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Media Relations

Master printmaker and IU alumnus to give demonstrations at SoFA

Contemporary artist Zhiyuan Cong shares the secrets to his unique style

Zhiyuan Cong, a professor and head of the Printmaking Program at William Patterson University in Wayne, N.J., received his MFA degree in printmaking from Indiana University in 1994. Cong, who has garnered critical acclaim for his paintings and prints that combine traditional Chinese techniques with Western elements, will return to his alma matter Thursday through Saturday (Oct. 19 to 21) as part of the Fall Visiting Artist Series at IU Bloomington's Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Arts.

Cong has two MFA degrees, one in printmaking from IU and the other in Chinese painting from the Nanjing Arts Institute in 1986. His work is steeped in both traditional Chinese and contemporary Western traditions, which he melds together in his prints and paintings.

His visit to Bloomington includes four events, which are free and open to the public unless otherwise indicated:

• Artist Lecture: Thursday (Oct. 19), noon to 1 p.m. at the Central Stores Fine Arts facility, located on 11th Street and Walnut Grove in Bloomington.
• Workshop/Demonstration: Photoetching on Plexiglass, Thursday (Oct. 19), 3 p.m. to 5 p.m. and continuing for participants on Friday (Oct. 20), 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Central Stores Intaglio Printshop, 11th Street and Walnut Grove in Bloomington.
• Lecture and Demonstration: Chinese Painting and Calligraphy, Saturday (Oct. 21), 10 a.m. to noon, IU Art Museum, Thomas T. Solley Atrium, First Floor. This lecture and demonstration complements the museum's Conspiring with Tradition: Contemporary Painting from the Guilin Chinese Painting Academy exhibit. To learn more about that exhibit, go to http://newsinfo.iu.edu/web/page/normal/4069.html.
• Lunch: following the Demonstration, Saturday (Oct. 21). The cost of lunch is $11, and registration is available through the Friends of Art Bookstore at 812-855-5300.

Cong graduated from the Department of Chinese Painting in the Nanjing Arts Institute in 1980 at the age of 24. The institute has been ranked, along with the Central Arts Academy in Beijing, as one of China's foremost centers for training in Chinese painting. Surviving tough competition, he was the only graduate to join the faculty of the department, where he began teaching Chinese painting. Cong was appointed assistant professor and assistant director of the department and was awarded an Outstanding Teaching Prize in 1982. In 1986, Cong received his first MFA degree in Chinese painting.

With a firm grounding in Chinese traditional art and modern techniques, Cong began to concentrate on the study of Western art with the encouragement of his teachers and colleagues. In 1988, under the sponsorship of his mentors and renowned contemporary Chinese artists Chen Dayu and Ya Ming, Cong enrolled at IU Bloomington. While studying at the School of Fine Arts, Cong not only mastered the techniques of etching, silkscreen and lithography, but also studied theories of modern Western art. He has endeavored to create a new art form, which combines the styles of Chinese art and Western art, that enriches the language of painting and printmaking.

The Henry Radford Hope School of Fine Arts, founded in 1865, is considered one of the premier art schools in the country. There are more than 500 undergraduate majors and 136 graduate students pursuing courses in art history and studio practice. An internationally distinguished faculty of 52 artists and art historians direct a wide range of programs.

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