Shifting landscapes of Beijing on display

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this article misattributed a quote: “This dramatic change has caused and been caused by a personal shift — the migration from rural to urban, the needs and expectations of new residents, and the loss of home for the prospect of new, modern and efficient.” Laura Griest said it. The story has been changed to reflect this.

Beijing is moving away from its traditional roots, and local artist Barbara Tyroler is using non-traditional methods to illustrate this shift.

Tyroler’s abstract artwork, done with mixed media, features subjects ranging from children swimming to citizens strolling on the busy streets of Beijing.

“My work touches on migration, urbanization, globalization — specifically through families and the transitions that young families go through when they move away from each other,” Tyroler said.

Tyroler’s “Beijing Impressions: Portraits of a Shifting Landscape” is on display at UNC’s FedEx Global Center through Sept. 13.

Tyroler will be at the center this evening to speak about the abstract figurative portraiture. And Yan Song, director of UNC’s Program on Chinese Cities, will join Tyroler to discuss urbanization in China.

Tyroler said her artwork illustrates the mystical complexity of Beijing and its inhabitants against the backdrop of rapid urbanization.

Tyroler layers and blends digital photography with painted portraits to create a combination of abstraction and realism.

Tyroler said the exhibition draws from the experience of her daughter, Samm Tyroler-Cooper, who studied in Beijing and wrote poetic interpretations of personal memoirs by the Chinese writer Lin Bai.

“It’s about migration issues on a more personal level, and these young women were leaving their families while coming to the city and finding their voices and identities — like my daughter,” Tyroler said.

Laura Griest, the program coordinator at the FedEx center, said the color and texture in Tyroler’s art create multiple physical and interpretive layers.

“Barbara’s work is incredibly complex, seeping with symbolism and yet-to-be-discovered personal stories,” Griest said.

“Her work is beautiful and compelling, inviting each person to consider the lives these portraits represent.”

Griest said the exhibition depicts a complex change in the Chinese city: “This dramatic change has caused and been caused by a personal shift — the migration from rural to urban, the needs and expectations of new residents, and the loss of home for the prospect of new, modern and efficient.”

Contact the desk editor at arts@dailytarheel.com.