Professor Yibing Huang named curator of the Chu-Griffis Asian Art Collection
Yibing Huang, associate professor of Chinese, has been appointed curator of the Chu-Griffis Asian Art Collection at Connecticut College. Huang has been serving as acting curator of the Chu-Griffis Asian Art Collection since July 1, 2016.
A member of the Connecticut College faculty since 2000, Huang’s research and teaching focuses on modern and contemporary Chinese literature, art and culture; comparative studies of modernism and postmodernism in China and in the West; Chinese American literature and art; indigenous poetics and global modernity; and the cultural translations between Chinese poetry and modern American poetry.
A highly regarded poet and scholar of contemporary Chinese poetry, literature and art, Huang was nominated for a Pushcart Prize by World Literature Today and was chosen as the 2006 Phi Beta Kappa poet of Connecticut College.
The Chu-Griffis Asian Art Collection was established in 1985 by Charles Chu, professor emeritus of Chinese, and Hugh Griffis, a New London attorney. Today, the collection includes 249 works of art and calligraphy comprised primarily of Chinese painters of the 20th century, with emphasis on landscapes and depictions of birds, flowers and animals. The collection serves as a learning resource for students and faculty and enriches the cultural life of the College and of southern New England through exhibitions on campus and in the galleries and museums of the region.
Working closely with Ben Panciera, director of special collections, and Christopher Steiner, the Lucy C. McDannel '22 Professor of Art History and Anthropology at Connecticut College, Huang has overseen an active roster of exhibitions in his short tenure as acting chair, including: “Zhang Hongtu: Van Gogh/Bodhidharma,” “Open Books: A New Dialogue,” “Wang Ai: Flying Over Ancient Landscapes,” “Wang Chi-yuan and His Generation: Chinese Artists in America (1941-2015),” “Space of Emptiness: Paintings by Mao Xiaojian,” and “Cai Dongdong: Off Target.”
