Asian Fortune Your source for all things Asian American
By Jennie L. Ilustre
Etian Huang, 5, is just like any other kid. He likes running around the yard, barefoot, with friends. He rarely stands still. He likes to skip, hop and jump around guests. He has fun making faces at the camera, but doesn’t like interviews. Just like any kid.
Except unlike other kids his age, he already has 60 acrylic and oil paintings that were showcased at his first solo exhibit solo exhibit, “Imagine Images.” The exhibit opened on October 19 and runs till November 18 at the Shanye Huang Studio Gallery.
His proud dad Shanye, an internationally-acclaimed artist, recalled a conversation at the opening reception in Silver Spring, Maryland: “You have your exhibit, I want to have my own exhibit, too,” Shanye said, laughing and shaking his head in amazement.
“I took down my paintings and put up Etian’s art,” said. Shanye’s father, K. Weijie Huang, is also an artist. In what is probably a historic event, the three generations held an art exhibit last year.
Etian’s mom, meanwhile, was showing guests a video of Etian painting and pointing at his works. “He’s just like any kid,” Louisa, a nurse, said in an interview. “He likes basketball, football, and jumping into the car with me on errands.”
Art is fun
She remarked on Etian’s creative style: “He likes to jump up and down while hurling color-soaked sponges on the canvas, and he enjoys listening to the sounds they make. He uses his cars and trucks to make trails, tracks, and abstract lines that intertwine like spider webs.”
Shanye said his son doesn’t just use charcoal pencils or paintbrushes. “He uses toy cars, sticks, sponges, even cucumbers to express himself on the canvas. He knows what he wants and he never wants me to touch up on his works. He would say, ‘This is mine!’”
Etain began to draw as soon as he could hold a pencil. His paintings come from his dreams, his memories. His dad also likes his son’s titles, specially the one that said simply, La, Laa, La, La, La. For more information about Etian’s solo exhibit, please call 301-908-1567 or 240-374-2921 or e-mail: huangartstudio@gmail.com
Etian’s art
Guests who came to the exhibit on opening day remarked on Etian’s art, at once whimsy and mature with its vibrant colors and story-telling. “In a few, you can see it’s a child painting, but on the whole, very advanced for his age,” remarked a guest.
Etian’s mom sent 70 invitations to his school principal, teachers, friends and art enthusiasts. His principal, Sunit S. Grover, bought “The City Where We Live,” for Paint Branch Montessori School for $700.
Kids who came to the exhibit were given handmade hats and stickers. They went around the room and lingered at their favorites. “I like the dragons,” said Jhadin Kanyunyi, age 7 ½, looking at “Dragon Spring Fires,” with a $400 price tag. His brother Imran, 11, admired the “Water Park” painting.
Family friend Wendy Coulton, a photographer, chimed in, “This dragon painting would make a nice sweater shirt. There’s another painting where somewhere you can see a lady holding a rose. This kid already knows about depth of field perception!” Etian’s teacher Melva Lucich said, “He’s good at dancing, too, he’s the first to learn the dance steps. He’s a quick learner.”
Shanye’s art
As an Asian saying goes, “The fruit does not fall far from the tree.” Etian’s dad Shanye, born in Guangxi, Southwest China, was inducted into the China Artists Association, the most prestigious art organization in China when he was just in his 20s.
Sometime in 1993, the California State University, Northridge exhibition committee and the Center for International Art & Culture in New York invited Shanye to hold a solo exhibit, according to wikipedia. Due to an earthquake in Northridge, the show took place in 1998.
The US gave Shanye a permanent visa under an outstanding artist status. His works, which he describes as “not traditional art, like my father’s paintings,” have won several national and international awards. Museums, galleries and private collectors have acquired his paintings. (Visit www.shanyehuang.com)
