Art Literature: New Style, New Spirit

Author: Compiled by the Editorial Department of "Art Documentation"
Publisher:
Publishing Date: 2003-06-01
Features: A new generation of artists is more introspective, focusing on personal inner experiences, which is another prominent characteristic. In contrast, previous generations of artists paid more attention to depicting and directly reflecting the external world. This represents a significant change in contemporary Chinese art as it entered the late 1990s. The generation born in the 1970s faced an era of global economic integration, high informatization, and rapid economic development. Popular culture and consumer culture became mainstream, while the original value systems and cognitive approaches underwent transformation and reconstruction.
On one hand, artists enjoyed a more relaxed and free creative atmosphere than ever before, with unlimited possibilities. On the other hand, they discovered that as individuals, they were tiny and marginalized in the face of the vast and complex social machinery. Therefore, artists had to retreat into themselves, using their individual experiences and perceptions to understand, reflect, and grasp the world. From this perspective, they became more pure, deeper, and sharper.
Lacking the constraints of the external objective world, they gained unprecedented freedom, allowing their imagination and creativity to flourish. As a result, their works often featured illusions related to real-life experiences but without tangible development, or certain allegorical fictions. In this self-constructed world, whether it was beautiful or sorrowful, artists could fully and accurately express themselves, actively participating in the cultural construction of society with a powerful and personalized approach.
It is precisely for this reason that we see this generation of artists not only asserting their individual values but also demonstrating a stronger sense of ideals and spirituality. Their ultimate goal is the relentless pursuit and profound humanistic care for human spirit. They are not content to remain on the fringes, passively reflecting the external world, but instead actively engage in social progress in a more personalized manner. Therefore, they are a more constructive generation, also heralding the arrival of a new era.