From Confucius
to Christ

Group Exhibition
May 10 - July 14, 2022

Image: Wu Jian’an, Nirvana of the White Ape, 2014. Colored wax on wood, 70 3/4 x 98 1/2 inches. Courtesy Chambers Fine Art.

Opening Reception: Tuesday, May 10, 2022, 4:30-7:30p

The Yeh Art Gallery, St. John’s University is pleased to announce From Confucius to Christ, a group exhibition of contemporary artists working with spirituality, reglion, and belief. Participating artists include Wu Jian’an, Brittany Adeline King, Lu Zhang, Martha Tuttle, Kadar Brock, Asha Dangol, Brian Michael Reed, Otani Workshop, Joseph Liatela, Hallie McNeill, Ashmina Ranjit, and Monsieur Zohore. This exhibition will open with a reception on May 10, from 4:30-7:30p, and will remain on view until July 14, 2022.

The title of the exhibition comes from a 1952 “spiritual autobiography” by Dr. Paul Sih, the founder of the Yeh Art Gallery’s building, Sun Yet Sen Memorial Hall. In this book, Sih proposes that China’s historical tradition of Confucianist ethics paved the way for not only his own conversion, but Communist China’s future embrace of the Christian faith. “We Chinese,” Sih writes, “must take Confucius as our point of departure…to arrive at Christ.”

On the occasion of this exhibition, the Yeh Art Gallery becomes a space where a diversity of belief systems are suspended together in consonance, from Buddhism to Christianity. The exhibition inaugurates a dialogue, creating space so that we may listen to a chorus of belief systems and perspectives, ultimately emphasizing how spirituality and philosophy remain enduring subjects for contemporary artists.

From Confucius to Christ is organized by Owen Duffy, Director of Yeh Art Gallery, St. John’s University.

This exhibition is generously supported by an anonymous donor, the Rev. Al Shands, and Chambers Fine Art.