THE YOUNG GENERATION of CHINESE ARTISTS and THEIR AMBITIONS a Thesis Presented to the Facu
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THE YOUNG GENERATION OF CHINESE ARTISTS AND THEIR AMBITIONS ____________________________________ A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of California State University, Fullerton ____________________________________ In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in Art History ____________________________________ By Yuyang Tang Thesis Committee Approval: Professor Joanna Roche, Chair Professor Christopher Slogar, Department of Art Professor Christina Smith, Department of Art Summer, 2016 ABSTRACT In the 21st-century, Chinese contemporary art and artists have seen constant innovation and competition on a global level. The rise of a group of young artists marked the new era of the Chinese contemporary art. Their challenge has a positive impact on China's future artists. This thesis will explore three artists, Jin Shan, Sun Xun and Hu Xiaoyuan, who were among the 25 featured in the exhibition, “My Generation: Young Chinese Artists” held at the Orange County Museum of Art (OCMA) in 2015. This exhibition was originally curated by Barbara Pollack at the Tampa Museum of Art in 2014. Their aggressive works represent the struggle and transformation that Chinese youth have undertaken to reverse many traditional ideas of art held for generations by this ancient culture. Changes in Chinese society have shifted the social values, the public has begun to be interested in the art market, and overtly political art began to be phased out by the Young Generation of Chinese. Young Chinese artists have had increasing chances to learn about and even train in Western art. American contemporary art has had a particularly strong influence on those young artists. Their philosophy is rooted in Chinese culture, but their thinking has absorbed the Western art movements. Through many artworks, several of which are discussed in this thesis, the Young Generation of Chinese artists are attempting to establish a new Chinese art style which will affect the future of the Chinese art market and can be considered to be a positive influence. ii TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT ................................................................................................................... ii LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................... iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................................................................................. v Chapter 1. INTRODUCTION OF CHINESE CONTEMPORARY ART WORLD ............. 1 2. THE NEVER-ENDING SPIRIT OF ENTERTAINMENT .................................. 4 3. THE GROTESQUE OF THE NEW CHINESE INK SCROLL ........................... 10 4. THE AMPHIBIOUS ARTIST OF MINIMALISM AND FEMINISM ............... 17 5. CONCLUSION ..................................................................................................... 23 BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................................... 25 iii LIST OF FIGURES Figure Page 1. My dad is Li Gang! ............................................................................................. 5 2. Photography of man-powered tricycle ................................................................ 8 3. Time Vivarium .................................................................................................... 11 4. Time Vivarium ..................................................................................................... 11 5. Wood/Double ...................................................................................................... 18 iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS First, I would like to express my deepest appreciation to Professor Joanna Roche, the Area Coordinator for Art History in the department of Art at CSUF, who consistently encouraged and supported me to get this thesis across the finish line. She also introduced me to history of arts in the first place and opened the door to a greater world. My academic career could not be more successful and I could not attain so much achievement at CSUF without her selfless efforts. I would also like to thank Professor Christopher Slogar as the second reader of this thesis, and I am gratefully indebted to his very valuable comments on this thesis. I also greatly appreciate Dr. Shane Shukis whose excellent writing class enlightened me about how to properly write. Finally, I must express my gratitude to my parents and to my husband for providing me with unfailing support and continuous encouragement throughout my years of study and through the process of researching and writing this thesis. This accomplishment would not have been possible without them. Thank you. v 1 CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION OF CHINESE CONTEMPORARY ART WORLD Since the millennium, led by the Young Generation1 of artists, Chinese contemporary art is gradually changing and brewing a new innovation. The Young Generation of artists are energetically performing in the art market. Before the active period of Chinese contemporary art was an historically rare and horrible political movement known as the Cultural Revolution2 that subverted ancient Chinese civilization. The Cultural Revolution mobilized thousands of Red Guards3 in mainland China to join the class conflict. It forced all schools to close, and university entrance exams were cancelled. In the first few years of the Cultural Revolution, China’s major educational institutions had been devastated at all levels, library books were burned, there was endless campus violence, teachers were publically beaten and humiliated, thus, the entire teaching and research system was stopped countrywide. The Mao Zedong Thought in China during the Cultural Revolution became the dominant political and educational theory. As of December 1967, at least 350 million copies of “Quotations from Chairman Mao” had been published. Mao’s prestige, more than any other revisionist tendency, will be subject to criticism. Since the Cultural Revolution, 1 The Young Generation: usually means artists borned after the mid-late 1970s. 2 Cultural Revolution is led by the Chinese Communist Party ruling class—Mao Zedong the Chairman of the China Communist Party and his Central Cultural Revolution Group 3 The Red Guards: a member of a Chinese youth movement that attempted to effect the Cultural Revolution. 2 Chinese art was limited to propaganda as a tool to educate the public. People should combine realism with romanticism in the style of Soviet Socialist Realist art (Yang, Tom 25). The national slogan: “Rebellion is legitimate! Revolution is guiltless!” was most prevalent, which entirely ignored the laws. Following up on this tenet, the fanatic Red Guards destroyed a large number of precious relics and monuments, causing serious damage for China, as well as the cultural heritage of mankind. The decade of Cultural Revolution is a long course where ancient Chinese civilization had been totally eradicated and eventually revived through its death. The Cultural Revolution completely blocked the influence of traditional culture on modern Chinese people, and generally distinguished three kinds of Chinese people: the old society people,4 the suffering people during Cultural Revolution, and the Young Generation. Most of previous generation of Chinese artists like Ai Weiwei and others had experienced the horrible time. Therefore, they would be more or less imposed their mind to the audience, and attempted to call people to join them in such ideas of violence, cynicism, and anti-government position is relation to the consequence of Culture Revolution. Fortunately, the horrible impacts of Cultural Revolution have gradually weakened until the mid-late 1970s when the Young Generation artists started being born. Apparently, the Young Generation was born in the new era, their life experiences are quite different compared to their predecessors. The Young Generation of artists grew up in a peaceful era, and so it can be argued that they will naturally perform in a neutral way instead of too excessively. In the essay “Ruins, Fragmentation, and the Chinese 4 Before the Cultural Revolution, Chinese were respecting the power of knowledge and science, the whole society pays much attention on education and so does every single family. Then the Cultural Revolution completely shattered this national value. 3 Modern/Postmodern”, Wu Hung suggests that the art images will demand more “visual, intellectual, or even commercial purposes after the Culture Revolution gradually residing to the past” (Gao 63). Since 2000 the new generation of artists provide cultural exchange and dialogue under the globalization of the art world. Most of them were born after 1976 and are in the one-child policy, as well as the larger environment of rapid economic development. Whether or not they have been part of Western education, they were definitely all aware of the international art movement through the network and domestic art schools where American contemporary art had a greater impact on them. As part of the Young Generation of artists, Jin Shan, Sun Xun, and Hu Xiaoyuan are more likely to give the audience freedom to think rather than advocate a certain answer. They bridge cultural differences, attempt to build a playful feeling, and express individual emotions in a non-violent way. 4 CHAPTER 2 THE NEVER-ENDING SPIRIT OF ENTERTAINMENT So many absurd, terrible, and amazing stories emerge every day, and these stories become the inspiration for my work. — Jin Shan Born in 1977 in Jiangsu Province and now working and living in Shanghai, Jin Shan is