Abstract
This paper approaches the theme “Image in Society” from the “reverse perspective” through an examination of the resistance and discontent voiced by numerous Chinese artists and art critics in 1988 against the humanistic concerns with societal changes that had characterized the ’85 New Wave. 1988 marked a watershed moment in Chinese art discourse in which heated arguments were exchanged around the extent to which art, principally paintings and prints, should depart from serving social functions. A close reading of articles published in important art newspapers in China of the time reveals that this nationwide debate was not merely split into two polarized factions on the basis of “for or against,” but instead constituted a holistic and multifaceted reappraisal of the contemporary status of Chinese art. Archival research demonstrates that this crucial debate consisted of a number of related themes: the legacies of post-Cultural Revolution art, the role of a “purified” artistic language in diversifying the art scene following a period dominated by socially-engaged art, the relativism of aesthetic judgment, and the experience of absurdity and moral disorder in Chinese society at large in the late 1980s. When considered within a wider historical context, this debate emerges as a key example of the abiding concern with the tension of form and social content in contemporary Chinese art.
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
Contemporary Chinese Art, Post-Cultural Revolution Art, Form and Content
