Conceptual Art in China's Southwest Region

By Wang Lin

In 1993, the exhibition entitled, "Installations Environments Performances", curated by Wang Lin, Zhou Changjiang, Chen Xinji was held at the library of the Huadong Normal University in Shanghai. The exhibition brought together photographs, videos of conceptual works by mainland China artists. It chronicled the period 1989 to 1993. Works by artists He Gong, Li Ning, Chen Wenbo, Zhu Xiaohe illustrated the characteristics of conceptual art from the Southwest during this period.

Works such as "Tufted Grass" by He Gong; "Rebelling Against Andy Warhol" by Li Ning; "Ice Bed" by Ye Yongqing; "Pork Amber" by Chen Wenbo; "New Relics" by Zhu Xiaohe all reflected a sensitivity toward time and the processes of life, as well as the complex and often subtle nature of inner experiences. These works attracted a lot of attention from students and faculty at the Xinan Normal University and the Sichuan Art Academy and resulted in a number of works like those of Chu Yun, who conveys a strong sense of victimization. In as much as Chongqing culture is strongly tied to academic styles of painting, mostly easel painting, the environment there was somewhat resistant to the ideas of Conceptual Art. In 1997, the final showing of the "Urban Personality and Contemporary Art" exhibition was held at the Sichuan Art Academy. The conceptual works and performances planned were in the end cancelled and thus not included in the exhibition. Even so, this did not prevent Academy students like Li Chuan, Li Yong, Ren Qian, Zhang Hua, from undertaking performance works like those done on the banks of the Yangze River December 31, 1999 to January 1, 2000. Other areas within the Southwest, like Kunming, saw works like Zhu Fadong's performance, "Lost Person" and Liu Jianhua's installation "Colored Shapes 97". In Nanning, there were performances by Huang Shaopeng, Zhou Xiaobo, Wei Jun and others. Taking place in Xieyang Island, off the coast of Beihai, the art event titled, "At the Turn of the Century - Artists and Directions: Various Lifestyles of the Future", organized by Guangxi artists, featured more than twenty performance artists from Chengdu, Beijing, Changchun and around the country. Changsha in Hunan Province undertook another large scale events which were still on-going. The above mentioned works all seem to possess a psychological bent. Some contemplated the identity of the self, others conveyed a surreal experience or were highly symbolic. Still others were filled with emotion. One common quality of the Southwest artists was the importance of emotions and direct experience.

The center of Conceptual art in the Southwest is Chengdu. Recent events auger well for its future there, too. Perhaps, its because Chengdu does not have a proper art academy or art school. As a result, artists live in and experience directly the society around them, not the university campus, and are thus able to better communicate and deal with the resources and information of contemporary culture. Add to this Chengdu's cultural leanings, the local broadcasting station's love of things that seem off the wall and the open-mindedness of the city's citizens, artists are able to thrive here by employing energetic, stimulating, far from the norm, if not outright eccentric approaches to issues and artistic concerns. Of course, most important to the success of conceptual art in Chengdu are artists and critics there willing to work hard to maintain an the impetus behind creative activities. Among them, it would be remiss if we did not mention the American artists, Betsy Damon and Dai Guangyu, who, together organized "The Protectors of Water" 1995-1997, from which sprang the 719 Workshop Alliance. Also important was "Listening to Men Tell Stories About Women", a series of Conceptual Art events organized and curated by Wang Lin, beginning in 1996. They invited 10 artists in all from the Southwest region to participate including: Dai Guangyu, Li Jixiang, Chen Wenbo, Liu Chengying, Deng Dong, Zhu Xiaohe, Yu Ji, Zhu Cheng, Luo Zidan and Ye Yongqing. The aim of the exhibition was to "make enquiries into the cultural and psychological basis for a male dominated society centered on reason and a feminist movement - seeking equality for women in a male dominated society based universally accepted principles, to contemplate what it means for men to be men and women to be women, as well as the original nature of intuition and sexual difference."

The exhibition lasted one month.

Works like "I never Tire of Fetching Lemonade", Chen Wenbo's "Water Wound" and Ye yongqing's "Lonliness Can be So Fragrant" and employed literary comparisons to document, evoking or revealing the perversion and deceit of sexual difference in a patriarchal culture of reason. This exhibition helped Chengdu artists to come face to face with the impact of conceptual art. Two examples would be the sculpture of artists Deng Le and Zhu Chengjun whose works from this point forward sought to investigate the underpinnings of cultural concepts. The 1999 "Turn of the Century" exhibition in Chengdu where Zhu Cheng, Deng Le, He Gong and Dai Guangyu all made a fine showing. Deng Le's sculpture work "Obliterating Dots" employed a simple but effective style to form a rational response, conveying the subtle, but often elusive relationship between video culture and visual psychology.

"The Protectors of Water" art project for continued three years, comprising of events held at the Chengdu Prefect's Nan River, Tibet's Llasa River and the Guan District's Dujiang Ford. Participants were not limited to Conceptual artists from Chengdu, but included artists from the US, Beijing, Shanghai, Da Tong and Tibet who in all completed over 50 works.

Works that stand out in terms of creative and independent thought and intelligence include: "Water Meter Left A Long Time Ago" by Dai Guangyu, "Fortune-telling for a River" by Yin Xiaofeng, "Cleaning the River" by Yin Xuizhen, "Stamping Water" by Song Dong, "Waterfall" by Betsy Damon all served to raise awareness of the issue of water pollution, highlighting the human element of the environment. What's also interesting about these works is the fact that they received government support. In many cases, artists enjoyed the direct support and participation of local residents, creating a favorable social and cultural environment for conceptual art in Chengdu. The 719 Workshop Alliance built on the back of this art project has thus continued to be the most dynamic and active artistic group in the Southwest in the 90s. They have organized a number of exhibitions, including "Wildlife - 1997 Lightening Festival - Beginnings", "Urban Personality and Contemporary Culture: Those Who Remake History", "Preserving Memories", "Notes from the Underground", "Living in Peace, Thinking in Crisis", etc. During the same period, an artist named Luo Zidan, not affiliated with the 719 Workshop Alliance, undertook 20 to 30 performances on his own.

All of these activities produced not only many successful conceptual works, but also made the works as a whole more mature. Dai Guangyu's "Turning Rocks into Gold" series, Liu Zhengying's kite works, Zeng Xun's conceptual photography, Zhu Jia's reading performances, Yin Xiaofeng's fortune-telling series, Zhang Hua's object installations, Yu Ji's computer art, Luo Zidan's white collar series all offer the viewer something to savor. They take their material from their everyday lives and surroundings, blending cultural issues with visual senses and, against a broad cultural backdrop, find individual points of artistic intervention. Their works not only contain an orientation to reality, but a profound historical awareness, without sacrificing a local quality of existential awareness, and Eastern thought. As the creative force in Chinese conceptual art that has penetrated most deeply into the China experience in the 90s, these works [from the Southwest] and their importance should not be overlooked by critics either inside or outside China.

Wang Lin
February 20, 2000
Sichuan Academy of Art

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