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CHINA: THE NEW GENERATION
By Jean-Marc Decrop and Jérôme Sans. Published by Skira, Milan, 2014. Hardcover, full color illustrations, 256 pages. Photo by ArtAsiaPacific.
Digital prints of LU YANG’s “Uterus Man” (2013– ) from the publication China: The New Generation. Photo by ArtAsiaPacific.
Modern China continues to distance itself from the days of the Cultural Revolution (1966–76). The Open Door policy, introduced by Deng Xiaoping in 1978, enabled a new age of consumerism and commercialism in China, which increased Western influences in the country that led to its integration into the modern international community. In the publication China: The New Generation (Skira, 2014), contemporary Chinese art specialist Jean-Marc Decrop and Jérôme Sans, former director of Beijing’s Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, focus on the artistic development in post-1980s China, looking at the work of 20 artists whose practice they believe epitomize this period.
In the opening essay, Decrop and Sans provide historical context regarding the influences that led to the emergence of the post-1980s generation. They posit that this “new” generation, which includes those who were born from the late 1970s to the early 1980s, has benefited from the radical economic and social changes that have brought prosperity and stability to China in recent years. Unlike their parents who faced the brutal realities of the Cultural Revolution, today’s young Chinese citizens have witnessed (and are continuing to witness) a crescendo in urbanization, along with massive growth in technology, which, in turn, have allowed them immediate access to worldwide online networks, such as WeChat and Sina Weibo. Besides technological advancements, China has also seen an increase in the opportunity for its young students to be educated abroad, and an ease in general travel. As a result, global-minded young artists have begun to reject being labeled specifically as “Chinese artists” and, instead, have embraced the idea of belonging to the international art community.
Lu Yang is an example of the new experimental generation of Chinese artists. Working with electronics, 3D animation and other new media, Lu’s approach is reflective of the current, digital age. Her artwork draws on various themes, from science and medicine to popular culture and manga. “Uterus Man” (2013– ) is an ongoing project consisting of 3D animation, an online game and digital prints, which features a superhero wearing armor that is shaped like the female reproductive organ. The project is accompanied by a variety of creations, such as posters, t-shirts, photographs and accessories, which echo China’s current consumer society and mass production of goods. At the same time, “Uterus Man” also raises environmental and biological issues regarding cloning, diseases and deterioration of the environment.
Full-page spread from the publication China: The New Generation, featuring artist ZHAO ZHAO’s installation Officer (2011). Photo by ArtAsiaPacific.
Most of the artists featured in this book consider the issue of politics a diluted topic; many of them instead focus their work on more personal subject matter. One exception, however, is Zhao Zhao—a former pupil and assistant of the renowned artist-activist Ai Weiwei. In Officer (2011), Zhao’s 40-ton stone installation, a figure dressed in official Chinese government uniform appears to have crashed and broken into pieces on the floor. The heavy monument has a badge bearing the date of Ai Weiwei’s incarceration in 2011, which further acts as a commentary on the authority’s wielding of power within China.
In contrast to Zhao’s varied images are Li Shurui’s painted canvases, which reflect a different viewpoint from that of other new-generation Chinese artists. Bright, abstract images depict lights that are suggestive of the LED screens that are now prevalent throughout various cities worldwide and have become a fixture in many homes. Li’s blurred, large-scale images hint at the flux of society and the uncertainty of the future, which has become a common concern for many young artists in China.
Arranged alphabetically, each artist profile that flows through China: The New Generation is supplemented with an introduction by Decrop, an interview with Sans and full-color artwork images. Together they provide insight into the thoughts, production methods and concerns of this new generation of Chinese artists. Decrop and Sans present artists who have transitioned into a new era of contemporary art in China, many of whom are already rising players in the international art scene. No longer confined to China, their concerns and interests reach out to the globalized world.
Full-page spread from the publication China: The New Generation of LI SHURUI’s Lights No. 96 (2009). Photo by ArtAsiaPacific.