Introduction to Contemporary Art in China

Lao Zhu

• Éditeur: Routledge
• Année: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781000466225
• Édition: 1
• Sujet: Arte
• Sous-sujet: Arte general

The book is a collection of fifteen introductory essays excerpted from the Annual of Contemporary Art in China, covering the years from 2005 to 2019, showcasing the development and changing landscapes of contemporary art in China.

The Annual documents exhibitions, events, creative practices, and critical literature concerning contemporary art in China since 2005. Based on archival documentation and statistics data from these annuals, notable phenomena, events, and discourses from a given year, as well as key works and artists are reviewed in each introduction, with no ideological or market-driven undertone. The author unravels industrial and institutional factors, while also broaching important issues of abstract art, new media art and so on, and probing the historical and socio-cultural context as well. In this regard, the book offers a panorama of contemporary Chinese art and critically engages with the art scene in China, including Hongkong, Taiwan, and among the Chinese diaspora.

The title will appeal to scholars, students and general readers interested in contemporary art history, art criticism, contemporary Chinese art, iconography, and contemporary art theory.

1 Introduction to the Annual (2005)

DOI: 10.4324/9781003221821-1

Being a “mirror of our time”, the Annual (2005) reflects and refracts the cultural ethos of contemporary China.

The avant-garde movement in China climaxed in 1985¹. In 1986 the Central Academy of Fine Arts launched the Chinese Modern Art Archive (CMAA) to document the contemporary art scene in China. As early as 1979, led by He Linghua 贺龄华, the Art History Department at the Academy had already engaged with similar tasks. In 1987, following a change in the person in charge of the CMAA, the organization was moved to Peking University. In 2005 the CMAA, in collaboration with the OCT Contemporary Art Terminal at the He Xiangling Art Museum and the Center for the Art of East Asia at University of Chicago, published the first volume of the Annual.

As documented in the Annual (2005), the art market in China is booming:

1. A great number of exhibitions have been launched, including commercial exhibitions and “art exhibitions” with commercial incentives.
2. Galleries/museums are highly active, commercial ones are developing rapidly and non-commercial ones have been through ups and downs.
3. The influx of the Capital includes international capital and investment capital from the business sector, and both are engaged with art management and art collection.
4. Trading activities, auctions in particular, are thriving.

These all relate to the art market and cultural industry in China, which indicate a kind of market conduct on surface but actually reflect the economic and cultural status and social system of China. The key lies in market conduct in trading activities and what kinds of artworks are being traded does not matter much. In a sense, China’s contemporary art in 2005 is all about how Art is being maneuvered by art dealers, gallery and auction managers, curators, museum directors and chief art directors in pursuit of market profit, critics involved in business activities, key officials from the cultural sector, as well as policymakers seeking to promote cultural industry. As a contemporary phenomenon, the art market in China mainly trades works in traditional styles or highly ornamental. Such trading activities are more about business management than about the function of Art. Hence contemporary Chinese artists have grown keenly aware of the necessity of marketing and advertising, and the most extreme is to create outdoor advertising billboards, some of which are even aligned with purely commercial billboards, merging art with advertisement (e.g. works created by Liang Yue 梁越 and Zhao Bandi 赵半狄). Yet, the tide goes deeper than this. For production and sales purposes, many artists have deployed tactics of modern commerce, e.g. advertising, marketing, public relations, promotion, profit concession, discount, pyramid selling, human networking, bribery, and buying-off, and been engaged in production activities typical of preliminary industrialization of free trade. Thus in 2005 China’s contemporary art mainly features the Artist’s involvement in business activities, resourceful and stunning, in a society that prioritizes economic development.

Yet, the art market marks but one aspect of contemporary Chinese art, cacophonous and eye-catching. Three other aspects are also remarkable.

1 The kind of art that seeks to construct the cultural history of China

Artistic traditions (e.g. traditional Chinese painting, Western-style oil painting, socialist-realist painting in the Soviet Union and China prior to the Cultural Revolution, and modern Chinese realistic painting) constitute a key aspect of contemporary Chinese art, affecting not only the government’s policy-making and the public’s engagement with Art, but also the worldview of the intellectual circle. On the conflict zone where traditional art collides with modern art, many issues spark controversy and define the outlook of contemporary art in China. The resolution to defend traditional art merges with aspiration for national rejuvenation and picks up great momentum. It cherishes universal values of regional culture eclipsed by Western civilization and aims to safeguard historical memory and values of humanity, which underpin cultural diversity during the globalization process.

Entertainment industry with aesthetic characteristics does not necessarily address current social issues, global artistic trends, or basic rules regarding the development of Art. Thanks to the rapid pace of modernization, people’s cultural needs and appetite for entertainment grow immensely, eager to seek escape, fun and games, relief, and pleasures. The cultural industry thus advances rapidly to satisfy the audiences differing in social status, customs, and personal tastes. The kind of arts that might have become history, being enshrined as collectibles in museums in developed countries, remains the mainstream in China. (For instance, the flagship art publication in China, Meishu 美术 (Art Magazine), stresses that the arts must be beautiful in form, harmonious in content, and pleasing to the eyes, in order to be embraced by the masses.)

As a nation with great traditions, China has been undergoing reform and opening-up. To construct the cultural history is an undertaking that has its own logic. The kind of arts that can fulfill China’s own cultural needs doesn’t have to be concerned with social issues, world civilization, or art history at large.

2 The kind of art that tackles social issues

For the sake of “the world’s future and the ideal of humanity” (Mao Tze-tung 毛泽东), there is a kind of arts addressing the challenges faced with by the whole world today. Specifically, three types of contemporary art tackle regional social issues and unique cultural encounters during China’s radical modernization:

1. Non-commercial experiments conducted by Chinese artists working in China (including works later procured by collectors/curators, i.e. commercialized and industrialized, but not originally created for such purposes). The economic development entails social corruption and alienation of humanity, and to compound matters, the Cultural Revolution left behind a moral vacuum: traditional morality becomes hollowed, whereas new moral values are yet to be convincing to people, political intrigue overrides social contract and credibility, social mobility is dictated by the authority and accommodates no fair competition. Consequently, the Artist with not much of a political status becomes the spokesman of social conscience, taking the blame for the “fall” of humanity.
2. Creative practices conducted on the global stage by Chinese artists working in China and foreign artists from a Chinese cultural background. Together with artists from other ethnic and cultural backgrounds, they have boosted the creative spirit of Art.
3. Inspired by the very presence of China, foreign artists from the international art circle have set about to address Chinese matters in creative ways.

Owing to its diversity, contemporary art in China is no longer merely a regional case but showcases the modernization cause of a non-Western, developing country, also a non-Western civilization not associated with the ancient Greek mode of thinking and conduct codes of Christianity, thereby inspires us to address issues of cultural diversity shared by the whole world, such as peace and development, environmental protection, and human welfare.

3 Experimental art

Drawn upon the asset of art history, experimental art sums up all the achievement of art from Cezanne to Beuys, and explores a new kind of relationship between art and humanity, i.e. the quintessence of Art. Experimental art surpasses the formal revolution of traditional avant-gardism (with Picasso as its climax), the “Anti-art” movement of Dadaism and Surrealism, and socialization and immediacy of art in Fluxus and Pop Art. Experimental art deploys new media and new technology in tackling all issues concerning humanity, from corporeality, human relations, the universe, nature and environment, to cultural memory, the world’s future, and divinity. In the past, the Artist was often being seen as a guiding figure or omniscient prophet, thus his creation betokens a kind of inequality between Artist and Audience. By contrast to this, contemporary Chinese art explores a new kind of relationship between art and humanity that endorses no arts to entice, dope, or indoctrinate the audience, opens up a channel for people to understand the plight of humanity, and initiates “suspension” of language and intellectuality, so that people can face up to all problems independently and attain an enlightened state of being, which, as non-being (wai), means integrity of humanity and creative autonomy that transcend all faiths, ideas, truisms, rules, customs, and mores. At this juncture, the arts can serve as a springboard for the individual’s final leap forward to attain enlightenment. Exploration of the very nature of Art defines the critical edge of contemporary Chinese art.

In 2005 the Chinese art market raises two concerns. In the international art circle, the director of Modern Art Museum City of Paris (Musée d’Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris) has once expressed concerns about over-marketization of Chinese art today. In Chinese art circles, Wang Yishan 王倚山, chief manager of the Rongbaozhai (荣宝斋) Auction Co. Ltd, has argued that the pricing of artworks in China has breached economic laws, and even the most successful entrepreneurs can hardly afford the most expensive pieces. Obviously, such hefty prices are merely bubbles. The concern proves the following fact. Various kinds of art can always find an audience in China, which can be classified into two types, i.e. the “powerful” refers to collectors and museums/galleries, and the “great” critics and scholars.² In today’s China, the relationship between the two is not balanced. As Leng Lin (冷林) points out, “Western scholars’ account about contemporary China is far removed from reality, but Chinese scholars have yet to come up with their own narratives.” The “great” audience upholds independent judgment but remains under the sway of the “powerful” audience. Specifically, museums and curators have all been involved in profit-driven activities, and at international, non-governmental charity events, it is galleries and business enterprises that often step up to represent Chinese art. This raises the two concerns aforementioned. Nevertheless, both Artist and Audience are capable of critical thinking and prefer to have their own opinions.

In 2005 contemporary Chinese art is closely associated with two key events.

First, the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) waged an educational campaign to safeguard the progressiveness of CCP members, a politically significant move that aims to achieve the following goals:

Improve the moral and ideological making of CCP members;

Strengthen the build of grass-root organizations;

Serve the People;

Push forward on all fronts.

Ever since the Cultural Revolution ended, this is for the first time that China’s ruling party has waged a nationwide “educational” campaign to engage all its members and seek to cement its leadership. The campaign targets corruption running rampant in the economic sector. With people’s living condition improved, corruption betokens universal human drives and institutional malaises that inflict the ruling classes and commoners alike. Self-rectification becomes a key measure for the ruling party to safeguard its vanguard position of leadership. Since China stepped in the Open and Reform era, social mentality and the moral vacuum left behind by the Cultural Revolution have become subjects to be addressed in contemporary art. A wide range of art phenomena and artworks have all touched upon the issues the campaign seeks to tackle. In ancient China, the Court established the institution of yuefu 乐府 (music bureau) to collect folk songs and ballads, a kind of “contemporary art”, as a means of social survey and documentation. Contemporary Chinese art addresses the following issues.

1) In what light the People (CCP members included) regards the ruling class; 2) exposing and satirizing popular mentality and moral misconducts; and 3) expressing people’s discontent and hope from the very depth of humanity. In line with the campaign, the contemporary art circle in China has also adopted criteria well suited to assess if a work of art is “corrupted”, i.e. if it has failed to be engaged with social reality and humanity. Regardless of the position that it takes, e.g. expose, defy and criticize, present, and refract, or adopt self-defeating gestures, Art shall never resort to politicians’ tactics or theorists’ rationality, but must reveal what surfaces in subconscious or unconscious ways to achieve most poignant effects. Art is the most sensitive indicator of our time, and like an undercover agent, the Artist penetrates the fibers of society and the human psyche. Artistic creation prompts society’s self-presentation and self-reflection, which may seem bizarre, but are revelatory of today’s world. Therefore, the CCP’s campaign is highly relevant to contemporary art in China.

Second, the female-solo contest “Super Female Voice” organized by the Hunan Television has drawn participants from all walks of life. Its appeal as a “popular” cultural event lies not only in the organizers’ strategic tactics, but also its association with contemporary art. In terms of outlook, the event is a stretch of contemporary art as well.

The contest has deployed the most powerful media in the modern time, i.e. television, to challenge the authority and champion the individual’s rights nationwide. This is made possible by its rule that whoever wants to sing can all join in, free of charge. Regardless of vocal styles, ages, looks, or birthplaces, people can all participate in the competition.

Equal opportunity for all is a basic tenet for civilized society, also the primal ideal of the Communist ideology, i.e. people all contribute at their best and social resources are being distributed in a way that meets all people’s needs.” In terms of wealth, social status, ethnicity, or nationality, people are not equal. Even when such inequalities are eradicated, people are still unequal in physical and intellectual terms, and in the “Super Female Voice” contest, inequalities of the kind boil down to the participants’ singing skill — an artistic matter. The contest has succeeded in cancelling out inequalities of the two kinds, hence momentarily attained ultimate equality among participants. (In principle, women in China can all participate, whereas in reality, only those who like to sing and stand in the spotlight would consider it. Thus the contest does not accommodate those who either dislike singing, or are depleted of public awareness or opportunities to sing at such occasion, due to their social status, age, look, or the region where they live)

The individual’s rights were being highlighted during the poll when “anybody” can vote. The contest result drew from a democratic proceeding that treats everyone as equal — a statistic/rational process with no ideological undertone. Although it resembles “idols” TV shows fashionable abroad, the contest bears political and cultural connotations unique to China, and cannot be identified with “idols” TV shows in developed countries, especially in the USA.

China’s contemporary art always seeks to deconstruct and subvert the authority, whereas in Europe, it was the Dada movement that first featured such revolutionary charge. During the nascent stage of the avant-garde movement (1979/84–1989) in the Deng Xiaoping (邓小平) era, and under the policy of “emancipation of the Mind”, Chinese art bears a dual feature. The constructive type stresses order and hieratic differences of people, and the subversive type aims to eliminate all differences in the human world. Later on, with the constructive type developing gradually, it is the subversive type that fits in with the Western market’s appetite for China’s contemporary art since the Cold War era ended. Prompted by the influx of foreign capital, the subversive type has been thriving in China. As a case in point, the appropriation of popular images in the “Super Female Voice” contest undercuts the elegant and embraces the vulgar. Li Xianting (栗宪庭) has described it as “gaudy art.” A key event of the kind was the exhibition “China Avant-garde” held at Das Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Berlin, Germany in 1992.

The “Super Female Voice” contest echoes with contemporary art. For the first time in history and in geopolitical senses, the event celebrates political consciousness of common folks and their appeal for democracy in China. Also unprecedentedly in history, entertainment subverts the authority. By the end, the event has achieved the following goals:

1. Belie common assumptions about over-marketization a...