Dozens of students, faculty members and art lovers flocked to the opening exhibitions of the Rose Art Museum Wednesday. The exhibition featured three international artists: Yun-Fei Ji of China, Francesco Clemente of Italy and William Kentridge of South Africa, whose contrasting styles of expression, inventive statements and artistic themes make up an impressive and diverse collection. Yun-Fei Ji's exhibition, "The Empty City," presents a new look at the condition of China through 10 completed paintings and 25 preparatory sketches. Two recurring themes in Ji's work are the displacement of Chinese citizens and damage to the environment due to the construction of the Three Gorges Dam and the breakdown of China's utopian ideals. Ji uses multiple techniques, including color interplay and symbolic images, to convey his feelings toward China's state.

In contrast to Ji's works, Francesco Clemente's "Tandoori Satori" and "Commonplace" are a series of 28 paintings and 40 watercolors that deal with topics of mysticism and folklore. Clemente derives inspiration from both his two adopted homes, India and New York, and from his native home, Italy. His neo-expressionist works are colorful and abstract, and in his words combine to form "an immense storage of protective signs."

Tide Table, William Kentridge's only work in the exhibition, is a short animated film dealing with South Africa's unstable identity and its devastating struggle with HIV and AIDS. The film features Soho Eckstein, a greedy industrialist and real estate developer, who appeared in Kentridge's previous feature. Images in Tide Table are transformed by the movement of shade and light, an inventive and effective film technique.

Charles McClendon, chairman of the department of Fine Arts and member of the Rose board of overseers, described the exhibition as "absolutely beautiful, with diversity, ethnic references and accessible art," as well as a "tremendous amount of variety." This current exhibition is exactly that, featuring artists of uniquely beautiful styles. The works for the most part are not straightforward, but are intriguing in their subtleties. I highly recommend the exhibition, which will be on display until Dec. 12.