"The China Dream"

Feature Article :"The China Dream" By Leng Lin,
contemporary art curator and critic

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China has recently begun to develop a style of its own and is increasingly able to express itself with confidence. We can see this in two ways. First, the zeal to pursue Western modernism in the 1980s has given way to the desire to find values of its own in the 1990s. Second, "the West", as a concept, no longer carries with it the false allure of Utopia, but is increasingly seen as both a partner for both collaboration and competition.

"The West",
as a concept,
no longer carries
with it the false
allure of Utopia.

Even if China has yet to develop as a center of contemporary art, nonetheless it is more and more self conscious and realistically aware of its own needs as a unique cultural system and how to go about meeting those needs. In the nineties, with the burgeoning of the country's increasingly market economy, China's art is adapting to the realities of both need and being needed. For much the same reason, Chinese art is also more pluralistic.
A precondition to today's art is the widely held belief that everything derives from the basic condition of reality. This premise has resulted in a wide-open space for artistic creation, a condition unprecedented over the last hundred years of Chinese art. In the past, Chinese art vied for space on the world stage, but often found itself imitating as a means to achieving such space.

Deprived of sustenance for many years, China now finds itself standing in front of a door swung wide open, through which it has been invited to an extravagant banquet with more food than it has ever been faced with in the past. Standing before the open space, we feel a pressure like never before. And, before we have a chance to explore the mysteries and excitement of the new situation before us, we find ourselves thrust into the middle of it.

Globalization has seen the historical development of regional cultures become a kind of cultural intercourse across physical space. In the past, we felt self conscious of our separateness from advanced cultures. Today, we realize that only by recognizing our own self worth and establishing our own self identity can we take control of our own fate and take on the task of advancing our own culture.

The history of a regional culture is no longer the point from which that culture logically evolves, but a source from which it can pick and choose. Forward development has given way to backward utilization. Like it or not, we have now stepped into, or should I say, we have been dragged into the post-modern era.

fang lijun
untitled 1995

zhan wang
untitled 1997

yue minjun
untitled 1994

This is a period in time that is almost beyond description. In fact, in talking about this new age, I think it less relevant to speak about "what" it is that we are creating than focus on "what" it is that is creating us. We seem to have no choice but to adapt and to change (or not change) as necessary.
We are all fully aware that we are living in an era of globalization. Likewise, we realize that we are an integral part of the breakneck changes taking place in the world today.

China now finds itself
standing in front of a door swung wide open,
....invited to an extravagant banquet with more food than it has ever been faced with in the past.

In this post-modern existence, we fully recognize that what makes us different from others is also what gives us a place in today's world. From this, we can also better understand what it is that makes others unique and different, as well.
With the nineties, we have the opportunity to establish a "Chinese" art. Chinese artists no longer look upon Western art of the past as an object of praise and unconscious, but are increasingly treating it as a cultural and historical source from which to draw inspiration. Who is doing the borrowing from who is clearly understood?

Chinese art has already embarked on a path to self-realization. In the nineties, one commonly expressed theme has been the reality of the artist's life and surroundings, such as with the "New Generation" artists or the "Cynical Pop" artists. For these artists, the focus of art was on the relationship between the artist and society. From a purely formalistic standpoint, both groups of artists turned to realism.

They depict personal experience with an indifferent and ironical and often a mocking attitude, expressing a kind of self-confidence in a style regarded as outmoded elsewhere. Chinese artists are trying to establish a starting point of their own and have gradually realized that only with such a starting point can they hold their destiny in their own hands. At the same time, they want to find a realistic base for this starting point.

Ai An
"Salute Franzisca"

wang jin
"china - the world of mortals"

shi liang
"relationship"

Since the mid-1990s, Chinese art has diversified into various types to keep up with the ever-changing reality. Beyond oil painting, other artistic forms include synthetic material art; action painting and photography have also recently begun to expand. Before this, artists explored and experimented in the various materials, but only on a piecemeal basis. Their art never established an organic link with the time. What has happened today is beyond people's imagination? Chinese artists increasingly feel that their art will not create history, per se, but will be created by history in a perceptual sense.
They constantly adjust themselves in a flexible way in order to deal with various new problems. These problems include the gap between advanced countries and the third world; the difference between different civilizations; the question of social status; the differences between socialism and capitalism; the relationship between artistic expression and national existence; and the question whether information and culture actually have boundaries anymore.

All these problems appeared explicitly in the 1990s and all are closely felt by individuals in China today. We can clearly see that the art of this period is filled with large quantities of personal images of reality. Artists long to interpret the period they have personally experienced and want to avoid making judgements of social values by direct participation; they want to replace thinking with action. They seek to present fresh and active things to the public. Chinese art in this period declared loudly its existence with enthusiasm.

They (artists) constantly adjust themselves ..in order to deal with...the differences between socialism and capitalism; the relationship between artistic expression and national existence; and the question of whether information and culture actually have boundaries anymore.

Zhou Bin
"Lotus River"

The development and flow of global capital has constantly reinforced utilitarianism in the relationship between various countries and cultural regions. Under such circumstances self-need and self-realization of various countries and regions have been reflected with instinct. The single goal China pursued in the 1980s was abandoned in the 1990s because of the need of artists for self-realization. But at the same time we have obtained a main body consciousness for self-need which enabled us to link up all the external things.
It is because the main body consciousness has been established on the basis of utilitarianism need and to be needed- the art of this period is of a strategic nature and easy to change. However, the changes are to lose one; they will be the best proof of their self-establishment. These changes will be like a mirror of dream to organize and serialize history (our/theirs), reality (ours/theirs), and future (without confirmed direction) according to practical need.

The 1990s have been a period without unified styles but a period to shape the need for Chinese art for itself and the maturing period of Chinese art. If we want to epitomize this period the best phrase will be a "China dream".

Li Tianyuan
"97-No.2"

wang qiang
"joint venture company"

Chinese Type Contemporary Art - online magazine
Copyright © 1997

China has recently begun to develop a style of its own and is increasingly able to express itself with confidence. We can see this in two ways. First, the zeal to pursue Western modernism in the 1980s has given way to the desire to find values of its own in the 1990s. Second, "the West", as a concept, no longer carries with it the false allure of Utopia, but is increasingly seen as both a partner for both collaboration and competition.	"The West", as a concept, no longer carries with it the false allure of Utopia.
Even if China has yet to develop as a center of contemporary art, nonetheless it is more and more self conscious and realistically aware of its own needs as a unique cultural system and how to go about meeting those needs. In the nineties, with the burgeoning of the country's increasingly market economy, China's art is adapting to the realities of both need and being needed. For much the same reason, Chinese art is also more pluralistic. A precondition to today's art is the widely held belief that everything derives from the basic condition of reality. This premise has resulted in a wide-open space for artistic creation, a condition unprecedented over the last hundred years of Chinese art. In the past, Chinese art vied for space on the world stage, but often found itself imitating as a means to achieving such space. Deprived of sustenance for many years, China now finds itself standing in front of a door swung wide open, through which it has been invited to an extravagant banquet with more food than it has ever been faced with in the past. Standing before the open space, we feel a pressure like never before. And, before we have a chance to explore the mysteries and excitement of the new situation before us, we find ourselves thrust into the middle of it. Globalization has seen the historical development of regional cultures become a kind of cultural intercourse across physical space. In the past, we felt self conscious of our separateness from advanced cultures. Today, we realize that only by recognizing our own self worth and establishing our own self identity can we take control of our own fate and take on the task of advancing our own culture. The history of a regional culture is no longer the point from which that culture logically evolves, but a source from which it can pick and choose. Forward development has given way to backward utilization. Like it or not, we have now stepped into, or should I say, we have been dragged into the post-modern era.	fang lijun untitled 1995 zhan wang untitled 1997 yue minjun untitled 1994
This is a period in time that is almost beyond description. In fact, in talking about this new age, I think it less relevant to speak about "what" it is that we are creating than focus on "what" it is that is creating us. We seem to have no choice but to adapt and to change (or not change) as necessary. We are all fully aware that we are living in an era of globalization. Likewise, we realize that we are an integral part of the breakneck changes taking place in the world today.	China now finds itself standing in front of a door swung wide open, ....invited to an extravagant banquet with more food than it has ever been faced with in the past.
In this post-modern existence, we fully recognize that what makes us different from others is also what gives us a place in today's world. From this, we can also better understand what it is that makes others unique and different, as well. With the nineties, we have the opportunity to establish a "Chinese" art. Chinese artists no longer look upon Western art of the past as an object of praise and unconscious, but are increasingly treating it as a cultural and historical source from which to draw inspiration. Who is doing the borrowing from who is clearly understood? Chinese art has already embarked on a path to self-realization. In the nineties, one commonly expressed theme has been the reality of the artist's life and surroundings, such as with the "New Generation" artists or the "Cynical Pop" artists. For these artists, the focus of art was on the relationship between the artist and society. From a purely formalistic standpoint, both groups of artists turned to realism. They depict personal experience with an indifferent and ironical and often a mocking attitude, expressing a kind of self-confidence in a style regarded as outmoded elsewhere. Chinese artists are trying to establish a starting point of their own and have gradually realized that only with such a starting point can they hold their destiny in their own hands. At the same time, they want to find a realistic base for this starting point.	Ai An "Salute Franzisca" wang jin "china - the world of mortals" shi liang "relationship"
Since the mid-1990s, Chinese art has diversified into various types to keep up with the ever-changing reality. Beyond oil painting, other artistic forms include synthetic material art; action painting and photography have also recently begun to expand. Before this, artists explored and experimented in the various materials, but only on a piecemeal basis. Their art never established an organic link with the time. What has happened today is beyond people's imagination? Chinese artists increasingly feel that their art will not create history, per se, but will be created by history in a perceptual sense. They constantly adjust themselves in a flexible way in order to deal with various new problems. These problems include the gap between advanced countries and the third world; the difference between different civilizations; the question of social status; the differences between socialism and capitalism; the relationship between artistic expression and national existence; and the question whether information and culture actually have boundaries anymore. All these problems appeared explicitly in the 1990s and all are closely felt by individuals in China today. We can clearly see that the art of this period is filled with large quantities of personal images of reality. Artists long to interpret the period they have personally experienced and want to avoid making judgements of social values by direct participation; they want to replace thinking with action. They seek to present fresh and active things to the public. Chinese art in this period declared loudly its existence with enthusiasm.	They (artists) constantly adjust themselves ..in order to deal with...the differences between socialism and capitalism; the relationship between artistic expression and national existence; and the question of whether information and culture actually have boundaries anymore. Zhou Bin "Lotus River"
The development and flow of global capital has constantly reinforced utilitarianism in the relationship between various countries and cultural regions. Under such circumstances self-need and self-realization of various countries and regions have been reflected with instinct. The single goal China pursued in the 1980s was abandoned in the 1990s because of the need of artists for self-realization. But at the same time we have obtained a main body consciousness for self-need which enabled us to link up all the external things. It is because the main body consciousness has been established on the basis of utilitarianism need and to be needed- the art of this period is of a strategic nature and easy to change. However, the changes are to lose one; they will be the best proof of their self-establishment. These changes will be like a mirror of dream to organize and serialize history (our/theirs), reality (ours/theirs), and future (without confirmed direction) according to practical need. The 1990s have been a period without unified styles but a period to shape the need for Chinese art for itself and the maturing period of Chinese art. If we want to epitomize this period the best phrase will be a "China dream".	Li Tianyuan "97-No.2" wang qiang "joint venture company"