visual arts by Koren Love From Communist China to North Vancouver Presentation House Gallery hosts the Canadian artists as part of a city-wide premiere of two exciting collaboration. new contemporary the ambivalent reactions in Chinese society and the art world." Geng Jianyi's work usually includes "disposable" material collected from urban sites: drawings and notes on paper, photographs, and various official and consumer documents, all gathered as "evidence" for a particular conceptual project. One project for the Presentation House Gallery exhibition will be a document of the artist's activities throughout a day in Vancouver. Another will present "ID portraits" taken from an individual's accumulation over a lifetime. Like much of Geng Jianyi's work, these pieces address issues of individual identity and choice. He is considered to be one of the most important artists of the Chinese avant-garde. In addition to the exhibition at Presentation House Gallery, the project includes a major show at the Vancouver Art Gallery, of work by the late Pan Tian Shou, one of the great masters of 20th-century brush painting. This will act as an anchor for 12 other exhibitions around the city by leading contemporary creators, featuring installation art. video, photography, sculpture, and painting. These shows will open on different dates between March 6 and April 18. The show at Presentation House Gallery opens on Saturday, March 7. at 2 p.m. Xia Wei, one of the co-organizers of Jiangnan, will give an informal talk about the artists and the overall project at the opening reception. The organizers are also producing an international symposium, to be held on April 24 and 25 at Emily Carr Institute of Art and Design on Granville Island. This will be one of the world's first major conferences to assess the history and significance of Chinese art in the 20th century, with some of the most highly respected scholars participating from all over the globe, e© The Jiangnan project was initiated byindependent curators Xia Wei and Hank Bull and is co-produced by the Annie Wong Art Foundation and the Western Front Society. The show in North Vancouver is organized by Presentation House Gallery and sponsored by the Canada Council. Zhou Tiehai and Geng Jianyi: Two Contemporary Artists from China will be at Presentation House Gallery from March 7 to April 26. Gallery hours are Wednesday to Sunday, 12 p.m. to 5 p.m., Thursday open late until 9p.m. Karen Love is the director/curator of Presentation House Gallery and wishes to thank the organizers of the Jiangnan project for their assistance with this article. JL ans of contemporary art are in for a treat. One of the largest arts events ever to take place in Vancouver, bringing more than 30 Chinese contemporary artists and art historians to the city, opens this month, and part of it is happening right here in North Vancouver. Rarely has the work of Mainland Chinese artists been shown here, especially work by contemporary artists. Presentation House Gallery is honoured to host the exhibition Zhou Tiehai and Geng Jianyi: Two Contemporary Artists from China. The artists are both residents of Shanghai and exhibit their work internationally, though never before in Canada. This two-person show is part of the city-wide project Jiangnan: Modern and Contemporary Art from South of the Yangzi River. Jiangnan is the traditional name for the area south of the Yangzi River that includes Shanghai, Suzhou, Hangzhou, and Nanjing. The Yangzi River delta has been the principal centre for Chinese art since the Southern Sung Dynasty. This region now has a population of more than 35 million and a rapidly growing economy. After a century of change, Jiangnan is the site of new artistic energy, influenced by international dialogue and reflection on its own deep history. Zhou Tiehai is a young artist who is known for his stinging commentary on late-20th-century consumer culture. His series of '"faux" magazine covers of Vogue. Newsweek, and Artnews reflect, as a reviewer in Flash Art wrote, a "poignant sarcasm directed at power plays in international artistic, cultural and commercial exchanges, especially the manipulation of the [powerful] Western mass media and