
The University of Pittsburgh's University Art Gallery will host photographer Takashi Morizumi and his exhibit "Strange Beauty: Radiography from Fukushima" from March 15 through 18.
Today Mayor @billpeduto hosted Vice Chairman Phung Tang Viet & guest from Pittsburgh's Sister City Da Nang Vietnam. pic.twitter.com/kq0rR4VeaX
— The Next Pittsburgh (@TheNextPGH) February 19, 2016
In his earlier paintings from the 1990s and 21st century, Zhong intimately portrayed Chinese urban residents from acute angles or distanced perspectives, often collaging them with religious, traditional, historical, and commercial imagery. Later works tend more toward abstraction, incorporating fantastic and celestial elements. In so doing, he has imaginatively and insightfully captured the lived experience of Chinese urbanization and globalization, with a particular emphasis on the ways urban space and global time influence individual states of being and local contexts.The talk runs from 6:00 to 7:30 pm in 204 Frick Fine Arts Building in Oakland (map), and is free and open to the public.
Mermaid is a solid dramedy with heart and, more importantly, a message. This Chinese production tells the story of Liu Xuan (Deng Chao) a young business mogul attempting to clear a recently acquired bay of its marine life for property development. Unbeknownst to him (and the rest of the world), the waters are home to a clan of mythical half-human, half-fish creatures, who send one of their own to kill Liu. Posing as a human, the mermaid (newcomer Jelly Lin Yun) ends up falling in love with Liu.The movie was released in China on February 8, 2016, and recorded the largest opening day ever for a Chinese movie in China.
With real documentary footage of water pollution, dying sea life and the destruction of natural resources spliced into the film’s opening montage, it’s clear from the start what Chow is trying to say. Credit to the 53-year-old star, then, for crafting a morality play that features the CGI-heavy visual effects that Chinese audiences love so much. There are laughs too, so it’s hit and miss: an early scene, of the mermaid clan’s failed attempt to take Liu’s life despite deploying a vast armoury of weapons, successfully evokes the manic shenanigans of older Chow films; other gags, like an overweight male actor dressing up as a mermaid, fall flat. Stephen Chow-style mo lei tau gags only work when Chow is involved.