Wall - A History and Boundaries of Contemporary Chinese Art

Author: Gao Minglu
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-08-01
Features: This book is divided into two parts. The first part is the historical description, including chapters 1 to 5. The second part is the thematic discussion on the "Wall" exhibition, including chapters 6 to 9. In the first part, we attempt to answer the question "What is Chinese contemporary art" through historical description, and analyze it from the perspectives of the issues Chinese contemporary art itself focuses on and its differences from Western contemporary art. In the second, third, fourth, and fifth chapters, we will outline the development of Chinese contemporary art over the past two decades from several aspects, such as "Social Realist Painting Movement," "Anti-Art Conceptual Art," "Ritualized Performance Art," and "The Survival Space of Chinese Avant-Garde Art." The changes and evolution of materials have a special significance for Chinese contemporary art over the past two decades, and their significance often goes beyond the materials themselves, carrying strong thematic connotations. For example, although painting is a traditionally art form, in China, due to the profound influence of the socialist realism tradition on the creation of contemporary artists, some painting trends emerged successively in the mid-1990s, such as "Injuries," "Rural," "Rational Painting," "New Generation," "Political Pop," and "Cynical Realism." These indeed played an important role in reflecting China's social reality, especially its political reality. The reason lies in the old socialist realism education system in China, where its realistic techniques and realistic principles of iconography have always played a role that is unparalleled in any other country or region. Although photography began to become popular in the late 1990s, the relationship between painting and social reality remains one of the main concerns of contemporary Chinese artists.