Chambers Fine Art announces the opening on January 17th of Rocks and Art: Nature Found and Made. In this exhibition Chinese scholar's rocks from the Ming and Qing dynasties are juxtaposed with works by contemporary artists from China and America who are responsive in widely different ways to this venerable Chinese tradition.
Chinese literati had long been interested in ornamental rocks as elements of gardens but in the Northern Song Dynasty (960 - 1126), the appreciation of rocks as art objects became a widespread fashion. Hugh Scogin Jr. has noted in his introduction to the catalogue that "as an object of meditation, the collected rock incarnated the inspirational energy of nature in the man-made environment of a room."
Harvested from many different areas in China, the different types of rock were carefully selected and mounted on custom-made stands before being displayed in the domestic environment. The current exhibition includes a representative selection of stones of different types.
Among the contemporary artists in the exhibition, Zhan Wang deals most directly with the tradition, creating stainless steel replicas of natural rocks. Sui Jianguo juxtaposes rocks with other materials, frequently iron, which explore the relationship between the man-made and the natural. Qiu Deshu uses multiple layers of torn and abraded paper to create panels and scrolls that Hugh Scogin Jr. has described as "an analogue of the natural objects that were his initial source of inspiration."
Brice Marden visited Suzhou in 1995 where Taihu rocks are prominent features in the gardens. The linear rhythms of the paintings and etchings of the Suzhou series are deeply indebted to ideas about the flow of energy going through the stones. Using the shape of a scholar's rock in one of the paintings from the Chinese Landscape series, Roy Lichtenstein made his own Scholar's Rock in 1996. Martin Kline is represented in the exhibition by recent bronzes, some cast from his own works in wax and others cast from natural objects with wax accretions.
*Catalogue Available
在《石头与艺术：自然天成于人工雕琢》的展览中，展出了从明清时期流传下的供石和来自中国与美当代艺术家的作品，以表达对中国历史上供石所赋予的尊严。
中国的文人学士对装点园林的观赏石一直都很关注，但把单个石头作为艺术品来欣赏并收藏，最早是在北宋 (960-1126)。宋格文在目录中介绍到：“收藏的供石作为一种冥想的对象，在人造的室内环境中，是作为大自然的灵感能量的化身。”
从中国不同区域精心挑选之后，不同种类的石块被安置在人文的底座上以供陈列于庭院中。目前这次展览包括具有代表不同意义与种类的供石。
在当代艺术家的展览中，展望最直接涉及到供石的传统，运用不锈钢来代替天然石块。隋建国融合石块与其他材料，一般采用铁，发掘人工与自然之间的关系。仇德树运用撕掉和擦去的多层画纸创作出嵌板与纹路，就像宋格文所描述的：“自然物体则是他灵感的最初来源。”
布里斯马登（Brice Marden）在1995年探访了苏州，太湖石是苏州庭院中最明显的特徵。在苏州系列中，他以石头所呈现的能量与气流图案创作出有规律线条的绘画与雕塑。罗伊利希腾斯坦在1996年根据供石的外形创作出中国风景系列。马丁克兰以青铜石为代表，一些作品由蜡渍堆积而成，另一些则用蜡与自然物体组合而成。
*前波画廊为此展览出版了展览图录