Synopses & Reviews
Since the confirmation of Deng Xiaopingand#8217;s policy of Opening and Reform in 1978, the Peopleand#8217;s Republic of China has undergone a liberalization of culture that has led to the production of numerous forms of avant-garde, experimental, and museum-based art. With a fast-growing international market and a thriving artistic community, contemporary Chinese art is riding a wave of prosperity, though issues of censorship still abound. Shedding light on the current art scene, Paul Gladstonand#8217;sand#160;
Contemporary Chinese Artand#160;puts Chinaand#8217;s recent artistic output into the context of the wider cultural, economic, and political conditions that surround it.
and#160;
Providing a critical mapping of ideas and practices that have shaped the development of Chinese art, Gladston shows how these combine to bind it to the structure of power and state both within and outside of China. Focusing principally on art produced by artists from mainland Chinaand#151;including painting, film, video, photography, and performanceand#151;he also discusses art created in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, and diasporic communities. Illustrated with 150 images,and#160;Contemporary Chinese Artand#160;unravels the complexities of politics, artistic practice, and culture in play in Chinaand#8217;s art scene.
Review
and#8220;Contemporary Chinese Art is an emerging field for academic research and writing. Although much has already been written on the subject particularly in non-academic contexts, there is a need for more searching scholarly analysis and the construction of related critical discourses. Gladstonand#8217;s book provides a vividly critical account of contemporary Chinese artand#8217;s development over the last four decades while situating it carefully in relation to its wider socio-political contexts. Gladston discusses key events in the overall history of modern and contemporary Chinese art based on five years of research in China. He also signposts important possibilities for the further development of contemporary Chinese art. This is a vital book for future excursions in the field of contemporary Chinese art research.and#8221;
Review
andldquo;The leading Chinese artist Wang Guangyi says that Gladstonandrsquo;s
Contemporary Chinese Art: A Critical Historyand#160;has an andlsquo;enchanting epic quality.andrsquo; The scale and rigour of Gladstonandrsquo;s approach means that Wangandrsquo;s assessment is largely justified: the book is divided into four sections, with an opening chapter expertly putting Chinese art in context by examining cultural exchanges between China and the West from Antiquity to the mid-twentieth century.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;Drawing on five years of research in China, Gladston has penned a study of contemporary Chinese art that does far more that run through leading artists and their works. He discusses familiar figures such as Ai Weiwei, as well as lesser-known artists, in the context of Chinese and international politics, examining the sometimes fraught relationship between artists and the state since andlsquo;Opening and Reformandrsquo; in 1978.andrdquo;and#160;
Review
andldquo;Gladstonandrsquo;s Contemporary Chinese Art proposes a story of Chinese art through ideas, investigating how artists, theorists, and curators have engaged with the andlsquo;dominant discursive formationsandrsquo; around them over time. . . . [an] admirable intellectual history.andrdquo;and#160;
Review
andldquo;Under Gladstonandrsquo;s pen, the complex and sometimes tortuous development of Chinese contemporary art has an enchanting epic quality.andrdquo;and#160;
Synopsis
Paul Gladston provides a critical mapping of ideas and practices that have shaped the development of contemporary Chinese art; not only those relating to the specialist concerns of artists, curators and critics, but in addition the wider cultural, economic, and political conditions of present-day artistic production and reception. He shows how combinations of ideas and practices bind contemporary Chinese artand#151;as a consequence of artistic complicity and/or resistanceand#151;to structures of power and state not just within but also outside the Peoplesand#8217; Republic of China. While the principal focus is on art produced by artists from mainland China, and includes painting, film, video, photography, and performance, it also discusses contemporary art made by artists from Taiwan and Hong Kong-Macau as well others belonging to diasporic Chinese communities. Unraveling the complexities of politics, artistic practice, and Chinese culture, Contemporary Chinese Art is an essential companion for readers interested in contemporary art or Chinese culture, history, or politics.
About the Author
Paul Gladston is associate professor of culture, film, and media and director of the Centre for Contemporary East-Asian Cultural Studies at the University of Nottingham, UK, and editor of the
Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Chinese Art in Context
Cultural Interaction and Exchange from Antiquity to the Mid-twentieth Century and#8211; Realist and Modernist Art in China,1911-1948 and#8211; Socialist-Realist and Revolutionary Art in the Peopleand#8217;s Republic of China, 1949-1977
2. Modern (Contemporary) Chinese Art, 1976-1989
The Early Development of Modern (Contemporary) Chinese Art and#8211; Avant-garde Art in the Peopleand#8217;s Republic of China and#8211; The Dissolution of the and#8217;85 Movement
3. Contemporary Chinese Art, 1990-2001
Contemporary Chinese Art after Tiananmen and#8211; The Internationalization of Contemporary Chinese Art and#8211; Experimental Art and Social Transformation in the Peopleand#8217;s Republic of China
4. Contemporary Chinese Art, 2002-2013
Contemporary Chinese Art on the Global Stage and#8211; Contemporary Chinese Art and Contemporaneity and#8211; The Political Recuperation of Contemporary Chinese Art
Glossary of Chinese Names
References
Select Bibliography
Acknowledgements
Photo Acknowledgements
Index