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100 × 150 cm × 59" ( ] initially determined to be an oil  ⁄ 3 was singer Zu Zhou, and numerous others, who who others, numerous and Zhou, Zu singer / . 1997. Gelatin-silver print, 39 . 1997. through the through halffirst of the 1990s

) 1 he put canvas aside in favor of light-sensitive paper [ paper light-sensitive of favor in aside canvas put he — (printmaking department, 1989), was also experimenting with photography, photography, with experimenting also was 1989), department, (printmaking 1997 No. 1( 2

When moving to Beijing to begin photography studies at the Central Institute of of Institute Central the at studies photography begin to Beijing to moving When Both Geng Jianyi and Zhang Peili would continue to subvert photography to the to the to subvert photography would continue Jianyi and Zhang Peili Both Geng the influence in at that time, and Indicative of the open environment tion, not yet recognized as a powerful medium for art. for medium powerful a as recognized yet not tion, DocumentingPerformance As I have suggested, [ thought of being a elements in their work, no one beginning to employ photographic Not even photographer. Rong Rong, who [ him otherwise, and fol to enter art school persuaded failed attempts Three painter. medium-format Seagull camera lowing experiments with a rented brand but place, impoverished an to Rong Rong brought poverty student Design, and Art envi the that creativity the to drawn was He him. interest yet not did comment social Ma Huan, Zhang to home was village The there. living artists the in spawned ronment poet the Xin, Cang Ming, Zhu Liuming, unknown. almost entirely artists were The collectively christened it the East Village. with only a limited audience to Publicizing events was not a sensible option. Thus, became testimony to the East Village Rong Rong’s photographs the word, spread that silence bated and anxiety tense the captured successfully stills His “movement.” Each which these artists faced every day. underlay all gatherings and the darker reality of their art was but external awareness of these artists eventually achieved recognition, Danwen. Xing and Rong Rong by taken images the via fast-tracked undeniably message they wished to convey. Their works were statements about ideas that could statements about ideas that could works were Their message they wished to convey. with impossible to realize the medium, and with results through only be explored other. any of these two artists, in 1992, Qiu Zhijie, who had completed studies at Zhejiang Academy contingent to the In Hangzhou, of his oeuvre. which would form a significant aspect had cred photography based there, elders experiments carried out by the avant-garde when he moved as Qiu Zhijie discovered was not the case everywhere, which ibility, of conventional func the viewfinder through it was still seen north to Beijing. There Rong Rong. of of Art, University Smart Museum David and Alfred ------), a ), a Zhe Zhe ( Ta shi shi Ta ( Building . Originally Continuous Continuous Jixu fanzhi ( This Person Person This ), Who Is He? Who Keen to convey the to convey the Keen 1 comprised a trail of dis comprised a trail Building No. 5 No. Building ), in which photographs Di mian Di ( was to enlarge the photographs that that was to enlarge the photographs Building No. 5 Continuous Reproduction Continuous Reproduction ), the series How To . . . (Walk, Laugh, Laugh, . . . (Walk, ), the series How To Floor ), and Zenme . . . zou, xiao, tiao, tuoyi Building No. 5 Heli guanxi ( was a successful, powerful piece, enhanced by black black by enhanced piece, powerful successful, a was Shenfenzheng ( , which opened in in January 1993. rt ). Building No. 5 A was a sharp reminder of how the past fades through time and repeated time and repeated of how the past fades through was a sharp reminder Identity Card Card Identity Wu hao lou hao Wu ), ( A Reasonable Relationship It is not hard to imagine that Zhang Peili, Geng Jianyi’s close friend and associate, Geng Jianyi’s close friend to imagine that Zhang Peili, It is not hard The process of producing this representation of the work kindled Geng Jianyi’s of the work kindled Geng Jianyi’s this representation of producing process The The only means of exhibiting only means The In 1992, contemporary Chinese art scholar Hans van Dijk was selecting works for van Dijk was selecting works for Chinese art scholar Hans In 1992, contemporary ),

vation to test the possibilities of photography himself. In 1993, shortly after their two- their after shortly 1993, In himself. photography of possibilities the test to vation produced show in Beijing, Zhang Peili person ge ren ge perceptions audience test to manipulated deliberately or texts with juxtaposed were an ongoing fascination with “truth.” It inspired as incontrovertible of photography medium. the the moti and was taking his friend direction the new in have found inspiration might tion against the building’s former subjugation to socialist simplicity and function, and function, and simplicity socialist to subjugation former building’s the against tion each. by demanded sparsity the play in Conceptual art. He was swift in put could photography in the role interest was conceptual works like initial result ting this to the test. The shei off a Coat) ( Take Put on a Jumper, imagined bustle of its former functional life. functional former its of bustle imagined using a domestic of the work, captured Geng Jianyi had originally taken as record yet depth, textural on thin and grainy were images The film. black-and-white of brand photowork, a as that convincingly conveyed a sense of derelic aura and white to a haunting, dramatic breadth of new Chinese art, van Dijk determined to include to determined Dijk van art, Chinese new of breadth as a site-specific piece in Hangzhou, produced building ear a small administration shoes spaced a pace apart throughout carded the shoes reconfigured and vacated for the purpose. The marked for demolition of their day, course the imagined through footfalls of the building’s former inhabitants of emptiness and imminent loss against the poignantly emphasizing the melancholy Through the first half of the nineties, the Chinese art scene was hand-molded by small by hand-molded was scene art Chinese the nineties, the of half first the Through goal the moved continually that opportunities and encounters chance significant but to gain a foothold is how this worked in assisting photography posts. An example of work installation 1990 his of version photographic 1992 Jianyi’s Geng in found 5 No. Avant-Garde ZERO TO INFINITY: THE NASCENCE OF PHOTOGRAPHY IN IN OF PHOTOGRAPHY NASCENCE THE INFINITY: TO ZERO CONTEMPORARY THE 1990S (2002) OF ART CHINESE Smith By Karen Documenting . . . Reproduction Reproduction limitations in picking up distorted. Also, of the camera’s viewing until all “facts” are one which we might not notice from at every round, detail; losing minute fragments essential to completing the “whole pic proven step to the next, but are incremental last. the with compared is image first the when ture” photograph of a photograph, photographed again and again until it abstracted itself itself again and again until it abstracted photographed of a photograph, photograph and even into oblivion, and implying the distortion of ideas, notions, preconceptions, a most succinct photowork, although the It remains time and repetition. facts through by glossy and complex images simple form of its content tended to be overshadowed art converged. kitsch, and media-oriented that became vogue as gaudy,

| 1 4 | ------) or ) Jinü begun in 1995, vali 1995, in begun , , ) Yangjiang qingnian de shenghuo de qingnian Yangjiang (

) resided. The group was a primal influence in the region, the in influence primal a was group The resided. ) Da wei xiang native town was a stone’s throw from , where the Big-Tailed Big-Tailed the where Guangzhou, from throw stone’s a was town native

Exploiting local responses in deliberately obvious parodies of dressing up and up and of dressing obvious parodies in deliberately Exploiting local responses mak just was Guogu Zheng ways. many in interpreted been have could issue The If photography purveyed truth, then mightn’t it be capable of capturing images ofcapturing of it be capable then mightn’t truth, purveyed If photography intended to convey more enough yet the works were real Lei’s actions were whose series by Zheng Guogu, in altering attitudes was wrought breakthrough The grown-up make-believe, Zheng Guogu relayed the narrative of his stories through of his stories through the narrative make-believe, Zheng Guogu relayed grown-up paper like a story on a single sheet of rows negative-sized contact prints placed in enacted even He fun. of heaps as appear to made was mockery Cruel film. a for board bill every on promoted romance idealized the with suffused wedding ideal own his to complete one work of using multiple images practice The on every corner. board created rhythmic flows thatreinforced the farce of theromp. But soon his frames fantastical increasingly life had grown it that real life. Or was started to appear like real cyni became mood The performances? photographed his with line in performed and of that which porn images, making ugly distortions cal as he manipulated fragmented the police dealt with the nastiness of vice, Zheng Guogu’s was meant to excite. Whilst material. of pornographic an official campaign to oust distributors subject paralleled stimulation. manufacture to thrilled that minds of nastiness the at hinted artist The groomed fashion, syncopated a in topics racy with played art Chinese 1990s art. ing and combined for immediate impact, a momentary jerk of emotion and a lingering Zheng Guogu’s photography matter that never quite explained itself. nod to the gray dedicated to youthful a bevy of followers and his work inspired was ahead of itself, docu whose photographic Yong, like that subsequently employed by Yang fantasy, but cute twenty-something in the life of bored hours mentation of “twenty-four style evoked in girls of dubious employment” owed much to the narrative dated play-acting to the hilt. Anyone who took these images for real was plain naïve. was plain naïve. to the hilt. Anyone who took these images for real dated play-acting Guogu’s Zheng ( Elephant group in use of materials, which often included pho in concept and diverse forward-looking and independent activi in their collaborative primarily as stills. It was present tography, ( series Prostitute Tan’s Xu like piece a of element an and documentation as ties a specific set provided location geographical works. The Chen Shaoxiong’s projection Kong Hong from It was just over the border of influences for artists within its sphere. zone. Daily issues trade a special economic and River Delta region, and part of the Pearl the in agendas manipulated that ones driven politically the than localized more were squander particularly conscious of the unsupervised north. Guangzhou’s youth were elite. Kong Hong the of progeny the by enjoyed time and cash of ing reality stranger than fiction? East Village performance works were not always accorded accorded always not were works performance Village East fiction? than stranger reality compelling for were documented them that but the photographs as art, credibility an Lei’s exhibition produced the opening of Yan the However, “truth” they depicted. that It was curious given camera.” fabricated for the “performances outcry against at that time were Morimura like Cindy Sherman and Yasumasa photographer-artists for the camera. familiar scenarios and re-creating on the success of imitating riding high “standards” 1995, in but 1998, in attitudes in around turn 360-degree a be would There an act credible performances, meant that to be of East Village set by the brute actuality allowed. “cheating” no authentic, be to had tampering with “truth,” what it of an event. He was deliberately than the document with audience perception. aim was to play The appraised. was and how it was did not wish no one wanted to be toyed with. Artists at that moment, Unfortunately, low. was Tolerance artists. other by challenged be to Yangjiang in Youth of Life The ------To ), which we which ), ]. ) (1999). The success The (1999). ) used photography to used photography ), in 1994. in ), — Biaozhun jiating Biaozhun ( pls. 33, 34, 35 34, 33, pls. Baifen zhi bai He continued with works like 3 ( Hongse tiegui Hongse ( 100% ), hot from the darkroom. It was a stun the darkroom. ), hot from Standard Family Family Standard , added fuel to the fire that claimed the photo that claimed fire the , added fuel to showed photographs of two performance works in showed photographs Hongqi qu Red Train Tracks Tracks Train Red ( ) (1995) and (1995) ) and the fact that he too graduated from Zhejiang — — The performances were done in private without an audi an without private in done were performances The . ) also a graduate of Zhejiang Academy also a graduate Red Dust Jinru — ( To Marry a Mule Marry To Gen yitou luozi jiehun luozi yitou Gen Invasion ( In October Lei 1995, Yan It was another exhibition in 1995 that effected the next alteration in views held of held views in alteration next the effected that 1995 in exhibition another was It perceptions conservative circle’s art Beijing the highlighted exhibition “first” This In 1994, Wang Jin In 1994, Wang Lin Tianmiao was moved to question the artist’s motive for what appeared a delib was moved to question the artist’s motive for what appeared Lin Tianmiao In summer 1994, at the home of artists Lin Tianmiao and Wang Gongxin, Wang Jin Wang Gongxin, Wang and Tianmiao Lin artists of home the at 1994, summer In Zhao Shaoruo’s early experimentation with photography followed in the well- experimentation with photography Zhao Shaoruo’s early Wang Jinsong acquired a camera in 1992, but it did not occur to him to use it to to it use to him to occur not did it but 1992, in camera a acquired Jinsong Wang Ma Liuming later used a camera in his performances with a self-timer that allowed that with a self-timer in his performances used a camera later Ma Liuming group with the East Village’s currency movement gained performance art The

of the medium but did precipitate a degree of change. a degree precipitate did but medium the of Academy suggests a pattern here show solo his artworks. the were photographs the so ence, Marry a Mule Marry particularly of these, cow. cash all-important the as “record” graphic several although China in exhibited been yet had works photo no Almost photography. abroad. and home at published been had erate desecration of the environment. Wang Jin, ultimately concerned with making a Jin, ultimately concerned with making a Wang of the environment. desecration erate the varying atti ensuing discussion illustrated The visual impact, denied desecration. lay in provision issues amongst artists. Blissful ignorance environmental tudes towards 1990s. late the of works photo in anarchy moral almost seemed what for record an event performers. in step with East Village presented a test print of presented gently a above bridge stone idyllic an on standing artist the of image arresting ningly meandering flankedstream, by lustily vegetated banks deep somewhere in China’s red the and water, of flow the echoed hair then-long Jin’s Wang heartland. agricultural surface like a sack in his hands descended to the tributary’s dust he was emptying from mist. autumn delicate a same type of political and cultural signifiers, Zhao Shaoruo’s photomontages paral signifiers, same type of political and cultural to technique was instantly apparent in painting. The Pop of Political leled the growth works loaded with read in avant-garde a non-Chinese audience, which delighted own his in cameo a have could artist the as Especially iconography. daring able, photographs. their performances, like Wang Jin’s Wang like performances, their trodden footsteps of officialpractice ofrewriting pictorial history byreordering people, the images of Mao amongst known appropriated political line-ups. He this While heart of the crowd. inserting himself as the radiant which he re-created, the art, it was in line with the mood of the times. In commandeering was not great Wang Jinsong, Liu Anping, and Zhang Shaoruo stand as early pioneers of performance of stand as early pioneers and Zhang Shaoruo Liu Anping, Jinsong, Wang in pieces performance joint their recorded Anping Liu and Jinsong Wang photography. is of the photograph that immediately aware one was Where images of varied quality. [ “photograph” the over precedence took act the act, an produced he when 1996, until “art” make asked by many artists to capture He had a fabulous eye and would be will look at later. him to photograph himself with his audience, but his work, like that of Zhu Ming and like that of Zhu audience, but his work, himself with his him to photograph photography. not performance, about primarily was Fadong, Zhu not experimenting other artists were did not mean that 1994. That early ethic from Here, of their endeavors. documentation nor with photographic with performance,

| 3 6 | ------ment in a direct, contemporary way. The key lay in personal interven key lay in personal The way. contemporary direct, ­ment in a At first glance, clearly discernible approaches seem apparent that make tracing tracing make that apparent seem approaches discernible clearly glance, first At There are grounds to argue for these subject headings: the human figure as vehicle as figure human the headings: subject these for argue to grounds are There artists could be said to slot into most cat endless, and most are permutations The the being followed. First, approaches different several clearly were there However, Photography offered artists a way to survey their sociopolitical, economic, and cul and economic, sociopolitical, survey their a way to artists offered Photography a variety in styles conducive to message, and issues at work, were Obviously there to is that it is often hard that the labeling of works is problematic One reason nounced than most foreigners could comprehend. could foreigners most than ­nounced which might be termed pure concept? pure termed be might which comment—associal to means as performance self-enacted pure and comment social for but and genre, abstract or non-figurative a in work to choose artists few very painting, in figure the employed also work conceptual” “purely Most “landscape.” at look handful a of new media umbrella was the there Then as did those focused on the environment. termed be also could these of Some tool. as subject much as was which technology, and comment. conceptual for made be could case a while performance pure an individual art of whether we analyze photoworks from the issue raising egories, ist’s overall direction or from specificisolated pieces.It seems more important to discuss specific works because—in allconcentrates butartist the a fewwhere cases by a single piece about contemporary is revealed largely on photography—more art only high entities by trend disparate to group and life in China as a whole. Trying diversity. their lights social comment. Second, as straightforward around category circles significant most private of field new the between photographyinterface an described provided earlier, required have would that ideas performance, which was especially useful for theatrical an enormous amount of social skill and financing to present publicly, neatly sidestep approval. and permission official of issues ping tural environ tural or work—physical the in presence whose tion, the artist as director-performer, This photograph. pure a from conceptual—was crucial to distinguishing a photowork and Zhijie Qiu by in photoworks produced was clearly demarcated kind of approach choreogra and both actors are the artists where Fudong, Yang and Zhen latterly Xu action. the of phers was attempted for It is not always helpful to categorize art—as of compelling concepts. Unhelpful 1990s. early the in art Chinese contemporary in expression of forms nascent their art evolves and in other directions, most experience more gain they as because used who those of majority The them. accorded label the confound to tend artists concepts ends as their various did so in multifarious ways to different photography and in ways more the Chinese adapted to change quicker demanded. In the 1990s, pro technique is The concept. pure such as social documentation versus easier, trends different and there would be the rea ideas at work, but these do not explain different nor the context againstson or motive for the difference, which the difference is made be missed by someone from motifs and signs might The anotherpronounced. culture concerned to com because those artists unfamiliar with the local lingo. It mattered work their if context the convey to needed reality social contemporary Chinese on ment curious. exotically oddly, as perceived not and understood be to was or for example terms like “social commentary” distinguish between “categories.” Take “photographed images of self-performed pieces highlighting social issues”: what is them put we do So both. be course, of can, Either comment? is what and performance is the Where line about self-portraits? What between groups? together or in separate beyond of these any between boundary is the What and self? fantasy, performance, - - - - - ), Zuihou de wancan ( Last Supper otifs p d M e Hel e s an d d Artists retained the core criteria of photojournalism, which meant the supremacy supremacy the meant which photojournalism, of criteria core the retained Artists To gain credence as pure art within a society where Western-style advertising and Western-style art within a society where as pure gain credence To In 1997, artists in Beijing had the chance to see photographs by Thomas Struth. The The Struth. Thomas by photographs see to chance the had Beijing in artists 1997, In Richard Billingham was another favorite. Song Yongping had been to New York, had been to New York, Billingham was another favorite. Song Yongping Richard By the mid-1990s, as photography took its place in the broader scheme of main of scheme broader the in place its took photography as mid-1990s, the By It is also worth mentioning outside influences—although there is no space to

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ventionally “meaningful” event unless ratified in a deliberately petulant manner. petulant deliberately a in ratified unless event “meaningful” ventionally ten- one in meaning and message conveying story, a telling in image, single a of attention-grabbing the was China in photography art of secondcharacteristic blast.One huge. and dynamic, testy, employed: scale and action, subject, the of nature brief chronology in mind, we can now look more at content. at more look now can we mind, in chronology brief magazine only were culture just beginning to make any sense to the people’s visual photogra principles the from itself differentiate to needed photography art experience, took artists 1990s late the toward reason, this for Perhaps media. mass the in served phy Evidently, up by popular culture. in subverting the fantasies and ideals thrown pleasure reject all notions of a con act was to to fine art, the first photography in appropriating T it all Chinese art is brief, in contemporary because the history of photography Perhaps once at and with a jumbled unfolded range of themes, forms, and approaches. Do these relate to general issues artists at Which art board? contemporary the work across zero to infinity from go in just ten photography years? Withdid a How what? influenced profusion. Chinese artists were swift to clock new trends. new clock to swift were artists Chinese profusion. Then exhibited. he whom with Yongjin, Luo with chord a struck works his of blandness who took a leaf out of Zhuang Hui’s book and Fischer, Roland German was there had Conner Lois made portraits of hundreds of students from Beijing University. particular, in Hangzhou in artists with close was and 1984 since China to travelling been surf. the in toe a but represents This Peili. Zhang and Jianyi Geng like street panorama, but lacked her skill at infusing an oddity that makes it all work. She but lacked her skill at infusing an oddity that makes it all work. She panorama, street for the Gao Brothers’ similar inspiration provided others. among more travelling Artists were Billingham had work at the Holly Solomon Gallery. where werewingingcatalogues and their books wayback so toChina in frequently, and widely land art, suddenly being validated by exhibition space, it had everyone was at it. After more. much so for ripe become in the was clearly known British artist Sam Taylor-Wood them in-depth here. trace 360-degree seamless apparently an showed Bangming Liao by piece 2002 A 1990s. later O An important factor in the advance of photography in China’s contemporary sphere was the It sounds obvious, works. opportunity to exhibit photographic-based show first for and home butthroughat theinitialevolution period theavant-garde’s of on media that the emphasis was clearly ings of its art abroad, resonated within the installa sculpture, then and painting first was This model. art contemporary Western video. and tion, Zheng Guogu’s work. Perhaps the most important contribution Zheng Guogu made to Guogu Zheng contribution important most the Perhaps work. Guogu’s Zheng of sense the evacuating in was China in photography art contemporary of advance the an performing. It was images of artists into overly posed had crept that preciousness always via exploit though not would continue to Lei both he and Yan that awareness key. multiple the made he And photography. of medium the

| 5 8 | ------. It . It Yi he Yi ( overs and overs Standard Family Standard ment with “gaudy” as a ment with “gaudy” as a ). guished art photography from its con from guished art photography Peking opera, traditional myths and fairy tales, all myths and fairy tales, all traditional opera, Peking . ) Foxiang eality One and Thirty . . . Workers, Peasants, Children, and Art World People People and Art World Children, Peasants, . . . Workers, One and Thirty The most successful and sublime member of the Gaudy movement to make pho The Exploring the categories of the common people in a socialist society, Zhuang Hui society, of the common people in a socialist Exploring the categories the Hai Bo elected to reenact many artists chose to act for the camera, While in profile broad a gained had media mass mid-1990s, the in emerged art Gaudy As ocialPerformance antastic R photographic process in outrageous self-portraits of glittering rainbow make­ of glittering rainbow self-portraits in outrageous process photographic fantastical. somehow but Yes, Gaudy? hues. saturated F An Hong cre apartment, confines of his city-center restricted In 1995, in the greatly ated his Buddha series ( concerns. Lily pads, to contemporary visual metaphoric elements transcribed provided melded silks, sweet youth and innocence, pink gauze, sensual swathes of colored but adulative an to combined All lens. camera the before light of halo the in together carnal pleasures, enjoyed Buddha preached, invented life of the Buddha. An Hong’s and then sought to the free world image of first sexually diseases. transmitted The celebrated approach The message. serious more a imparting before attention grabbed that gently nudged the ribs of the viewer’s moral bright sensual impulses and pleasure and subject, practice, liberating for responsible was series small Hong’s An conscience. creation. of phase next the for way the paving content, Qingsong. tography was His Wang work was as fantastical as Pierre et Gilles, who beyond the glitzy surface, he too raised Yet early inspiration. undoubtedly an were in which society was heading under the glaring gloss of questions about the direction the as himself portrayed he ideals, social new Parodying extravagance. material lush clusters lavish in enmeshed icons revered of plethora a and Christ, the Shiva, Buddha, social moment, a large portion of which was performance or object-based, so photog so object-based, or performance was which of portion large a moment, social form. intended its always not was and documentation as served raphy S his own in China and photography forms of conventional familiar, from a cue Taking “serve the people” performances, between 1995 and 1997 Zhuang Hui a produced four-part a with tandem in executed were These portraits. group panoramic of series work titled ren de yishujie he ertong nongmin, gongren, . . . sanshi fixed, smile artist’s the same, the is pose the one each In snapshots. the in participated with Zhuang Hui portraits, group The striking. variants are but the between-the-lines audi for foreign right of each, had instant appeal, particularly positioned at the far endless invitations to engendered This ences intrigued by modern Chinese society. an insightful survey of series conjured One and Thirty The exhibit the works abroad. achieved it with Jinsong life in the same way Wang proletarian art. as credibility full achieved that era the of record valuable a remains of survivors out He sought album. family’s in his found portraits group restaging past, 1970s images and, by them rephotographing in the same positions, presented the by those who gaps created The China has achieved since that era. leap forward great speaks with the same power as blank space had departed make a poignant space that painting. ink Chinese in cou was This omnipresent. and lifestyles were glamour, life, and kitschlike color, daily of a vast array and the availability computers toward proclivity pled with an increasing possibilities for playing with a photographed The of affordable—pirated—software. endless, and color now clearly distin­ image were artist to experi­ first ventional counterpart. An Hong was the ------the the ward ward com Fine, late images late Standard Family Standard ). Shuangqin (

[t’ai chi] has instilled people with an ), a 1996 black-and-white photowork by ), a 1996 black-and-white photowork by taiji Parents

in 1999 in a solo show at the Central Academy Central the at show solo a in 1999 in

­ and Geng Jianyi’s work, and straightfor ) Zhong ( Rili 1998 Rili Clock ( Calendar 1998 Calendar Continuous Reproduction estures d G The The family was the subject of Zhenzhong’s Yang 1996 “chicken” series. The Against the sobriety of topics addressed, a lighthearted strain permeated Wang permeated Wang a lighthearted strain Against the sobriety of topics addressed, Humor also radiates from from Humor also radiates He exhibited He Third, and what was to become the dominant trend by 2000, a number of artists of artists a number by 2000, trend the dominant become was to and what Third,

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documentation. It set a new standard. new a set It documentation. form of China on a chicken had been a common metaphor because the geographical by Zhang Nian beginning in a chicken. It was a metaphor appropriated map resembles to the work relevant in Chinese art, he consistently produced 1989. A quiet strength these children would grow up without an extended family. It is a Chinese expression expression a Chinese It is family. extended an up without grow would children these art conceptual a but fact, of record and statement a problem, Chinese uniquely a of Almost no other work, report, family portraits. work and not a series of photographic like the external influences or study could encapsulate the change sweeping society, as much about poverty and wealth as of clothing and accessories worn, which reveal fell neatly between conceptual thought approach This and personality. fashion trends in Zhang Peili’s frame, asserting his power as witness to the changing capital. The rapid pace of change rapid asserting his power as witness to the changing capital. The frame, that complete the work, but the gesture by the passage of twelve hours was inferred history. of weight the under from out stepping of youth was and Family Jinsong’s classic series Standard of one-child families, and was a quiet lament that photographs prises two hundred different time of day forming a Hockney-like conglomeration. Later, photographs were were photographs Later, conglomeration. time of day forming a Hockney-like different and bamboo carved of created he stencils embossedfrom “print” the as used also on he when and as art his to brought it what for photography used Zhijie Qiu skin. human it. required at various tourist sites in Beijing. Pinned to Jinsong, which depicted the artist Wang to the image, he thrust himself into each time and place by the hands of time affixed Chinese, for even if they don’t practice it, and balance. Using the notion of a game with the sense of poise ingrained extraordinary themean made Zhijie Qiu permit, games that actions out acting of nature exaggerated simple. ridiculously ingful a at taken month, the of day each on scene same the of image an comprised It Beijing. in Qiu Zhijie began exploring how contemporary life shaped daily existence and the out the and existence daily shaped life contemporary how exploring began Zhijie Qiu human gestures. cultural en masse by appropriating as individuals or society of look These were humorous and relied of conserva on familiarity to strike at the borders shaking smiles to from ideology to the physical realm, tism. From hands, he recog In by an impulsive response. nized that human action was governed posturing of his subjects which demonstrates a comes theatricality, naturally to the with applications that were more usually associated with handcrafted, not machine- not handcrafted, with associated usually more that were applications with the on comments visual profound produce to camera the used Artists art. made, contemporary Chinese visibility zero from few years, the span of a Within situation. and interest, a photography-based to things work be many different it could had proved people. different very many G picked up the threads of narrative realism and storytelling that had previously been been previously storytelling that had and realism of narrative threads the up picked to composing photo In addition painted compositions. of domain exclusive the relating work, a complete to graphic frames, they could use multiple photographs technol new last, means no by but Fourth, images. succeeding through message the manipu­ to ways up China—opened to new largely was that ogy—technology

| 7 10 | ------My My These These Zhu Jia .

) 4 ), Men ( Door Jundui dalou Have These People Had Had People Have These — ordinary people are tainted by tainted by people are ordinary

Shanliang ( ), is a full-time job, and Song Yongping had to make a had to make a is a full-time job, and Song Yongping Military Clubhouse Military

— ; nursing ) confronted people with what this artist was not afraid to face. to afraid not was artist this what with people confronted ) Shining Zhe xie ren you xingguanxi ma? Zhe xie ren ( Parents they hinted at so much more. much so at hinted they Wo de fumuqin de Wo is the complete antithesis of Hai Bo’s rose-tinted remembrance and healthy healthy and remembrance rose-tinted Bo’s Hai of antithesis complete the is ( Against all this reality, in 1996 Wu Xiaojun chose a fictional, fable style of story in 1996 Wu Against all this reality, An undercurrent in An 1990s undercurrent art in China was art satirical ideas of reworking Pop Hong Hao’s glossy a cue from Fudong took Yang advanced Shanghai, In acutely with news associated truth the concept of to the capital, returning Meanwhile in documentation employed media exposé in a devastatingly direct Song Yongping His act ran contrary to the basic tenets of conventional society, a taboo of the utmost to the basic tenets of conventional society, contrary His act ran dis was foreigners, mind-numbed for disturbing necessarily not while and, extreme issue The significance. its lay therein But audience. Chinese a for shocking tressingly number of increasing in China, for an resolution urgent required the work addressed in mooted sentiment a age, old in for uncared and alone themselves found parents Jinsong’s Wang But in his dying parents. for care twenty-four-hour choice. He gave up art to provide he found a powerful subject for art. for his family first, making the choice to care Parents not riddled clean and empty, missing, the gaps are people are subjects. Even where visible. is that none least at neglect, or pain with represent to himself molded he These figures. plasticine small of cast a through telling staged In society. Chinese from types recognizable and characters historical specific compositions, [author] Lu Xun rubs shoulders with Lenin, gun-toting John Wayne imaginary up for his Xiaojun dreamt stories Wu The types with solid revolutionaries. of “known” factual events and plotting the course to history, related satirical dramas those slen works represented outcome to the inevitable. The positing an alternative one slight shift of was held to ransom; der moments during which the incontrovertible altered. been have might history whole the and presence or position gleaned from Andy Warhol and taken to new heights by Jeff Koons. Notions of the Notions of the by Jeff Koons. taken to new heights and Warhol Andy gleaned from capitalist consumer life and of contemporary attributes and throwaway bright, garish, who sense to Chinese artists mainland, made to the was making inroads ism, which in plenty of kitsch provided level whose sociocultural in a nation found themselves life. everyday and the boredom to demonstrate and turned the issue around lifestyle branding style. like a in followers several spawned This possessions. with obsessions of vapidity Zhu reportage, Jia the explored power of media influence encapsulated in a single had Youshen the artist Wang approach image. In common with an incontrovertible work 1997 the in taken a damaging message via outrageous by inferring of a photograph subverted the “truth” deceived by a misleading pictorial infer how easily the mind is association. He proved is done. In the damage is created, ence. Once an insinuation Sexual Relations? It echoed the is incidental. their proximity implication, although it is obvious that Xiuzhen’s 1996 plain images of doorways in Yin weight accorded childhood to adult which she had passed from simply the doorways through were piece 1994 in Geng Jianyi’s featured of stairwells vacant the but, like images hood, He?, Is Who especially the Sensational maybe, parents. of the mental and physical decline of his as example Perhaps parents. of himself stuck naked between his two tortured frames the meeting “parents” of product as “son” Or bodies? ravaged beside health vibrant of at frustration of out born was and moving, tough, is work The piety? filial of demands the artist’s distance from Beijing, the lack of attention or exposure afforded. Parents ------97, this took this 97, ­ –

Zhao Bandi he xiong re-created as format- re-created ( Models for the Masses Masses the for Models d New York Times, Times, New York ulate p and the ani ) jested about Western perceptions ) of perceptions jested China about Western he succeeded, his topics referencing relevant social social relevant he succeeded, his topics referencing Zhao Bandi and the Little Panda Zhao Bandi and the Little Panda ife, M Daoyou eal L Little Panda, Little Panda, Xu Yihui included photographed images of himself stuck on mock on stuck himself of images photographed included Yihui Xu , ) ia Projections ofR In late 1997, Hong Hao began inciting materialist ambition in photoworks that In late 1997, In 1997, Zhao Bandi started exploring ways to bring Chinese society closer to his his to closer society Chinese bring to ways exploring started Bandi Zhao 1997, In The obsession with media, exemplified in Zhao Bandi’s work, was prefigured in with media, exemplified in Zhao Bandi’s work, was prefigured obsession The The power of mass media to shape opinion and present the facts of the (art) world (art) the of facts the present and opinion shape to media mass of power The ), using a humorous, ironic motif for the Chinese situation that imbued his satire satire his imbued that situation Chinese the for motif ironic humorous, a using ), Art in America, ARTnews, frieze, Stern, frieze, Stern, Art in America, ARTnews, d e

Dazhong yangban while mocking the face China presented to the world. Hong Hao played an enthusias an played Hao Hong world. the to presented China face the mocking while whom? to what show to power the has who being: implication the guide, amicable tic, journeys paintings, scroll classical exemplary in depicted journeys the to him led This not unlike Hai Bo’s past and present, to examine physical environments he revisited comparative. human parodied slick, glossy, Western-style advertising media. It was his conduit for pointing Western-style slick, glossy, parodied that Chinese society had accrued as benchmarks of advance, mod to the standards in smart suits, donned He dressed and wealthy. World, First ernization, Western, Shi Shanghai-based by used also approach lenses—an contact blue and wigs blond trap himself with the prescribed in a similar conceptual game—and surrounded Yong images of picture-postcard pings of an ideal, civilized, and successful lifestyle. The Guide series ( Tour 1999’s The situations of the moment. The posters dealt with public issues such as drug abuse, dealt with public issues such as drug abuse, posters situations of the moment. The market, cleverly dove on the of fake products health, the prevalence public safety, astuteness of the “panda” concept The tailing with municipal government directives. the toy and a serious cuteness of was to combine humor with the heart-melting message. acceptable the backlash against the U.S. that after occurred the Chinese embassy bombing in 1999. May in Belgrade was result The art and vice versa. mao by enjoyed and accepted be could that art social was aim Bandi’s Zhao pathos. with the the masses. With Xu Xiaoyu’s product shots. In a series of diptychs, she juxtaposed urban street scenes urban street shots. In a series of diptychs, she juxtaposed Xu Xiaoyu’s product clothing or up—as design element of pedestrian in which the American flag cropped on used flag same the with product available an of photograph a advertisement—with subliminal man the was an astute observation of It packaging as a marketing ploy. the during edge further a given life, daily infiltrating was Way” “American the which in ner was a force Zhou Tiehai manipulated for his own poignant ends. In 1995 In ends. poignant own his for manipulated Tiehai Zhou force a was the well-known faces of publications imitating magazine covers the form of a series of like to reference and succinct that make direct perfect copies, but with headlines and images them. perceived he as China in art governing, influences the and of, situation the diminished one. The works inferred a bitter indignation. bitter a inferred works The one. diminished M obvious ways, but none with television and print media in A number of artists played so well as Xu and Yihui Zhao Bandi. In the 1996 exhibition ( smart. but Funny programming. permitted of parody a in screens television of mass-culture consumer products. His visual language picked up where An Hong left Hong An where up picked language visual His products. consumer mass-culture of a counterbalanced by were All serious elements on widely varied sources. drawing off, kowtow and willingly World First fawn upon the how developing nations mockery of he reduced Thus, that materialism engendered. of design gods the pantheon before historical and religious of nuances subtle the with playing figures, Chinese of scale the a versus presence exaggerated an as insignificance over power suggested that painting

| 9 12 | ------duced as inkjet prints prints inkjet as duced Hangzhou-based Wang Qiang pro Qiang Wang Hangzhou-based

), The work echoed the moment in terms of form as The 5 which bore witness to all tagged parts of the city, ear city, witness to all tagged parts of the which bore Fangzi, jia he jiaren he jia Fangzi, ( Chai, House, Home, Family House, Home, Family Not far away, Xu Tan was capturing images of planes flying into air Kong Hong into flying planes of images capturing was Tan Xu away, far Not features digital compilations of architectural In Hangzhou, Xiang Liqin produced For Zhang Dali had returned from Italy inspired by graffiti and embarked on a city embarked and by graffiti inspired Italy from returned Dali had Zhang out sites for demolition, in 1999 used to mark “graffiti” Looking at acceptable the rich sweep of environments, the images of urban and provincial From The most immediate way to pronounce the gulf between reality and the ideal liv the gulf between reality most immediate way to pronounce The from fiction. from then but first, attention grab planes The buildings. the above just only apparently port, and run-down. It was not exactly the old, tired, eyes shift to the buildings—which are the is this assume We promote. to sought Kong Hong that image well-heeled glossy, but which was not made clear, section of society is relegated, to which the poorer area and psychological the attendant environmental that was not necessary for reading invoked. dangers and colorful fash painting them in a decorative of buildings in the city, characteristic ion with immediate visual—if acid—appeal. Even this could not disguise the dilapi neither old, whose living conditions were only thirty years dated state of structures colorful. nor decorative wide daubing of his tag. The simple, sweep-of-the-arm outline of a large, bald head of a large, bald head outline simple, sweep-of-the-arm of his tag. The wide daubing returned he which to sites metropolis, the through wanderings extensive his mapped ­ repro then were photographs The handiwork. his photograph to by the pro blurred streets of buildings, walls, edges the color soft, the hard on canvas, they looked Where represented. to the urbanity they them a quality alien cess, giving elevated becoming graffiti, original the of tension the lost they cityscapes, painted like which pushed Zhang Dali to and they lost their punch: pretty, to aesthetics. But too the put transparencies illuminated the and lightboxes, to turned He experiment. rawness. of sense a restoring street, the on back viewer Jinsong produced Wang By 2001, of height. for the grandeur made way as low-rise marked for the bulldozer images refer composite humorous marvelous and producing even Zhang Nian was anticipation of the 2008 Olympics. By in transformation ring to Beijing’s large-scale had Luo turned now, Yongjin his full attention to systematically photographing and clashed with existing archi they invaded styles where incongruent new building his of form patchwork Hockney-like the seams, visible their With styles. tectural skill of execution applied to The reality. completed works deconstructed physical them one of the most enduring comments on con these multiple images rendered change. temporary Dali Zhang and Jinsong, Wang Hao, Hong revealed. was breadth geographical China’s Down Shanghai. and for was preference Yongjin’s Luo Beijing. on focused south, Chen Shaoxiong was making painstakingly fine miniature models of street actual landscape. He cleverly illustrated scenes which he “slotted” into the liv contemporary modern bright of ideal the Contrasting pace. buzzing Guangzhou’s consumerism, of pollution and detritus caused by rampant ing with the actual result a close look to untangle truth models trick the eye and require the photographed duced a beautiful sequence of sanitized panoramic sweeps of construction and sweeps of construction and duced a beautiful sequence of sanitized panoramic destruction, encased in lightboxes. to and ways various in lightboxes employing were artists Numerous content. as much Wei by Wang works were of success. Some of the most interesting varying degrees a while. in content to reference by to come will we whom Wei, Liu and was to construct a set in the manner instituted by Chen Shaoxiong. ing environment - - - -

” 2 ⁄

1 × 16 8 ⁄ 5 Stamping ). Collection . 1996. Chromogenic . 1996. Chromogenic 62 × 42 cm prints, each 24 ( Artur Walther Song Dong. Water was infused with nostalgia and, like was infused with nostalgia and, like

) Yizhi ( Ruins Environment offered no solution, just fact. just solution, offeredno orary p ontem C Standard Family, Family, Standard e The First, in 1997, Rong Rong began a series about the ruins of the urban center as the Rong Rong began a series about in 1997, First, By now, the self in photographic images was widespread and favored in a volume and favored images was widespread the self in photographic By now, Wuhan-based Li Wen came close but in a completely different way, employing a way, a completely different but in close came Li Wen Wuhan-based

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sion. People no longer recognized the world around them. The disintegration of the the of disintegration The them. around world the recognized longer no People sion. photoworks. of range diverse a in reflected was This anxiety. bred familiar old city gave way to redevelopment. Jinsong’s Wang Plurality: medium. dominant the almost was art Chinese contemporary in photography 1998, By body of work was but a growing Many artists continued performing for the camera, particularly cities and urban life. Speaking of dedicated to the physical environment, so happening and everywhere was change yet cliché, a become had China and change confu to turned had age modern the into China propelling for enthusiasm that rapidly merit mention is Li Haibin’s revisitation of the look of every decade from the 1900s to 1900s the from decade every of look the of revisitation Haibin’s Li is mention merit Liao Bangming also made a valiant attempt to parody the 1990s, spot on all the way. patient, business himself up as doctor, dressing the new categories of “profession,” etc. And mention must be made of video art teacher, soldier, man, sports personality, were output is small but whose projections whose still photographic ist Li Yongbin, Dong. Song notably artists, many on influence an clearly quiet, simple means of reminding the world that life is never quite so black and white, the world that life is never quite quiet, simple means of reminding his imaginable from context. Everything particularly poignant in the Chinese cultural stark a with incised were objects natural and friends, of groups face, own his to room He developed this in small, a whitened half. dividing line between a blackened and subtle. elegantly were that lifes still black-and-white equally mentioned above. One that does to list beyond the innovators of works too numerous F perfor fantastic the by introduced matter subject of choice and styles the 1997, From younger of breed new a by up taken were Qingsong Wang and Hong An of mances and modern living. beauty, ideals of family, artists who combined them with media Qingsong. Wang than better it did few for good, so not some good, were Some

| 11 14 | - - - - - Xiao ( Twelve Flower Flower Twelve Little Ones sitions constructed as still lifes, sitions constructed as still lifes, This was a series of compo­ was a This . ) Shi er yue hua ( ) was unique in touching on disturbing strains of sexual perversion relating to to relating perversion sexual of strains disturbing on touching in unique was ) Similar initiatives could be found in the works of other young women artists, like Similar initiatives could be found in the works Wu Ershan extrapolated stills from his video work of bodies roiling in vats of in vats of roiling of bodies work his video from stills extrapolated Ershan Wu organisms, living and flesh for penchant a with artist conceptual another Feng, Jin icons, with of it overstuffed the body so exhaustively exploited and images With a taboo that genitalia have never moved far beyond being taboo in art, Female In the late 1990s, Lin Tianmiao produced In some the produced of late 1990s, the reflections onLin finest the Tianmiao art-photographers one of the most influential contemporary Beginning in 1997, the bold expression of sexual emotions and relations by Cui Xiuwen. Cui by relations and emotions sexual of expression bold the decay. The element of rot intrigued him enough to prompt experiments with [Cindy] with [Cindy] experiments him enough to prompt intrigued element of rot The decay. Isolated, narrative. a greater from seem plucked single images, which Sherman-like of the the obvious falsity that even of misdemeanor on a disturbing aura they took erase. not could forms multi- color to produce detail and true-to-life for its fabulous photography turned to of cuts jointed nicely to animal living a of transformation the revealing triptychs image one might of the kind of dishes to cook and complete with illustrations meat; ready he previ photographs a pause in the computer-manipulated marked This produce. pro a in message its confounded experiments such many like which produced, ously whiz. technical of fusion needed to of signs, artists increasingly and an overwhelming array imagery, decorative a on alighted Xu Zhen In Shanghai, content. their to define means direct simple, find Among into new territory. images that strayed memorable way to achieve profoundly by par for the course subject was becoming at rest—the of prostitutes photographs blood of trickles subtle by tainted nudes male monumental of set a created 2000—he mesmer were down their inner thighs like untamed menstrual blood. These that ran shocked. they as even izing Beijing-based Chen Lingyang encountered in presenting her work Months the artist’s reflected Each mirror mirror. each pivoted on the centerpiece of a hand fact of menstrua the physiological own genitalia during menstruation, appropriating in months flower twelve of concept poetic the to year the of passage the through tion she finished whatHere, 1970s U.S. feministsChinese startedculture. by traditional conventional the most fundamental aspect of womanhood, subjecting “celebrating” reading. contemporary very a to culture dongxi Nothing and polemical issue in the West. controversial pedophilia, a profoundly of the provocation seem fully aware subjects Cui Xiuwen’s more. or shocks angers own point and an experience which, they exude, which compounded the artist’s her. deny cannot we hackles, raise might it though Her intent negated neither on sexual innuendo nor shock. physical body that relied the organs of gender and removing images of her own body, both as she adulterated China modern in femininity of state confused the invoked eunuchs female Her hair. printed digitally on canvas and not photographic and beyond. In soft shades of gray, level. integral extraordinarily different, a to photography took works her paper, Song-dynasty inspiration his animal, were “bodies” His Lei. Hong -based was painting, and subject his to photographs savage manhandling between the shutter aspects ethereal delicate, the with Playing print. final the of emergence the and closing con through the inspiration of classical painting, his stylized compositions replayed met damaged, dead birds— ancient gardens elements and mood where temporary to soften images then scratched negatives were beautiful, intact, but dead. The a new level techniques demonstrated These with overblown hues of color. saturated ------) 125.7 × 100.6 cm " ( 8 ⁄ 5 × 39 2 ⁄ 1

oo b ), which set a pace for the art-photography art-photography the for pace a set which ), a Rou/shou ( whose father used her skin as his “canvas,” Huang Yan whose father used her skin as his “canvas,” Huang Yan ggravating T y: A d Meat/Hand Pillow Book . 1998. Chromogenic prints, each 49 each prints, . 1998. Chromogenic itional Bo October 31 d ra In this new mood, the human figure was subject to tortuous interaction with ani with interaction tortuous to subject was figure human the mood, new this In Performance-installation artists Sun Yuan and Peng Yu needed photography to to needed photography Yu and Peng artists Sun Yuan Performance-installation Gu Dexin had been a prime mover in shaping contemporary art in China since the since China in art contemporary shaping in mover prime a been had Dexin Gu Other young artists would pick up the element of cute and shift up a gear in the of cute and shift up a gear in the Other young artists would pick up the element e T

mal and plant life. degraded the notion of portraiture by forcing his sub by forcing the notion of portraiture degraded Wei mal and plant life. Wang of swills under layered lightboxes, in photographs the sandwiching water, under jects of food stuffs over the subjects, which krill. A subsequent series slopped all manners than earlier images of fish and eels protruding sense of revulsion induced a stronger head. his around orifices the from ation of classical ink techniques evolved out of a performance that was less actual per ation of classical ink techniques evolved in lead female the Like painting. for ground the as flesh own his using than forming Greenaway’s Peter conventional rice paper to tattooing his torso turned his wife’s skill with a brush from pro ongoing an of part was photography Here, landscapes. Chinese meandering with age. modern the into heritage cultural his drawing of cess his major photowork major his form. appropriate for grappling still were others which in moment to materials in art, altering the subtext of truth document their works, works that were to also used photographs Huang Yan that fed back into photography. an alteration his appropri on pork chops—but document an unusual painterly approach—gouache Brutality is relative. Standards of morality forever shift their ground. What emerged in What shift their ground. forever of morality Standards Brutality is relative. who those for shocking art was not particularly brutal by some stan the final months of the 1990s in Chinese China, to new was It others. by immoral especially nor dards, the of circumstances unacquainted with the broader it and were confronted art. Western in pursuits comparable or moment by reinforced his installation pieces but was from mid-1980s. His impact derived first ronment, provoking awareness in a cute, seemingly pretty, certainly alluring fashion. alluring certainly pretty, seemingly cute, a in awareness provoking ronment, of brutality the to contrast stark a provided It millennium. new the of vernacular scene. fin-de-siècle the upon burst that imagery of strain another Th Model-making requires skill and dexterity often considered the province of women. In of women. the province dexterity often considered skill and Model-making requires Her fantasy to match the “Chinese dream.” worlds was creating Yiwu Shanghai, Wang and people blooming, landscapes flourishing, filled with gardens constructs were took on a serious Implied problems under water. floating or submerged pocket-sized was a and incapable of sustaining life. Hers dry, by sand: arid, was replaced as grass aura of how humans abuse their living envi tale informed by an awareness morality standard Gu Dexin.

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13 16 | ------one of the few Western films that has not been widely seen widely seen that has not been films few Western one of the raphy had acquired a tacky, salubrious underside. salubrious tacky, a acquired had raphy Crash, Crash, exerted an equitable influence on contemporary art practice and form. and practice art contemporary on influence equitable an exerted per se Wang Peng, who devoted much of the mid-1990s to familiarizing himself in New in himself familiarizing to mid-1990s the of much devoted who Peng, Wang Photoworks were never an easy option, nor a fast track to artistic success. Like all never an easy option, nor a fast track Photoworks were con more from this decade emerged a large number of striking works ranging From Many of the issues in evidence were sharp, insightful, and conscientiously evoca sharp, insightful, and conscientiously Many of the issues in evidence were onclusion the anonymity it provides for expressing fantasies, He An placed a personal ad on a a ad on a personal placed He An fantasies, for expressing it provides the anonymity interpreta their as photographed be to willing people young for calling server Chinese girls, teenage of mainly images, of series startling a was result The “cool.” tions of with sleaze that they associated sexy The scarred. was to appear desire whose burning their fantasy was similar to the morbid fascination with injury projected in David film Cronenberg’s China. in of an advantageous application demonstrated software, computer with creative York exquisitely elegant works on rice paper and of neat, precise, effects. An initial series focused second A environments. adopted their in expatriates of presence the explored scenes with a twist, an of Beijing in seemingly innocuous street on the changing face challenge to out a deliberate threw that of perspective odd angle, a subtle distortion most world’s the of one in importantly, most and eye, viewer’s the of keenness the the Recognizing life. human vestiges of all devoid of was made capitals, populous astounding. more work the made only desertedness C an for accounted on mid-1990s the from produced works photographic of volume The pho Equally, of important Chinese artworks of the period. indispensable proportion tography tive of the Chinese situation. But by 2000, some artists had slipped into a flippant art by contemporary of photography embrace mass The exploitation of the process. an any international art world had encouraged of the interest and the growing circles a seam of to churning out photoworks. In particular, thing-and-everything approach badly framed the compositions and shallow, fantasy performance had become twee was not kitsch, con clutter of daily life visible on the fringes. This with the background the in faith a blind and complacency, to laziness, due was but clever, or ceptual, institutions by young, ambitious artists impatient to of foreign unquestioning interest like the aver of naïve technique, where, make their mark. Or perhaps it was evidence age tourist snap, the saw photographer only the subject and not the frame. entire photog­ way, Either to be critical for a work it were message that inspired and the concept the art, good thatendowed with enduring value. It is interesting of all the artists employing pho be to be deemed could Yiluo Bai and Jianyi Geng only 1990s, the through tography chemicals, and intervention in the experimenting with its essence—light, exposure, darkroom. documentation of and comment upon the social environment, to approaches ventional capac his “In Cartier-Bresson, of said Gombrich H. E. invention. conceptual dynamic to speak, he found the physiognomic qualities and thus to make reality ity to record camera The new millennium found Yu Hong revisiting her life using family album snapshots as Hong revisiting found Yu new millennium The a series of Lei produced Yan way, conceptual In a more the basis for oil paintings. and specifically intended to appear as photographs paintings that were monochrome were These and painting. photograph blur the distinct visual boundaries between adopted by canvases, a style also somewhat in the vein of Luc Tuymans’s painter Xie Nanxing, whose compositions took a cue too Sam from Taylor-Wood’s constructs. photographic . - - - ) )

1999. Bei waixingren qiangjian qiangjian Bei waixingren ( 100 × 81 cm " ( After Liang Kai’s

8 Shimao de shiwu ge liyou ⁄ 7 ( × 31  ⁄ 3 Song-Dynasty) Masterpiece of the Mountains.” Chromogenic print, Chromogenic Hong Lei. ( 39 “Shakyamuni Coming out Woman Raped by an Alien Woman Fifteen Reasons for Fashion Fifteen Reasons for Fashion which took months of trial and error to generate on computer. on generate to error and trial of months took which , ) The The next project was He An first produced computer-generated images in the style of popular advertis popular of style the in images computer-generated produced first An He New technology created the potential for disarming new techniques, like satellite the potential for disarming new techniques, New technology created hnology

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reality. The juxtaposition of “cool” slapped over the image of a figure with withered with withered juxtaposition of “cool” slapped over the image of a figure The reality. legs imparted a callous slant to the “Just Do It!” hype, questioning attitudes toward perfection. physical and spheres, social all from people connecting in Internet the of role the by Intrigued what was specifically appropriate to the concept of a particular artwork and, in identi in and, artwork particular a of concept the to appropriate specifically was what finding innovative ways to make existing techniques fying the effect they required, achieve it. An example is He An’s funü de advertisements— sports Western of slogans the in exhorted “cool” the combining ing, for of like Nike, a Adidas, those and figures produced grim Reebok—with Chinese imaging, which Li Tianyuan explored in 2000, and infrared and medical optical sensing, optical medical and infrared and 2000, in explored Tianyuan Li which imaging, a balance with con 1998. But such have yet to find from Feng by Feng appropriated alone was not enough or technology process form of a new mere cept in the work. The for in the use of computer software as art, equally illustrated to win work credence comfortable using special and video. But as artists became more digital photography focused concern on as many as possible gave way to a effects, the urge to incorporate Technology came Technology of age in China in the 1990s, aided by economic reforms that end of the decade, enough to support it. By the advanced individual circumstances of with the centers familiar enough were abroad regularly artists who had traveled of modernity. their initial understanding to have reappraised creativity Western disposability of the moment as the world moved matched the increasing Photography contain. to perceived was it unknown the and millennium new a toward of creative control over the photograph, putting artists back in the driving seat. Hong over the photograph, control of creative Wensheng, like Dong of his generation, Lei’s work was a visible influence on others imitation. at attempts variegated but solid made who T

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4. 3. 2. 5. 1. This wasthefirst large-scaletouringexhibitionof new artfrom themainland,atHausder Kulturen der Department ofChinesePainting, 1987. Hangzhou ishometotheZhejiangAcademyofFineArts,whichchangeditsname Installation exhibitionheldinafurniture factoryinShanghai2000,curated byQiuZhijieandWu work for them. it made strated howartistsrecognizedthey thispotential,butmore significantly,how photography in China through the 1990s demon of explosion The say. to wanted they the medium for its specific qualities and superiority to painting in expressing what to be superior to the brush.” It is certain that many contemporary Chinese artists chose (Guangzhou: GuangdongMuseumofArt,2002),39 from —Excerpted Meichun. in theNineties. Breda, Chasse-Kazerne, partoftheexhibition Shining Academy ofFineArtsin1995. Welt, Berlin. Notes — Military Clubhouse, Reinterpretation: ADecadeofExperimentalChineseArt(1990 1997, transparent sheets,600x365cm,tables,chairs, fluorescent lamps, Another LongMarch: ChineseConceptualandInstallationArt – 50. – 2000) totheChinaNational , ed.Wu Hung -