Synopses & Reviews
In his new book, Wu Hung raises timely questions about artistic freedom and censorship. Here, as in the Smart Museum's exhibition
Canceled: Exhibiting Experimental Art in China, Wu uses the government's cancellation of the exhibition
It's Me (Beijing, 1998) to anchor his analysis of the challenges faced by contemporary Chinese artists and curators.
During this time of rapid change in mainland China, artists and curators are seeking new ways to show work, and finding new allies, patrons and audiences. They are investigating ways to respond to official antagonism, to realize the potential of experimental art in the public sphere, and to maintain the independence of this art in an increasingly commercialized society. Wu addresses these issues through a survey of current exhibition practices, a discussion of the Smart Museum exhibition, a case study of It's Me, a rich collection of primary materials from eleven recent exhibitions. By introducing readers to the complex milieu of experimental artists and curators in China, Wu makes a major contribution to the growing scholarship on contemporary Chinese culture.
Synopsis
The massive political, economic, and social changes China has undergone during the past decade have dramatically altered its cultural landscape. This volume offers the first comprehensive look at the body of photographic art produced during this period. Often ambitious in scale and experimental in nature, the works featured in Exhibiting Experimental Art in China encompass a wide range of highly individual responses to these unprecedented transformations.
About the Author
Wu Hung is the Harrie A. Vanderstappen Distnguished Service Professor in Art History at the University of Chicago. He is the author of Transcience: Chinese Experimental Art at the End of the Twentieth Century and The Double Screen: Medium and Representation in Chinese Painting, both published by the University of Chicago Press.
Table of Contents
Foreword
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Exhibiting Experimental Art in China
Part One: Canceled: An Exhibition about an Exhibition
Part Two: It's Me: A Case Study
Part Three: Twelve Experimental Exhibitions: A Documentary History
Appendix: A Chronicle of Experimental Exhibitions in China (1990-2000)
Selected Bibliography