The Spirit of Individualism: Shanghai Avant-Garde Art in the 1980s (Contemporary East Asian Visual Cultures, Societies and Politics)

This book is about avant-garde art in Shanghai in the 1980s which challenges the narrative in the current discourse on the appearance of contemporary art in China. Offering fresh perspectives and new insights into the art and the artists of this period, the book includes critical events in Shanghai, that will attract the serious attention of art professionals and collectors. The emergence of the Shanghai art scene in the 1980s mirrors the revitalisation of Shanghai that was tasked to lead China’s economic development trajectory onto the world stage. Shanghai, with its semi-colonial, political, economic and cultural history, including the strong legacy of the early twentieth century modernist art movement, has played a vital role in China’s modernisation and presents itself as a unique case in the evolution of contemporary art in China. Acknowledgements Praise for The Spirit of Individualism Contents About the Author List of Figures 1 Introduction The Term Avant-Garde Art Scope and Approach 2 The Spirit of Individualism in the Chinese Modern and Contemporary Art Context New Culture Movement The Modernist Art Movement Early Modernisation in Shanghai’s Cultural Industry and Art Education Changes in the Modern and Contemporary Sphere Conclusion 3 National Discourse, Local Voice: Contemporary Chinese Art of the 1980s 4 The Matrix of Art Institutions and Organisations and Unofficial Art Exhibitions in Shanghai in the 1980s The Matrix of Art Institutions and Organisations The Critical Early Unofficial Art Exhibitions in Shanghai in the 1980s Twelve Persons Painting Exhibition Experimental Painting Exhibition: The Stage 1983 Concave-Convex Exhibition The 1980s Art Exhibition and the M Conceptual Art Performance Key International Exhibitions in Shanghai in the Late 1970s and Early 1980s Exhibition of French Rural Landscape Paintings from the 19th Century American Paintings from the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston Conclusion 5 The Shanghai Art Museum—Bureaucratic System and Individual Influence (1979–1989) Political and Bureaucratic Structures in the 1980s Initiatives of Individuals in the 1980s Shanghai Art Museum: Key Exhibitions in the 1980s Shanghai Art Museum’s New Building Completion Exhibition The Last Supper Exhibition Shanghai Biennale Conclusion 6 Zhang Jianjun: Experimenting in the Search for Eternal Elements The Modernist Influence Exploration and Experimentation From Political Censorship to the First Prize Award Individualist Character and Interactions with Other Avant-Garde Artists International Influences and Interactions Conclusion 7 Li Shan: A Nonconformist Artist An Independent Mind The Influence of Modernism and the Pursuit of Freedom in Artistic Expression The Role in ’85 Art New Wave Movement: Events and Art Exhibitions Conclusion 8 Yu Youhan: A Lonely Traveller Connections of Early Twentieth-Century Modernist Art The “Higher Education” Experience and the Early Exploration of Modernist Art Influence and Friendship with Younger Artists Abstract Art and Daoism in the 1980s Political Pop and Personal History Conclusion 9 Chen Zhen, Cai Guoqiang, and Gu Wenda Chen Zhen Cai Guoqiang Gu Wenda Conclusion 10 Conclusion Correction to: Li Shan: A Nonconformist Artist Correction to: Chapter 7 in: L. Zhang, The Spirit of Individualism, Contemporary East Asian Visual Cultures, Societies and Politics, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-8653-6_7 Appendix Two Diagrams on the Chinese Bureaucratic Structure of Cultural Organisations Glossary Artist and Other Associations and Groups Art Education Institutions Art Galleries and Museums Art Movements Exhibitions Political Campaigns and Groups Political Slogans Publications and Media Illustration Credits Bibliography Index "This timely, compelling, and extremely useful book adds considerably to our understanding of Chinese art immediately after the Cultural Revolution by linking the artistic development of Shanghai during the 1980s with the city's vibrant artistic role within Asia during the 1930s and early '40s. ..." --David Elliott, Curator|Writer|Museum Director|Teacher, Oxford|Stockholm|Tokyo|Istanbul|Sydney|Kyiv|Moscow|Guangzhou|Berlin "It fills a long-overlooked gap in the study of China's Avant-Garde centered in Shanghai during the period, but also connected to the earlier and subsequent development from a new historicist perspective. ...A must-read for understanding the evolution of Avant-Garde Art in China, but also of China in itself." --Qiu Xiaolong, Professor, Doctor, Author (of the prize-winning Inspector Chen series translated into twenty languages and sold over two million copies worldwide) This book offers fresh perspectives and new insights into the avant-garde art in Shanghai in the 1980s that challenges the narrative in the current discourse on the appearance of contemporary art in China. It includes critical events in Shanghai, that will attract the serious attention of art professionals and collectors. Shanghai, with its semi-colonial, political, economic and cultural history, including the strong legacy of the early twentieth-century modernist art movement, has played a vital role in China's modernisation and presents itself as a unique case in the evolution of contemporary art in China. Lansheng Zhang is an art historian and academic, art curator, artist and designer. He has worked in these roles with universities, governments, international organisations, major art institutions in China, Australia, Japan and Europe. His main research interests are in modern and contemporary art and design, art histories and visual cultures in Asia especially in China. He was an Adjunct Professor at the RMIT University Melbourne, Associate Professor at the East China Normal University Shanghai, Senior Fellow at Lincoln University, UK, Visiting Fellow at the Australian National University, and recently a Research Fellow at the University of Sydney