April 18th to September 13th | FedEx Global Education Center
The Beijing Impressions series by artist Barbara Tyroler is a visual response to daughter Samm Tyroler-Cooper’s poetic interpretation of Chinese writer Lin Bai’s personal memoirs. This exhibition was inspired by “Illusion,” an excerpt from Lin’s collection of autobiographical essays “The Moonlight of De Erwo.” Presented in large, blended photographs, these figurative landscapes serve to reflect a people and city in cultural transformation, synthesizing the ancient with the contemporary, the literal with the metaphoric.
Photographed during a nine-day visit to Beijing, this work has been progressively expanded since its inception in 2004, producing seven unique exhibitions in Washington, D.C. and the Triangle. Ten new images were produced specifically for this FedEx Global Education Center show, along with a silk installation made in collaboration with local fiber artist, Peg Gignoux. Seen from a foreigner’s perspective, the portraits of Beijing Impressions present a glimpse into the internal landscape of its subjects within the backdrop of Beijing’s rapidly changing external landscape.
Tyroler earned her M.Ed. from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst with emphasis on visual communication and community arts development. She received an MFA in imaging and digital arts from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Her work focuses on abstracted figurative portraiture with emphasis on family, relationships and issues of identity.
The Beijing Impressions series by artist Barbara Tyroler is a visual response to daughter Samm Tyroler-Cooper’s poetic interpretation of Chinese writer Lin Bai’s personal memoirs. This exhibition was inspired by “Illusion,” an excerpt from Lin’s collection of autobiographical essays “The Moonlight of De Erwo.” Presented in large, blended photographs, these figurative landscapes serve to reflect a people and city in cultural transformation, synthesizing the ancient with the contemporary, the literal with the metaphoric.
Photographed during a nine-day visit to Beijing, this work has been progressively expanded since its inception in 2004, producing seven unique exhibitions in Washington, D.C. and the Triangle. Ten new images were produced specifically for this FedEx Global Education Center show, along with a silk installation made in collaboration with local fiber artist, Peg Gignoux. Seen from a foreigner’s perspective, the portraits of Beijing Impressions present a glimpse into the internal landscape of its subjects within the backdrop of Beijing’s rapidly changing external landscape.
Tyroler earned her M.Ed. from the University of Massachusetts in Amherst with emphasis on visual communication and community arts development. She received an MFA in imaging and digital arts from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Her work focuses on abstracted figurative portraiture with emphasis on family, relationships and issues of identity.
