Exhibit
by Mongolian artist Chaolun Baatar
November 16-30, 2002

The "The Toono- Skylight" series -- "Burning Skylight", (video art) will bring a hitherto unknown image to the viewer, based on a completely new artistic concept. I mean to bring the essence of the culture of the high central Asian steppes to New York, the melting pot of all the world's cultures. I have poured out my feelings towards art and life in this series, as is right, since I am a son of the high steppes and my inspiration comes from my homeland in Mongolia. The skylights, besides bringing light into the Mongol's yurt, also have a spiritual meaning: in the vast steppes the Mongolian nomad would commune with the constellations through this skylight.

Particularly on a summer's night the view of the sky through the yurt's skylight would bring home the vastness of the universe. That is spiritual nourishment! At such a moment no one could resist the aesthetic force of the Mongolian yurt and the mystery of the skylight, laying the humanity's place itself open to examination. Just as the author Wei Xin wrote in an article, "...death as represented by the cross at the center of the skylight contrasts with the brilliant colors of the human thirst for life. Baatar's painting "Soul of Mongolian plains--the Skylight" also represents an opening to a dialogue between humanity and the universe, searching for a place between life and death."

Thank you,
Chaolun
www.chaolun.com