Kaikodo Journal XIII Autumn 1999

Summoning the Seasons: the Art of Li Xubai

Corresponding to the exhibition held between October 16 and November 3, 1999. 29 paintings by the Toronto-based artist Li Xubai (29 color plates with additional color details). Preface by Howard Rogers. 77 pages.

Includes the essays:
Li Xubai:
    “Artist’s Commentary”
Arnold Chang:
    “Traditional Painting in a Postmodern World:
    the Art of Li Xubai”
Robert Kushner:
    “Traveling Through Inner Operas”
Jay A. Levenson:
    “Reflections on Progress in Chinese and
    Western Art”
Howard Rogers:
    “Critical Prospects”

This journal, devoted to the work of the painter Li Xubai, originally from Fujian and now residing in Canada includes essays which it is hoped will be of benefit to readers of the 
catalogue and to those who seek varying paths 
by which to approach and understand the 
paintings of Li Xubai. First is an 
enlightening statement from the artist himself, 
who stresses the emotional content of his poetry 
and how that relates to his approach to painting.


The second essay, by Arnold Chang discusses the landscapes of Li Xubai 
within the larger context of 20th-century 
Chinese painting, suggesting the individual 
achievements of the one within the wider 
parameters of the other. Robert Kushner, a very 
well-known contemporary painter based in New 
York, writes from the standpoint of an informed 
and sensitive outsider, one who approaches 
contemporary Chinese painting on the basis of 
his own wide experience, technical training, and 
aesthetic concepts, and his insights are thus of 
interest to even seasoned students of the 
tradition.

Dr. Jay A. Levenson, an art-historian 
who is presently Director of the International 
Program at the Museum of Modern Art, takes 
note of recent doubts among Western critics 
about the continuing validity of the paradigm of 
progress as a way of analyzing the development 
of art in America and Europe and applies that 
query to the paintings of Li Xubai. His discussion 
clarifies the problem of extending to the cultural sphere the biological concept of evolution, 
which describes change from simple to complex 
organisms and from lower to higher spheres.

An essay by Howard Rogers focuses on critics themselves, on some 
of the tasks with which critics are normally 
charged and on the tools and approaches they 
have at their disposal. Howard’s preface to the exhibition is also an illuminating piece, addressing various aspects of Li Xubai as a poet and the relationship between the poet and the painter.