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Chinese Contemporary Art and the Value of Dissidence by Marie

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Chinese Contemporary Art and the Value of Dissidence by Marie Transition and Transformation: Chinese Contemporary Art and the Value of Dissidence by Marie Dorothée Leduc A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Visual Art and Globalization Department of Sociology and Art and Design University of Alberta © Marie Leduc, 2016 Abstract Transition and Transformation: Chinese Contemporary Art and the Value of Dissidence Marie Leduc Taking an interdisciplinary approach combining sociology and art history, this dissertation considers the phenomenal rise of Chinese contemporary art in the global art market since 1989. The dissertation explores how Western perceptions of difference and dissidence have contributed to the recognition and validation of Chinese contemporary art. Guided by Nathalie Heinich’s sociology of values and Pierre Bourdieu’s work on the field of cultural production, the dissertation proposes that dissidence may be understood as an artistic value, one that distinguishes artists and artwork as singular and original. Following the careers of nine Chinese artists who moved to France in and around 1989, the dissertation demonstrates how perceptions of dissidence – artistic, cultural, and political – have distinguished Chinese artists as they have transitioned into an artistic field dominated by Western liberal-democratic values and artistic taste. The transition and transformation of Chinese contemporary art and artists then highlights how the valorization of dissidence in the West is both artistic and political, and significant to the production of contemporary art. ii Preface This thesis is an original work by Marie Leduc. The research project, of which this thesis is a part, received research ethics approval from the University of Alberta Research Ethics Board, Project Name “Transition and Transformation: Contemporary Chinese Art in the Global Marketplace,” No. 9567, November 16, 2009 to December 17, 2015. iii Acknowledgements The seed for this research project was planted in 2001 when my friend and meimei, Jing Fei Wang, invited me to accompany her to China. Her wonderful introduction to China – its people, its language, and its culture – inspired my interest in Chinese contemporary art. Nearly ten years later, Jing accompanied me to Paris and provided translation for the interviews that are part of this study. Together we navigated the suburbs of Paris to meet and interview the participating artists. Jing’s empathy and cultural knowledge was invaluable throughout this project Many other people have contributed to this project in various ways. My gratitude is extended to: my academic mentors at York University, Ken Carpenter and Joyce Zemans, who encouraged my research plan and supported my application for PhD studies; my interdisciplinary supervisors at the University of Alberta, Sara Dorow (Sociology) and Steven Harris (Art History), for their thoughtful co-design of my program and limitless patience; the members of my dissertation committee, Walter Davis, Elisabeth Le, Richard Westerman, and Katie Hill, for their thoughtful consideration of my research; my friends and academic colleagues, Xiaoqing Zhu, Ralph Croizier, Garry Berteig, and Jennifer Foote, for their wisdom and guidance through my academic challenge; Francesca dal Lago for her assistance in connecting me with the artists in this study; Suzanne Methot for her careful editing of a very long text; Jim Foote, my partner and spouse, for patiently enduring this iv project with me and without me; and finally, the artists and curators who very generously participated in this study – Shen Yuan, Huang Yong Ping, Wang Du, Wang Keping, Ru Xiaofan, Du Zhenjun, Xu Min (for Chen Zhen), Yang Jiechang (along with Martina Köppel-Yang), Hou Hanru, Jean-Hubert Martin, and Gu Xiong. I have also been very fortunate to receive generous financial support for this project. My former employer, Keyano College in Fort McMurray, Alberta assisted me with travel costs for my first two visits to China and for my first formal studies of Mandarin at the University of British Columbia. In 2007, I received a University of Alberta Provost Award followed by the President’s Doctoral Prize of Distinction from 2008-2011. During those same years, I was awarded a Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canadian Graduate Scholarship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC). In 2008, I studied Mandarin in Taipei with the assistance of a Hanyu Language Study Scholarship from the Taipei Economic Cultural Office. In 2009-2010, supported by the China-Canada Scholars’ Exchange program, I spent 10 months in China at the China Art Academy in Hangzhou. During that time, a co-sponsored Mobility Award from the University of Alberta and the China Academy of Social Sciences allowed me to spend two weeks completing research in Beijing. Finally, in 2010, funded by a SSHRC Michael Smith Travel Grant and hosted by the Centre de recherche sur l'Extrême- Orient de Paris-Sorbonne, I spent three months in Paris to complete my research and interviews. v Table of Contents Abstract Preface Acknowledgements List of Figures Introduction: Pp. 1 - 42 Transition and Transformation: Chinese Contemporary Art and the Value of Dissidence Chapter One: Pp. 43 - 81 The Chinese Artist as Dissident Chapter Two: Pp. 82 - 124 An Artistic Event: The China/Avant-Garde Exhibition Chapter Three: Pp. 125 - 164 Identity and Difference: 1989 and Chinese Artists in France Chapter Four: Pp. 165 - 215 Transition and Transformation Chapter Five: Pp. 216 - 264 Territorial Provocation: Chinese Artists in a Global Context Conclusion: Pp. 265 - 279 The Value of Dissidence Bibliography Pp. 280 - 308 Appendices Pp. 309 - 318 Appendix I: Artist Interview Template Appendix II: Curator Interview Template Appendix III: Analysis of Participant Artists: Les Magiciens de la Terre Appendix IV: Artist Rankings on ArtFacts.net Copyright Permissions P. 319 vi List of Figures Figure 1. Page 4 Wang Du, Le Défilé (Parade), 2000-2005, Installation view, Vancouver Art Gallery, 2005. © Wang Du/SODRAC (2015). Polyester resin and acrylic sculptures, plinth, and paper. Photo courtesy of Vancouver Art Gallery. Figure 2. Page 55 Huang Yong Ping, Théâtre du Monde (Theatre of the World), 1993-1995. Installation view, Vancouver Art Gallery, 2007. © Huang Yong Ping/SODRAC (2015). Cages (metal, wood), turtles, reptiles, and insects. Collection of Guy and Myriam Ullens Foundation. Photo courtesy of Vancouver Art Gallery. Figure 3. Page 105 Wang Keping, Idol, 1979. © Wang Keping. Birch wood. 57 cm. Photo courtesy of the artist. Figure 4. Page 153 Huang Yong Ping, Reptile, 1989. Installation view, Les Magiciens de la Terre, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. © Huang Yong Ping/SODRAC (2015). Paper maché and washing machines. Image source: Kamel Mennour Gallery, Paris. http://www.kamelmennour.com/media/2077/huang-yong-ping- reptiles.html Figure 5. Page 153 Yang Jiechang at Les Magiciens de la Terre in 1989, Centre Georges Pompidou, Paris. Photo courtesy of the artist. © Yang Jiechang. vii Figure 6. Page 177 Chen Zhen, L’Oubli/Le Souvenir, 1989. © Chen Zhen. Mixed media, 114 X 134 X 34 cm. Collection of Jacques and Anne Créissen. Photo courtesy of the artist’s estate. Figure 7. Page 183 Wang Keping, Untitled, 1996, © Wang Keping. Cherry wood. 45 cm. Photo courtesy of the artist. Figure 8. Page 197 Yan Pei-Ming, Mao, 1991. © Yan Pei-Ming/SODRAC (2015). Image source: Michel Nuridsany, 2004. China Art Now. Paris: Édition Flammarion: 44. Figure 9. Page 199 Ru Xiaofan, Bubblegame No. 4, 2003. © Ru Xiaofan. Oil on canvas, 150 x 150 cm. Photo courtesy of the artist. Figure 10. Page 201 Shen Yuan, Perdre sa salive, 1994. © Shen Yuan/SODRAC (2015). Tongues formed from ice, metal knives, and metal spittoons. Presented in various configurations. Image source: Kamel Mennour Gallery. http://www.kamelmennour.com/media/2416/shen-yuan-perdre-sa- salive.html viii Figure 11. Page 217 Huang Yong Ping, Un homme, neuf animaux/One Man, Nine Animals 48th Biennale de Venise Pavilion français, 1999. © Huang Yong Ping/SODRAC (2015). Wood and aluminum. Image source: Huang Yong Ping: Myths. Catalogue. Paris: Kamel Mennour, n.p. Figure 12. Page 234 Chen Zhen, Un Monde accroché/détaché, 1990. Installation for Chine demain pour hier, Pourrières, France. © Chen Zhen. 99 found objects suspended in a burnt forest. Approx. 1000 square metres. Photo courtesy of the artist’s estate. ix Introduction Transition and Transformation: Chinese Contemporary Art and the Value of Dissidence Like the explosive brilliance of Cai Guo-Qiang’s firework drawings,1 contemporary Chinese art appeared on the art scene in 1989 and has since developed an extraordinary presence in the global international art market. Chinese contemporary art is produced by a generation of artists who, in the 1980s, adopted the practices of Western contemporary art (such as conceptual, performance, installation, and video art) at a time when such artistic endeavours were considered daring and radical in China. The new art was variously referred to as avant-garde (qianwei or qianfeng yishu), modern (xiandai yishu), new wave (xin chao yishu), and contemporary (dangdai yishu) – names that deliberately distinguished it from the officially sanctioned socialist realist art that had been, for the most part, the only form of art practiced in China between 1950 and 1979. Emerging along with Deng Xiaoping’s economic and social reforms in the 1980s, China’s avant-garde art received a cautious but ambiguous response from government authorities. The new art was never banned, but artists endured occasional political purges and did not gain the same support and recognition as socialist realist artists until the early years of the twenty-first century. In the meantime, 1 Cai Guo-Qiang is noted for using burning gunpowder to make drawings on different surfaces, such as paper and fireworks, and to make drawings in the sky. See http://www.caiguoqiang.com/. 1 artists found support among the growing number of Westerners living, visiting, and working in China. By the mid-1990s, galleries in New York, London, and Paris were all vying to represent the new art in the West.
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