Ocean City: The Gallery at the Ocean City Arts Center presents Chinese artists, Hai Wei and Yulin Huang. The show opens March 4 and runs through March 30. A “Meet the Artists’ reception will be held on Friday, March 8 from 7pm to 8:30pm. The Gallery is located in the Ocean City Arts Center, 1735 Simpson Avenue, 2nd Floor, Ocean City, NJ.
Wei and Huang, a married couple, arrived in the United States in 2016 through visas for individuals with extraordinary ability in the arts. They settled in New York in 2018 and subsequently joined “Asian Artists Association”, “Overseas Chinese Artists Association” and “Hudson Artists Association”. With distinctive styles, both have had work featured in the “Independent Thinking” Chinese and Western Contemporary Art Exchange Exhibition – New York State Capitol. They have also exhibited at the Gold Coast Art Center (Long Island), the Green Dot Gallery (Brooklyn), Artexpo New York, the Hudson Museum of History and many other galleries and art shows throughout the United States.
Hai Wei won an Honorable Mention as a first-time exhibitor at the Ocean City Arts Center’s Boardwalk Art Show last summer. They have exhibited in galleries throughout the world including in Beijing, Shanghai, Macau, Russia, France, Japan, Thailand, Spain, Korea and the United States, receiving much international acclaim. As arts educators, they have taught art to all ages from primary through the university level.
Hai Wei studied at Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts in Tianjin. Yulin Huang graduated from the China Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. In 2016, Wei was invited to attend the International Summit of Children’s Art Education (Beijing) as an expert in children’s art education. At the invitation of the Ministry of Culture – China Foreign Culture Group Company, they have participated in many international children’s art exchanges. Huang prepared a Kindergarten Health Art Education Demonstration Course, which was published by People’s Education Publishing House. She is a featured artist in “Chinese Women’s Art 1949-2019” At.net, Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House.
Hai Wei’s Artist’s Statement: “I paint on canvas with oil and acrylic. Animals are my most favored theme. 10,000 years ago, human beings in childhood were already painting on the stone walls of caves, painting many animal images: bison, mammoths, lions, wild horses…In fact, animals preceded humans. Man comes from animals, and no matter how he develops, he will always be an animal.
The natural beauty that is inherent in every life, the dignity that is independent of us, fascinates me. I am always irrepressibly excited, striving to be vivid, as if always getting closer and closer to the beauty that can never be touched, prompting me to stand in front of the canvas and keep smearing, smearing directly, as if I am the primitive man facing the stone wall of the cave…”
Yulin Huang Artist’s Statement: “My paintings are done with acrylic paints and acrylic pens. I love abstract art, folk art, children’s art and decorative art, and I combine them in my own way. Finally, it expresses people’s best wishes for life: health, contentment, abundance, and longevity.”
How apropos it is to have this exhibit on the heels of the closing celebration of the 2024 Chinese New Year. Attributes of the Year of the Dragon are said to be confidence, intelligence and enthusiasm. It is the most important holiday in China; it is a time of year for reuniting with loved ones. This couple and their art work encompasses all that the Year of the Dragon represent.
The show runs from March 4 through March 30. The Ocean City Arts Center is located on the second floor in the Community Center at 1735 Simpson Avenue, Ocean City, New Jersey 08226. Hours of operation are 9am to 9pm, Monday through Friday and 9am to 3pm on Saturday. The Arts Center is closed on Sunday. For further information, call (609) 399-7628. Check out the Ocean City Arts Center on Facebook and Instagram.
This program is made possible in part by the New Jersey State Council on the Arts, a partner agency of the National Endowment for the Arts.
