Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

From its underground genesis during the Cultural Revolution, contemporary Chinese art has become a dynamic and hugely influential force in a globalized art world where the distinctions between Eastern and Western civilization are rapidly collapsing.

In this first systematic introduction to the topic, Wu Hang provides a much-needed narrative of the development of Chinese art across all media during a period of radical social, political and economic change in China.

This richly illustrated and easy-to-navigate chronological survey considers contemporary Chinese art both in the context of China's specific historical experience and in the global arena.

Wu Hung explores:

* The emergence of avant-garde or contemporary art - as opposed to officially sanctioned art - in the public sphere after the Cultural Revolution

* The mobilization by young artists and critics of a nationwide avant-garde movement in the mid-1980s

* The re-emphasis on individual creativity in the late 1980s

* The heightened spirit of experimentation of the 1990s

* The catapulting of contemporary Chinese art into the global arena from the 1990s onwards.

The book introduces the reader to key art movements, styles and trends, important artists and art projects, experimental exhibitions and avant-garde publications, and China's growing number of new museums, galleries and alternative art spaces.

Contemporary Chinese Art is an indispensable resource to one of the most vital and exciting areas of international art practice today.

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

Leading scholar and curator Wu Hung (Univ. of Chicago) here compresses his wide-ranging writings and exhibition work into a single, hefty volume. Precisely what constitutes "contemporary Chinese art" remains debatable, and recognizing a plurality of local conditions, the author defines his geographical, chronological, and categorical parameters at the outset. He narrates the history of art by mainland Chinese artists (Taiwan and Hong Kong are excluded) from the 1970s to the aughts, and focuses on the avant-garde, or art that is somehow "new." Still, he recognizes the permeability of "spheres" of activity, as when Chinese artists participate in the international system of art markets and exhibitions or when they operate in domestic systems of commercial art, political propaganda, and private exchange. Proceeding chronologically, this volume alternates between a macroscopic view of sociopolitical conditions of art-making and finely grained descriptions of key groups and individual artists. The shifting perspectives nevertheless lead to a common, triumphant narrative of underground art succeeding on the international stage. Profusely illustrated, this book shapes a canon of contemporary Chinese art and accompanying set of discursive concepts that will resonate for years to come. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Lower-level undergraduates and above; general readers. --De-nin D Lee, Emerson College