’s sculpture, paintings, and photography, inspired by Chinese scholar stones and cultural concepts.
In Chinese tradition, the term Qi has many meanings, but for me, it means an invisible but palpable source of creative energy, both artistically and psychologically,” Oxnam once explained.
As an artist, in the later decades of his life, Oxnam took inspiration from the thousand-year tradition of transforming ancient, weathered stones into Chinese Scholar’s rocks, creating a contemporary take on the roots and tree trunks found on North Fork beaches. He emphasized the infinite variety of these sea-tossed shapes with sandpaper and milk paint, reshuffling place and time. He aimed to release what he called their “inner dynamism,” an approach he took from the Chinese concept of Qi.
His photographs are close-up macro lens meditations on the glacial rocks at Rocky Point, and his paintings are modernized versions of Chinese splash ink paintings, but with added acrylic paints on Chinese rice paper.
The exhibition will be complemented with programming, including two panel discussions regarding Chinese art and dissociative brain disorders, respectively, as they relate to Oxnam’s work.
“No matter the medium, no matter how various the results, what Robert Oxnam did with his art was to merge cultures and experiences into the creation of something that is both rooted and new,” noted Ms. Wallach.
Robert Oxnam spent his career as a distinguished Chinese scholar, acting as a resource for business leaders and policy-makers in the 1980s and 1990s as the U.S. developed its relationship with China. He briefed and accompanied Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and former President George H.W. Bush and Barbara Bush on their trips to China.
As president of the Asia Society from 1981-92, he was instrumental in expanding the organization’s focus from acquainting Americans with Asian history, culture, arts, business, and policy to its current mission of promoting mutual understanding in collaboration with 30 Asian nations. He dramatically increased the number of Asians on Asia Society’s board and staff, opening the Society’s first office in Asia, a center in Hong Kong.
As an author, his books ranged from novels and an autobiography to several non-fiction explorations of Chinese history and U.S.-China relations. He hosted a nine-part series on China for the PBS MacNeil/Lehrer Newshour.
Oxnam began his art practice when he moved to the North Fork in 2005. He was a member of East End Arts and had a highlighted piece in the 2023 Elizabeth Richards Memorial Show, Horizon.
Vishakha Desai will hold a discussion with Chinese art expert Susan Beningson on April 19 at 2 p.m., and the curators will discuss “Creativity, Artmaking, and Brain Science” with Dr. Millissa Kaufman on May 4, also at 2 p.m.
Visitor information, gallery hours and exhibition programs can be found at www.eastendarts.org.
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