The Lure of Chinatown: Painting California’s Chinese Communities at Bowers Museum

Jack-Laycox---Chinese-New-Year-INTEXT
Chinese New Year 1960 by Jack Laycox courtesy of The Hilbert Collection

View the transformation of Chinatown in Los Angeles and San Francisco as Bowers Museum in Orange County showcases an exhibit of artists who have captured the essence of California’s Chinese communities. Discover a side of California’s Chinatowns you never knew existed!

Bowers Museum’s newest exhibit, The Lure of Chinatown: Painting California’s Chinese Communities provides a captivating narrative of how the image of Chinatowns in Los Angeles and San Francisco transformed in reaction to changing social, political and artistic developments.View 40 works by 23 artists who were inspired by the unique cultural customs, fascinating architecture and rich aesthetic of the Chinese communities in these two cities. Each work depicts the community in diverse ways, reflecting the artists’ individual interests and the age in which they painted.

Featuring paintings spanning over several decades, the exhibit provides a glimpse of the communities before they underwent significant changes following the devastating earthquake in San Francisco in 1906 and the urban renewal in Los Angeles in the 1930s. Through Aug. 31. Tu-Su, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. Bowers Museum, 2002 N. Main St., Santa Ana, 714.567.3600. bowers.org 

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