An Art Tour in the U.S.

by+Li+Sen

The United States is a polygonal prism to many. Differ- ent people see different versions of it. No matter who you are， you can always find inspiration and energy there and it always affords new opportunity around every corner. Opportunity may be the most attractive characteristic of the U.S.

As an artist， I was lucky enough to tour there with my work in 2013 and had an unforgettable experience. I spent one month traveling across four cities： New York， Washington D.C.， Chicago and San Francisco. Due to the tight schedule， my travels were largely restricted to art museums and art schools.

The first and most important stop was New York City， the world capital of art. With limited time， I chose to visit MoMA（Museum of Modern Art）， the Metropolitan Museum， and the Guggenheim. These three are among the worlds most famous art museums， which I had been dreaming of visiting for years. I couldnt wait to discover the original works I had often seen in art books that colored my memories of art history.

My first stop was closest to my hotel： The Guggenheim. An exhibition featuring one of my favorite light artists， James Turrell， was happening. This was my first chance to stand face-to-face with his work or well， actually， “in” his work. The power of his work was really moving and shocking； it just struck me like a bolt of lightning.

Then I headed for the Met and MoMA. These two world-class art museums are quite different： The Met mainly collects ancient and classical art， while MoMA is famous for its masterpieces from the 20th Century to today. These two heavy “books” compiled so many of the essences of human art civilization.

I then headed to Washington D.C. to visit a friend. It is not a terribly artistic city， but I didnt want to miss any chance to get close to art. I went to the Archives of the United States of America and the Art Department of the University of Maryland.

The artworks at the Archives of the U.S.A. were mostly classical， with paintings dating from before World War II as its main collection. Still， I was surprised that even in such a not-so-famousfor-art city， I could see so many masterpieces like paintings from Dürer， Van Gogh， Lautrec and Picasso.

From there， I visited the University of Maryland to see what kind of art students it was producing. After talking to the students， I learned that the art department is a very small elite department. Students from all over the world can apply but it is very hard to get admission. This ensures high teaching quality and enough studio space for the students to create whatever they want.

I left Washington D.C. for Chicago. Right upon arrival， I met a friend studying art in Chicago， who had offered to be my tour guide. I already knew that the Art Institute of Chicago could not be missed. After seeing some great pieces there， we went to the Museum of Contemporary Art （MCA）， which was holding some alluring exhibitions.

One photography exhibition was called “Think First， Shoot Later – Photography from the MCA Collection.” It presented a large series including some amazing pieces.

Another was an exhibition of contemporary artists including Paul Sietsima and Jose Lerma as well as some other new media and cartoon art.

At the end of my journey， I visited the School of the Art Institute of Chicago， and experienced the painting departments classroom. It seemed to me that students there had real freedom to express what they want.

On my way back to China， I started thinking about all I saw and experienced， and wondered： Is there anything behind or beyond that？ And what did all these things actually mean to me？ One thing is for sure， this art tour opened my eyes wide and gave me the opportunity to get closer to my favorite art. It also brought me loads of energy and excitement as well as plenty of new ideas and inspirations for my own work. But these are only the obvious effects. Now， two years later， I look back and discover the sustained effect： This art tour has some other deep meaning to me.

First and foremost， I learned the meaning and importance of context. Western countries are like a system – a continuously developing system. Art is part of this system. If we look at different kinds of art， we should put each of them into exact context. When you know the structure of a society， how its people communicate， its history， its way of thinking， things like that， you truly can understand its art. Patience is key and things should never be judged rashly.

Secondly， I discovered how people in the U.S. treasure their own and others art. At the Met， relics from all over the world are being collected and researched very seriously. When seeing this， one could think “This is the symbol of colonialism！”， but it raises an introspective question： Would we be interested in those relics？ Would we make so much effort to preserve them and make them world-renowned？ When looking at things from this angle， it seems that we have a lot of room for improvement.

Thirdly， I just keep wondering： Do we live in such a small area that it artificially limits us？ Shouldnt we just try to be freer， more open， and embrace a vision of the world without pride or prejudice？ Here is a good example： I started to give up the vision I had of the materials and skills used in Chinese painting， my major， to consider every possible method to create my work. I just got rid of all the burden， and now I feel much lighter and freer than ever before. This may seem like a very small point， but one day if we all switch to that mindset， I believe we can explode with infinite energy. We are always freer than we can imagine.