China Now at the Cobra Museum
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While i was in Amsterdam for the Picnic conference, i took the tram number 5 to nearby Amstelveen to check out the China Now exhibition at the Cobra Museum.
It seems that exhibitions about Chinese contemporary art in Europe and the US work with a list of the same few dozen artists. There´s thus very little space left for surprises. You are always sure to find something cute, something politically subversive (openly or not) and something slightly shocking. Add to that cynicism, a bit of exotism (there is an undoubtedly Chinese touch in each of these works) and soft colours and you´ve got a show which is bound to be a hit with the whole family. And in case you haven't noticed already, i am a sucker for that kind of popcorn art.
Contemporary Chinese art is a recent phenomenon. The 1990s government policy helping, the Chinese avant-guarde has moved from the underground scene to prestigious art galleries and museums around the world.
Curator Feng Boyi has distributed the art works according to 7 themes:
- Rebellious Sarcasm where artists use derision to highlight the individuality of human beings and criticise the orthodox prevailing order. Wang Guangyi and Wang Dajun ironically quote the Pop Art language of Chinese socialist propaganda posters and the aesthetic concepts of consumer society advertising. Fang Lijun’s series of pictures of ugly bald men and Yue Minjun’s grinning figures put their finger on the vulnerable spots of Chinese society. The sarcastic ingredient of Zhang Xiaogang is much more subtle. His “Bloodline Series“ reflects on family, memory and the importance of Chinese culture.
- Destructive Urge highlights the new forms of expression used by mainly young artists. Broken passions and a very unspoilt, impulsive strength emerge from the oil paintings of Yang Shaobin, the irreverent Study of Perspective photographs of Ai Weiwei and the actionist images of performance artist Rong Rong.
- Personal or Collective Experience and Memory: Li Songsong or Hai Bo assess current changes by comparing them with historical developments and thus demonstrate their own attitude towards these changes.
In that thread i particularly admired Assembly Halls, an amazing series by Shao Yinong and Muchen. They traveled to the 23 different provinces in Mainland China and photographed the empty leftovers of the Great Proletarian Cultural Revolution (1966 to 1976.)
- Reverberation of the City where urbanisation is not only considered as a manifestation of the modernisation process in the country, but also as a medium which accelerates the development of a new, humanist value system. For Miao Xiaochun who composes urban landscapes inhabited by an enigmatic human figure or Zhang Dali who had hanged naked bodies in the staircase of the Museum, the identification, reflection on and critique of this situation represents their artistic point of departure to portray a modern landscape of the specifics of Chinese urbanisation.
- Beautiful Chaos sets to demonstrate that despite its problems, the new China is not a stagnant system, but a lively and stimulating chaos. Cases in point are the Chinese landscapes by Liu Wei – which consist of human limbs and behinds. - The Third Space dedicated to Chinese artists living abroad or working internationally, such as Qin Yufen (who lives in Berlin) and Xu Bing (resident in the US), who create their work in a “border zone� (that´s the "third zone") between the culture of their home country China and their country of residence.
- Growing up and Individual Decision-Making, the approach of artists such as Chi Peng is symptomatic of the mental state of the new generation in China which is full of “good vibrations�; they typically do exactly what they want to achieve and are very frank in their expression of joy, pain, love and disgust. More images. |
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great, the exhibition was at http://www.sammlung-essl.at/ near vienna, austria as well just one year ago. great great ...
Finally Chinese contemporary art is booming after years of restrictions. In Genova (Italy) there's an exhibition about the last 20 yrs of Chinese contemporary art. And Mao seems the favourite character.
I think the bubble is going to burst for some Chinese contemporary art soon - particularly anything featuring Mao, or red guards, or reinterpreting Mao, etc, etc.
You get the distinct feeling that a lot of artists doing Mao / Red Guard stuff now (not the early stuff) are doing it because they know its popular in the West, and - frankly - because it sells.
It is great to finally see the unobstructed talents of Chinese artists. I have noticed that there are some particularly great photographers!!!
I want to know more of what you think part from this exhibition, do you compare the chinese art with European art? in Which way?! and why you go to see the show?! what interest you?
hi Li Zhenhua,
well, i saw this exhibition a while ago so it's not so easy to gather my thoughts. i don't compare chinese art to european art. i would actually find it difficult to define european art. and i'm not sure this exhibition reflects all Chinese art. i do realize that there is something in these works that we didn't see much so far in europe and that makes it very appealing. also, in some way, these paintings and sculptures seem to both puzzle us and also straighten our preconception about chinese art. europe and the US have been excited by contemporary chinese art. everyone has a Damien Hirst, Jeff Koons' prices have gone through the roof and there aren't that many Francis Bacon left to buy. but with chinese art, art collectors suddenly had the feeling that they could still grab a bargain and speculate. but that is bringing me far away from your questions.
why did i go to see the show? my friends would tell you that i go and see ALL the shows. my own answer will be that i was curious and that i can't help but being charmed by these works. i knew what i would find and i knew i would like it. sometimes it is reassuring to be sure that your money (the entrance fee) is going to be spent well. what interests me? i think it's the accessibility of the works. i could have brought my best friend along. he likes pop culture and never sees art shows, he'd rather watch tv and chat up girls at bar. but he would have loved this show. i'm sensitive to this kind of easy approachable art. they are pleasurable, they remain a bit enigmatic and they have that 'exotic' factor that we find irresistible. on the other hand, some of the artworks on show (though not all of them i suspect) features several levels of meaning and can be read under a deeper and more intense light. one could also add that they have historical value. last thing, i had the feeling that this particular selection of artworks actually reflects european culture and what we are ready to accept and welcome as 'typically chinese'. this of course is a critique of european taste (and sometimes lack of open-mindedness on some issues), not chinese's.
there's one detail i forgot to mention: museums, galleries and auction houses have also tried to replicate the success that chinese art has in Europe but this time with art from India. i never managed to get excited by it as much as i have been enchanted by Chinese art and as far as i can see, neither has the broad public. so the 'exotic' factor doesn't explain it all.