Collaborative ‘Garden’ Is an Earthly Delight : Exhibits: An installation of Chinese art combines the photographs of Hu Ch’ung-hsien and the poetry of Chang Ta-ch’ien at CSUN.

When gallery director Louise Lewis first saw the photography and calligraphy collaborations that would become “The Garden of Chang Ta-ch’ien” exhibition, she hoped to reconstruct a living Chinese garden on the floor of the Cal State Northridge main art gallery.

She had been inspired by the lush, graceful images of plum and lotus blossoms by photographer Hu Ch’ung-hsien, as embellished by the calligraphy and poetry of painter Chang Ta-ch’ien. But her search for the dramatic, botanical centerpiece that was to coincide with the monthlong show ended with the realization that a true Chinese garden could not be recreated overnight.

“There wasn’t anything forthcoming,” Lewis said, talking between faculty meetings last week at CSUN. “And the reason for that is the Chinese perceive of making the garden as a lifelong endeavor, selecting each rock from experiences.”

The focus of the show, which opens Monday and continues through Oct. 13, was soon expanded into a celebration of several directions in Chinese art. At its center are the 71 photographs of “The Garden of Chang Ta-ch’ien” that line the walls of the school’s large main gallery. Added to that on the gallery’s floor will be displays of Chinese silk embroidery, carpet and musical instruments. Taped Chinese music will also accompany the show.

The exhibition’s photographs are mostly close-up images of blooming lotus and plum flowers in the Taipei garden of the painter Chang, who died in 1983. Lewis explained that the artist was inspired by the photographs of his garden to paint his own poetry in Chinese calligraphy onto the large images. English translations of the poetry are offered on small labels adjacent to the works in the gallery.

On a portrait of a tree’s single, near-barren branch, decorated only with three small red flowers, Chang wrote: “A single branch enters through the lattice, and all other fragrances are shamed.”

All the photographic works are from the collection of Richard Kelton, who has supplied material for the gallery in the past. Lewis added that the collector also donated $1,000 to keep the gallery open on Saturdays during the exhibit.

In the university’s adjacent South Gallery, the works of Chinese artists now living in the United States will be the subject of consecutive displays. Beginning Monday, the room will show painter Man Meng’s large abstract works on rice paper. A native of Beijing, Meng relocated to Montana several years ago, and her subsequent work depicts in deep hues the landscapes and livestock of that rural state. More traditional Chinese landscapes, painted in subtle colors by Joseph Du of Monterey Park will follow Oct. 1-18.

“In the Orient, the idea of art is not a separate category from life,” Lewis said. “A museum is OK, but that’s basically a Western concept.”

But she added that some controversy has already greeted the new exhibition, which was curated by Angela Lew, former director of the CSUN China Institute, the school’s clearinghouse for student and faculty exchanges with China.

“There has been some criticism from people on campus of bringing in Chinese this or that because of Tian An Men,” Lewis said, referring to the violent clash in spring, 1989, between Chinese troops and student protesters in the center of Beijing. “My reply to that is that Tian An Men had its victims, and there are many things that go beyond Tian An Men that are Chinese.”

She said the show should offer a quick education on the varieties of art from China to anyone who might wander into the gallery.

“I think they’ll be surprised by the photographs because very often their concept of Chinese art is the scrolls with a very ethereal landscape, somewhat monotone ink washes. Not bright colors.

“The image the photographer captured, along with how the painter interpreted that, is based on a certain sensuality, particularly of the female.”

Lewis has been an art history professor at the university since 1972, and she became the gallery’s director in 1980. Since then, she said, she has been emphasizing work that reveals other cultures and perspectives. Other recent shows have exposed visitors to art from Australian aborigines and Cuna Indian art from Panama, both shows culled from the collection of Kelton. An exhibition of work by Brazilian-African painter Yeda Maria Correa de Oliveira is scheduled for next year.

“As far as being able to represent contemporary Western art, Los Angeles has got lots of outlets for that,” she said. “And while I don’t ignore that facet of the art world, I really am trying to open us up to a really more global purview.”

“The Garden of Chang Ta-ch’ien,” an exhibition of a collaboration of photography and calligraphy by Hu Ch’ung-hsien and Chang Ta-ch’ien, Monday through Oct. 13; also paintings by Man Meng, Monday through Sept. 27, and Joseph Du, Oct. 1-18. CSUN Art Galleries, 18111 Nordhoff St., Northridge; (818) 885-2226. Free admission.