Department of Art History

Join Faye Yingfei Liang, Arthur Weiss, and Dr. Jennifer Lee for a dynamic conversation about Air Crash Report and Anxiety Aesthetics. Together they’ll explore truth, unease, and control in Liang’s work while drawing upon Lee’s research of Maoist legacies in contemporary Chinese Art.

This event is presented in conjunction with the exhibition Air Crash Report, on view in the Cochrane-Woods Art Center through October 31, 2025.

Attendees are invited to read the introduction and first chapter Lee’s Anxiety Aesthetics (2024) before the event.

Speakers
Faye Yingfei Liang, MFA ’26, Department of Visual Arts. From 2015 to 2022, Faye worked as a photojournalist in mainland China, documenting the complexity and rapid transformation of Chinese society. In 2024, she pursued her MFA at the University of Chicago, expanding her practice to explore sympathy, humor, and humanity under oppressive social structures. Her work spans photography, installation, and writing.

Arthur Johnson Weiss is a multidisciplinary artist based in Chicago, Illinois. He received his MFA from The University of Chicago, Department of Visual Arts in 2024. His work has been shown at various institutions, festivals, and galleries such as: SFAI, MIX NYC, Seattle Queer Film Festival, Flowers Gallery, NIAD Gallery, Last Projects Gallery, and Artist Television Access. Arthur is the Campus and Community Engagement Associate at the Smart Museum of Art.

Dr. Jennifer Dorothy Lee studies art and cultural practices in modern and contemporary China. Lee's research and teaching focus encompasses social history, aesthetic theory, and transnational perspectives. Trained in comparative literature, Lee brings literary frames and methodologies to her work on visual and material objects. Lee's first book, Anxiety Aesthetics: Maoist Legacies in China, 1978–1985, offers a sustained study of aesthetic theory, art, and subjectivity redefined in the fleeting historical moment bridging the Mao era with Dengist reforms. Lee's next research project will take up personal and social histories of art amid the dynamics of Cold War international diplomacy, with special attention to Taiwan and Hong Kong.

Support
This event is organized by the Department of Art History’s Visual Resources Center. Additional support provided by the Center for the Art of East Asia and the Department of Visual Arts at the University of Chicago.

Accessibility
Please note this event and the related exhibition include thematic material related to aircraft accidents and contains footage from war and other violent disasters.

Air Crash Report is a site-specific installation throughout the Cochrane-Woods Art Center, concentrated in the 1st floor lounge and 2nd floor east stairwell and monitor alcove. CWAC Exhibitions is committed to accessibility for all our exhibitions. However, the second floor of the Cochrane-Woods Art Center is accessible only by stairs. To request an accommodation or alternative format, please email visualresources@uchicago.edu.