The exhibition Topography in Translation — on display at the Johnson museum until March 24 — considers how Chinese artists, working both within China and abroad, have explored topography in the modern and post-modern eras. The exhibition was curated by Cornell students Katherine Finerty ’11, Grace Gemmel grad, Rebecca Hazell ’10, Maureen Kelly ’10, Claudia Mattos ’11 and Meris Mee Sook Sanzotta grad, all of whom took the seminar course History of Art 4818 this past Fall semester with professor Any-yi Pan.

While the word topography generally implies maps or charts, the student curators have interpreted the concept as much vaguer and more flexible. This has made Topography in Translation a much more varied exhibition than one might expect. Though small, the exhibition displays works in a range of media: painting, collage and calligraphy are just several examples.

Contrary to what one would expect, though some of the scenes are in fact landscapes, many are not. And among the landscapes, many are more complex than meets the eye … The point of cohesion between all of the pieces featured (and the reason for which they fit into the general theme of the exhibition) is that despite these apparent differences, all pieces do deal with Chinese artists’ interpretations of their country and surroundings.

As the exhibit prompts us to see, landscape and topology can extend far beyond the literal. In examining China, or Chinese heritage, the artists at times confront political and social issues or express their own experiences and emotions. Landscape is more than just a physical setting; it is all of the factors that culminate in our surroundings, and all of the forces that keep these surroundings in constant flux. Indeed, the works overwhelmingly tend to emphasize the notion of change, confront new political or ideological realities, and attempt to reconcile this constantly morphing modernity with Chinese tradition and traditional forms of art. As the name of the exhibition aptly suggests, the collection of pieces is not merely about topography, but how it has been understood and translated by Chinese artists in relatively recent time.

As mentioned earlier, many times the artists featured in the exhibition draw on Chinese traditional art to express something modern. For most of us, who are fairly unfamiliar with Chinese artistic tradition, this point of borrowing from the past is reinforced by the placement of the works around the gallery — which often pairs an older piece with a newer one, thus illustrating the evolution of certain types of art.

The pieces that use more ancient artistic bases are generally the most interesting. Striking and memorable pieces that adopt aspects of traditional art include a calligraphy scroll in which the message actually describes a visit to Washington D.C., and an ink-drawing which features not an outdoor scene, but instead a swirling, abstract vision clearly inspired by European art.

The exhibition will attract viewers for other pieces, too. While the exhibition is separate from Fall ’09’s The Art of China’s Cultural Revolution, anyone who enjoyed it will find several pieces in Topography in Translation particularly relevant.

Topography in Translation shows some of the consequences of the regulations on art during the ’60s and ’70s Cultural Revolution. Topography in Translation contains several pieces in which Chinese artists react against the Cultural Revolution, and the artistic style it promoted. Perhaps most fascinating of all the pieces, however, is an ink scroll done by a Socialist artist. Though, as the student curators explain, the work on display was meant to glorify the Socialists. Its traditional style opposed the aesthetic of the Cultural Revolution, and thus the work was received poorly.

Though perhaps unintentional, the two exhibitions seem to respond quite well to one another.

However, despite these complimentary pieces, Topography in Translation cannot be seen as merely a continuation of the earlier exhibition, or as centering on artistic reactions to the Cultural Revolution. Instead, the Cultural Revolution must be seen as one of many factors and driving forces that shaped China’s modern history and affected Chinese topography. The exhibition does not mean to be politicized, nor does it intend to focus on one particular force or event in examining the turbulence of Chinese recent history. It simply attempts to show how Chinese artists have dealt with change and modernity in general, and how it has affected their sense of art, nation and self.