Duke University Press, 2010 Paper: 978-0-8223-4943-3 Library of Congress Classification N7345.C67 2010
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC
ABOUT THIS BOOK
Despite the liveliness and creativity of avant-garde Chinese art in the post-Mao era and its prominence in the world of international contemporary art, until now there has been no systematic introduction to this important work in any Western language. Moreover, most of the relevant primary documents have existed only in Chinese, scattered in hard-to-find publications. Contemporary Chinese Art remedies this situation by bringing together carefully selected primary texts in English translation. Arranged in chronological order, the texts guide readers through the development of avant-garde Chinese art from 1976 until 2006. Because experimental Chinese art emerged as a domestic phenomenon in the 1970s and 1980s and its subsequent development has been closely related to China’s social and economical transformation, this volume focuses on art from mainland China. At the same time, it encompasses the activities of mainland artists residing overseas, since artists who emigrated in the 1980s and 1990s were often key participants in the early avant-garde movements and have continued to interact with the mainland art world. The primary documents include the manifestos of avant-garde groups, prefaces to important exhibitions, writings by representative artists, important critical and analytical essays, and even some official documents. Each chapter and section begins with a concise preface explaining the significance of the texts and providing the necessary historical background; the volume includes a timeline summarizing important art phenomena and related political events.
Publication of the Museum of Modern Art
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Wu Hung is the Harrie A. Vanderstappen Distinguished Service Professor in Art History and East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Director of the Center for the Art of East Asia and Consulting Curator at the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago. His many books include Remaking Beijing: Tiananmen Square and the Creation of a Political Space, Transience: Chinese Experimental Art at the End of the Twentieth Century, and (with Christopher Phillips) Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China. He has curated many international exhibitions of Chinese art.
Peggy Wang is Assistant Professor of Art History at Denison University.
REVIEWS
“Respected on both sides of the Pacific . . . [Wu Hung] has helped introduce Chinese avant-garde art to the West.” - Erik Eckholm, New York Times
“Recognized as one of the foremost authorities in both ancient and contemporary Chinese art, Wu Hung has served as a consultant on some of the most highly acclaimed exhibitions of current Chinese art to tour the United States.” - Garrett Holg,Chicago Sun-Times
“[D]estined to become a key sourcebook on mainland Chinese artists. . . . [R]eaders not fluent in Chinese can revel in 35 years’ wroth of texts and information never before available to them.” - William Pym, Art Asia Pacific
“Perhaps the most useful guide to China’s multilayered modern art worlds can be found in the careful source book Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents by the University of Chicago professor and curator Wu Hung. In this detailed synopsis and catalog Wu succeeds in creating a broad series of definitions we can use to bring order to our own thoughts and to any recent Chinese works we may encounter.” - Jonathan Spence, New York Review of Books
“Chinese contemporary art is the darling of the international art market today, but two decades ago who would have imagined this sudden phenomenon? And, what were the participants thinking? This indispensable reader shows us through selected writings from 1979 to 2000 by many of those who made it happen: the artists, the critics and theorists, the curators, the art historians. Even the table of contents imposes a sense of order on this complex art movement, and what follows will enlighten anyone who studies, buys, or simply looks at the Chinese art of our time.”—Jerome Silbergeld, P.Y. & Kinmay W. Tang Professor of Chinese Art History; Director, Tang Center for East Asian Art, Princeton University
“Edited by Wu and Wang, this is the first sourcebook and anthology to systematically collect and translate into English principal documents on contemporary Chinese art that are scattered in hard-to-find Chinese publications. This volume provides students and scholars in the Western world with invaluable access to firsthand textual materials for studying and researching contemporary Chinese art. . . . Essential.” - T. Li, Choice
“Wu Hung’s ingeniously selected montage of texts and images gives the reader an invaluable overview of Chinese art between 1976 and 2006. It can be savored on its own, or taken as a primer to read alongside the more widely available analyses of recent Chinese history and politics.”—Jonathan Spence, author of The Search for Modern China
“This volume is an invaluable resource for anyone seeking to understand contemporary Chinese art, one of the most fascinating art scenes of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The documents are judiciously chosen, translated, and categorized, while an extensive historical chronicle and introductions provide accessible contextual information.”—David Joselit, Carnegie Professor, History of Art, Yale University
-- William Pym Art Asia Pacific
-- T. Li Choice
-- Jonathan Spence New York Review of Books
-- Garrett Holg Chicago Sun-Times
-- Erik Eckholm New York Times
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Part One: Contemporary Art as Domestic Movement, 1976–89 I. The Beginning of Contemporary Art: 1979–84 Introduction Unofficial Art Groups and Exhibitions Preface to the First Nature, Society, and Man Exhibition (Ziran, shehui, ren) (1979) / Wang Zhiping Preface to the First Stars Art Exhibition (Xingxing meizhan) (1979) / Huang Rui A Letter to the People (1979) / Xu Wenli, Liu Qing, et al About the Stars Art Exhibition (1980) / Li Xianting A Debate on "Formal Beauty" and Other Issues Formalist Aesthetics in Painting (1979) / Wu Guanzhong Emotion Individuality, Formal Aesthetics (1979) / Liu Shaohui New Directions in Realist Painting Scar Art Some Thoughts on Creating the Picture-Story Book Maple (Feng) (1980) / Chen Yiming, Liu Yulian, and Li Bin Man's Rational Meditation: A Brief Discussion of Cheng Conglin's Thematic Oil Paintings (1970s/1994) / Deng Pingxiang Native Soil Art A Letter from the Artist of Father (Fuqin) (1981) / Lui Zhongli My Seven Paintings (1981) / Chen Danqing Melancholy Youth and "Contemplative Painting" Expecting Her to Walk on the Main Road (1981) / Wang Chuan "Contemplative Painting" in China and Andrew Wyeth (1985) / Ruan Xudong II. The Arrival of an Avant-Garde Movement: 1985–86 Political and Intellectual Contexts Enlightenment of a New Era: On In the New Era (Zai xinshidai) (1985) / Zhang Qun and Meng Luding Pioneers of Contemporary Chinese Art—A Critique of the Progressive Young Chinese Artists Exhibition (1985) / Zhao Jinghaun Beijing Theorists' Reaction to the Art of Robert Rauschenberg (1985) / Zhu Ye Foreword to Fine Arts in China (1985) Appendix. A Nationwide Forum and Model: Art Magazines and Symposia (2003) / Martina Koppel-Yang '85 Art New Wave General Discussions The '85 Art Movement (1986) / Gao Minglu The Significance is Not the Art (1986) / Li Jiatun A Summary of Evaluations of the '85 Arts Movement (1986) / Gao Minglu Appendix. The Landscape of China's Modern Art Movment (1991) / Tong Dian Writings by Members of Selected Art Groups We—Participants of the "'85 Art Movement" (1986) / Wang Guangyi An Explanation of the Northern Art Group (1987) / Shu Qun On New Space and the Pond Society (1987) / Shi Jiu New Figurative: Manifestation and Transcendence in Figurative Patterns of Life (1987) / Mao Xuhui Red Brigade Precept (1987) / Ding Fang Statement on Burning (1986) / Huang Yong Ping Introduction to The Events Exhibition that Took Place at the Exhibition Hall of the Fujian Art Museum (1986) / Huang Yong Ping Toward a Physical State of Contemporary Art Itself (1986) / Wang Du III. From Collectivity to Individual Creativity: 1987—89 Rethinking the Movement Returning to Art Itself (1988) / Jia Fangzhou Rethinking Art Purifying Artistic Language A Few Thoughts (1988) / Zhu Zude and Liu Zhenggang Absurdity and Irrationality Non-Expressive Paintings (1986) / Huang Yong Ping Art as Process Looking for Something Different in a Quiet Place (1989) / Xu Bing Regarding "Analysis" (1989) / Chen Shaoping Challenging Modernism—An Interview with Wenda Gu (1986) / Fei Dawei Against the Public The Point of Departure for Art Project No. 2 (Yishu jihua di er hao) (1988/2007) / Zhang Peili The China/Avant-Garde Exhibition The Exhibition Background Material on the China/Avant-Garde Exhibition (1989) / Zhou Yan Confessions of a China/Avant-Garde Curator (1989) / Li Xianting A Brief Account of China/Avant-Garde (1989) / Hang Jian and Cao Xiao'ou The "End" of the New Wave Facing the End of the New Wave: An Interview with Fine Arts in China (1989) / Peng De The Modernist Dilemma and Our Options (1989) / Yi Ying Part Two: Globalization and a Domestic Turn, 1990–2000 I. Intrinsic Perspectives Artistic Trends in the Early 1990s (1990–93) New Generation and Close Up Artists (1992) / Yin Jinan Apathy and Deconstruction in Post-'89 Art: Analyzing the Trends of "Cynical Realism" and "Political Pop" (1992) / Li Xianting Appendix. The Misread Great Criticism (Da pipan) (2008) / Huang Zhuan Tendencies in Chinese Pop (1996) / Gu Chengfeng A Survey of Contemporary Chinese Performance Art (1999) / Gao Ling Major Trends in Contemporary Chinese Art of the Mid- to Late 1990s Identity and Experience Self A Personal Account of 65 Kg (1994/2000) / Zhang Huan Four Notes (1994) / Ma Liuming The Boundary of Freedom: A Personal Statement on Assignment No. 1 (Zuoye yihao) (1994/2000) / Qiu Zhijie Report from the Artist's Studio (1996) / Interview with Zhang Xiaogang by Huang Zhuan Preface to It's Me! (Shi wo!) (1998/2000) / Leng Lin Feminism and Women's Art Walking Out of the Abyss: My Feminist Critique (1994) / Xu Hong Toward a Female Initiative (1996/2003) / Tao Yongbai Wrapping and Severing (1997) / Lin Tianmiao Clothes Chest (Yixiang) (1995) / Yin Xiuzhen Engagement with Social Transformation Gaudy Art Living in Kitsch—The Critical "Irony" of Gaudy Art (1999) / Liao Wen Urban Destruction and Construction "Changchun, China": A Report on a Performance of Making Rubbings from Buildings Slated for Demolition (1994) / Huang Yan "94 Action Plan for Debris Salvage Schemes for Implementation and Results (1994) / Zhan Wang New Map of Beijing: Today and Tomorrow's Capital—Rockery Remolding Plan (1995) / Zhan Wang One Hour Game (Youxi yi Xiaoshi) (1996/1997) / Liang Juhui Report on Zhang Dali's Dialogue (Duihua) (1998) / Jiang Tao A Dialogue on Dialogue (200) / Gou Hongbing with Zhang Dali Sociality in Contemporary Art State of Existence (1994) / Zhu Fadong 12 Square Meters (12 pingfang mi) (1994) / Zhang Huan Ice '96 Central Plains (Bing: 96 Zhongyuan) (1996/2000) / Wang Jin On Painted Sculptures (1995/1997) / Liu Jianhua Standard Family (Biaozhun jiating) (1996/1997) / Wang Jinsong Why do I want to photograph the streets of Guangzhou? (2002) / Chen Shaoxiong Experimental Photography and Video Art Photography Trends and States of Photography's Development in Mainland China since 1976 (1994) / Li Mei and Yang Xiaoyan Appendix. Zero to Infinity:
Duke University Press, 2010 Paper: 978-0-8223-4943-3
Despite the liveliness and creativity of avant-garde Chinese art in the post-Mao era and its prominence in the world of international contemporary art, until now there has been no systematic introduction to this important work in any Western language. Moreover, most of the relevant primary documents have existed only in Chinese, scattered in hard-to-find publications. Contemporary Chinese Art remedies this situation by bringing together carefully selected primary texts in English translation. Arranged in chronological order, the texts guide readers through the development of avant-garde Chinese art from 1976 until 2006. Because experimental Chinese art emerged as a domestic phenomenon in the 1970s and 1980s and its subsequent development has been closely related to China’s social and economical transformation, this volume focuses on art from mainland China. At the same time, it encompasses the activities of mainland artists residing overseas, since artists who emigrated in the 1980s and 1990s were often key participants in the early avant-garde movements and have continued to interact with the mainland art world. The primary documents include the manifestos of avant-garde groups, prefaces to important exhibitions, writings by representative artists, important critical and analytical essays, and even some official documents. Each chapter and section begins with a concise preface explaining the significance of the texts and providing the necessary historical background; the volume includes a timeline summarizing important art phenomena and related political events.
Publication of the Museum of Modern Art
AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Wu Hung is the Harrie A. Vanderstappen Distinguished Service Professor in Art History and East Asian Languages and Civilizations, Director of the Center for the Art of East Asia and Consulting Curator at the Smart Museum of Art at the University of Chicago. His many books include Remaking Beijing: Tiananmen Square and the Creation of a Political Space, Transience: Chinese Experimental Art at the End of the Twentieth Century, and (with Christopher Phillips) Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China. He has curated many international exhibitions of Chinese art.
Peggy Wang is Assistant Professor of Art History at Denison University.
REVIEWS
“Respected on both sides of the Pacific . . . [Wu Hung] has helped introduce Chinese avant-garde art to the West.” - Erik Eckholm, New York Times
“Recognized as one of the foremost authorities in both ancient and contemporary Chinese art, Wu Hung has served as a consultant on some of the most highly acclaimed exhibitions of current Chinese art to tour the United States.” - Garrett Holg,Chicago Sun-Times
“[D]estined to become a key sourcebook on mainland Chinese artists. . . . [R]eaders not fluent in Chinese can revel in 35 years’ wroth of texts and information never before available to them.” - William Pym, Art Asia Pacific
“Perhaps the most useful guide to China’s multilayered modern art worlds can be found in the careful source book Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents by the University of Chicago professor and curator Wu Hung. In this detailed synopsis and catalog Wu succeeds in creating a broad series of definitions we can use to bring order to our own thoughts and to any recent Chinese works we may encounter.” - Jonathan Spence, New York Review of Books
“Chinese contemporary art is the darling of the international art market today, but two decades ago who would have imagined this sudden phenomenon? And, what were the participants thinking? This indispensable reader shows us through selected writings from 1979 to 2000 by many of those who made it happen: the artists, the critics and theorists, the curators, the art historians. Even the table of contents imposes a sense of order on this complex art movement, and what follows will enlighten anyone who studies, buys, or simply looks at the Chinese art of our time.”—Jerome Silbergeld, P.Y. & Kinmay W. Tang Professor of Chinese Art History; Director, Tang Center for East Asian Art, Princeton University
“Edited by Wu and Wang, this is the first sourcebook and anthology to systematically collect and translate into English principal documents on contemporary Chinese art that are scattered in hard-to-find Chinese publications. This volume provides students and scholars in the Western world with invaluable access to firsthand textual materials for studying and researching contemporary Chinese art. . . . Essential.” - T. Li, Choice
“Wu Hung’s ingeniously selected montage of texts and images gives the reader an invaluable overview of Chinese art between 1976 and 2006. It can be savored on its own, or taken as a primer to read alongside the more widely available analyses of recent Chinese history and politics.”—Jonathan Spence, author of The Search for Modern China
“This volume is an invaluable resource for anyone seeking to understand contemporary Chinese art, one of the most fascinating art scenes of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The documents are judiciously chosen, translated, and categorized, while an extensive historical chronicle and introductions provide accessible contextual information.”—David Joselit, Carnegie Professor, History of Art, Yale University
-- William Pym Art Asia Pacific
-- T. Li Choice
-- Jonathan Spence New York Review of Books
-- Garrett Holg Chicago Sun-Times
-- Erik Eckholm New York Times
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Part One: Contemporary Art as Domestic Movement, 1976–89 I. The Beginning of Contemporary Art: 1979–84 Introduction Unofficial Art Groups and Exhibitions Preface to the First Nature, Society, and Man Exhibition (Ziran, shehui, ren) (1979) / Wang Zhiping Preface to the First Stars Art Exhibition (Xingxing meizhan) (1979) / Huang Rui A Letter to the People (1979) / Xu Wenli, Liu Qing, et al About the Stars Art Exhibition (1980) / Li Xianting A Debate on "Formal Beauty" and Other Issues Formalist Aesthetics in Painting (1979) / Wu Guanzhong Emotion Individuality, Formal Aesthetics (1979) / Liu Shaohui New Directions in Realist Painting Scar Art Some Thoughts on Creating the Picture-Story Book Maple (Feng) (1980) / Chen Yiming, Liu Yulian, and Li Bin Man's Rational Meditation: A Brief Discussion of Cheng Conglin's Thematic Oil Paintings (1970s/1994) / Deng Pingxiang Native Soil Art A Letter from the Artist of Father (Fuqin) (1981) / Lui Zhongli My Seven Paintings (1981) / Chen Danqing Melancholy Youth and "Contemplative Painting" Expecting Her to Walk on the Main Road (1981) / Wang Chuan "Contemplative Painting" in China and Andrew Wyeth (1985) / Ruan Xudong II. The Arrival of an Avant-Garde Movement: 1985–86 Political and Intellectual Contexts Enlightenment of a New Era: On In the New Era (Zai xinshidai) (1985) / Zhang Qun and Meng Luding Pioneers of Contemporary Chinese Art—A Critique of the Progressive Young Chinese Artists Exhibition (1985) / Zhao Jinghaun Beijing Theorists' Reaction to the Art of Robert Rauschenberg (1985) / Zhu Ye Foreword to Fine Arts in China (1985) Appendix. A Nationwide Forum and Model: Art Magazines and Symposia (2003) / Martina Koppel-Yang '85 Art New Wave General Discussions The '85 Art Movement (1986) / Gao Minglu The Significance is Not the Art (1986) / Li Jiatun A Summary of Evaluations of the '85 Arts Movement (1986) / Gao Minglu Appendix. The Landscape of China's Modern Art Movment (1991) / Tong Dian Writings by Members of Selected Art Groups We—Participants of the "'85 Art Movement" (1986) / Wang Guangyi An Explanation of the Northern Art Group (1987) / Shu Qun On New Space and the Pond Society (1987) / Shi Jiu New Figurative: Manifestation and Transcendence in Figurative Patterns of Life (1987) / Mao Xuhui Red Brigade Precept (1987) / Ding Fang Statement on Burning (1986) / Huang Yong Ping Introduction to The Events Exhibition that Took Place at the Exhibition Hall of the Fujian Art Museum (1986) / Huang Yong Ping Toward a Physical State of Contemporary Art Itself (1986) / Wang Du III. From Collectivity to Individual Creativity: 1987—89 Rethinking the Movement Returning to Art Itself (1988) / Jia Fangzhou Rethinking Art Purifying Artistic Language A Few Thoughts (1988) / Zhu Zude and Liu Zhenggang Absurdity and Irrationality Non-Expressive Paintings (1986) / Huang Yong Ping Art as Process Looking for Something Different in a Quiet Place (1989) / Xu Bing Regarding "Analysis" (1989) / Chen Shaoping Challenging Modernism—An Interview with Wenda Gu (1986) / Fei Dawei Against the Public The Point of Departure for Art Project No. 2 (Yishu jihua di er hao) (1988/2007) / Zhang Peili The China/Avant-Garde Exhibition The Exhibition Background Material on the China/Avant-Garde Exhibition (1989) / Zhou Yan Confessions of a China/Avant-Garde Curator (1989) / Li Xianting A Brief Account of China/Avant-Garde (1989) / Hang Jian and Cao Xiao'ou The "End" of the New Wave Facing the End of the New Wave: An Interview with Fine Arts in China (1989) / Peng De The Modernist Dilemma and Our Options (1989) / Yi Ying Part Two: Globalization and a Domestic Turn, 1990–2000 I. Intrinsic Perspectives Artistic Trends in the Early 1990s (1990–93) New Generation and Close Up Artists (1992) / Yin Jinan Apathy and Deconstruction in Post-'89 Art: Analyzing the Trends of "Cynical Realism" and "Political Pop" (1992) / Li Xianting Appendix. The Misread Great Criticism (Da pipan) (2008) / Huang Zhuan Tendencies in Chinese Pop (1996) / Gu Chengfeng A Survey of Contemporary Chinese Performance Art (1999) / Gao Ling Major Trends in Contemporary Chinese Art of the Mid- to Late 1990s Identity and Experience Self A Personal Account of 65 Kg (1994/2000) / Zhang Huan Four Notes (1994) / Ma Liuming The Boundary of Freedom: A Personal Statement on Assignment No. 1 (Zuoye yihao) (1994/2000) / Qiu Zhijie Report from the Artist's Studio (1996) / Interview with Zhang Xiaogang by Huang Zhuan Preface to It's Me! (Shi wo!) (1998/2000) / Leng Lin Feminism and Women's Art Walking Out of the Abyss: My Feminist Critique (1994) / Xu Hong Toward a Female Initiative (1996/2003) / Tao Yongbai Wrapping and Severing (1997) / Lin Tianmiao Clothes Chest (Yixiang) (1995) / Yin Xiuzhen Engagement with Social Transformation Gaudy Art Living in Kitsch—The Critical "Irony" of Gaudy Art (1999) / Liao Wen Urban Destruction and Construction "Changchun, China": A Report on a Performance of Making Rubbings from Buildings Slated for Demolition (1994) / Huang Yan "94 Action Plan for Debris Salvage Schemes for Implementation and Results (1994) / Zhan Wang New Map of Beijing: Today and Tomorrow's Capital—Rockery Remolding Plan (1995) / Zhan Wang One Hour Game (Youxi yi Xiaoshi) (1996/1997) / Liang Juhui Report on Zhang Dali's Dialogue (Duihua) (1998) / Jiang Tao A Dialogue on Dialogue (200) / Gou Hongbing with Zhang Dali Sociality in Contemporary Art State of Existence (1994) / Zhu Fadong 12 Square Meters (12 pingfang mi) (1994) / Zhang Huan Ice '96 Central Plains (Bing: 96 Zhongyuan) (1996/2000) / Wang Jin On Painted Sculptures (1995/1997) / Liu Jianhua Standard Family (Biaozhun jiating) (1996/1997) / Wang Jinsong Why do I want to photograph the streets of Guangzhou? (2002) / Chen Shaoxiong Experimental Photography and Video Art Photography Trends and States of Photography's Development in Mainland China since 1976 (1994) / Li Mei and Yang Xiaoyan Appendix. Zero to Infinity:
ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC
