The Museum of Chinese in America on Centre Street has opened a new series, and its first artist is Hilda Shen. Hilda Shen: Their Landscapes, a show of her recent ceramic sculptures and prints, is on view in the museum's Cheng Gallery through January 24, 2027. It is the first exhibition in MOCA's Solo Artist Projects, a program of one-person shows of new work.

Clay, print and landscape

Shen's work comes out of close study of the natural world and a habit of taking forms apart. MOCA describes pieces that can read as ancient or futuristic, natural or handmade, and as either being built or breaking down. The museum describes the work as drawing on post-minimalism, Chinese landscape painting and architectural space.

Who Hilda Shen is

Shen was born in Minneapolis in 1954, grew up largely in upstate New York and settled in New York City in the 1970s. Her father grew up in Beijing and her mother in Hangzhou. She trained in classical music at Oberlin College before turning to visual art, and she lives and works in Brooklyn.

Her sculpture, prints, drawings and installations have been shown around New York, in Seattle and in Beijing, with large installations at Wave Hill in the Bronx, the Tenri Cultural Center, China2000 and Flushing Town Hall in Queens. She has held residencies at Willapa Bay AIR, the Bloedel Reserve, the Millay Colony for the Arts, Yosemite National Park and Platte Clove. Her most recent solo show before this one was at Starr Suites in Brooklyn.

More at MOCA this week

The museum's calendar has two more public programs in the days ahead:

  • Sip & Brush: Calligraphy, part of the Chinese Arts Workshop Series, on Thursday, November 12, from 6:30 to 8:30 p.m. Tickets are $35, or $30 for students, seniors and MOCA members, with materials included.
  • Accent Sisters x MOCA: Taiwanese Hokkien, Hakka and Teochew Dialect Corner, on Saturday, November 14, from 4 to 6 p.m., a conversation with four guests about Chinese dialects spoken across the diaspora, including Taiwanese, Teochew, Cantonese and Hakka. It is open to the public; reserve through the museum's event page.

The museum's permanent exhibition, With a Single Step: Stories in the Making of America, which covers more than 200 years of Chinese American history, is also on view.

Plan a visit

The Museum of Chinese in America is at 215 Centre Street in Chinatown. It is open Wednesday through Saturday, 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., and Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., and closed to the public on Mondays and Tuesdays. The Canal Street station, served by the 6, J, Z, N, Q, R and W trains, is a short walk away. For tickets and the full events calendar, see the museum's website or call 212-619-4785.

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