Report from Shanghai

By Nicky Combs

Maitreya Buddha From Shandong province Northern Wei period, 516 Limestone with pigments and gilding Height 279.4 cm University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, C 284

Early November proved to be a most engaging and lively two weeks for contemporary Chinese art in the mainland last year. The third Shanghai Biennale and the Shanghai Art Fair initiated the progression of events, official and unofficial, that kept art viewers running from one exhibition to another well into the later part of the month. Curators and artists from across China took advantage of the Biennale's international lure and were able to show the international press and art world their work. While it was reported that the Ministry of Culture strongly requested there to be no exhibitions other than these two events, that did not stop the organization of a number of satellite events, providing a taste of `less official' art. The Biennale ran from 6 November till 6 January. It was held in both the new and old Shanghai Art Museum spaces. Curated by Hou Hanru (based in Paris), Shimizu Toshio (Japan), Zhang Qing and Li Xu, the team selected 67 artists from seventeen countries (with Hong Kong and Taiwan considered as entities separate from China). While the curators had to pass their selection by the Ministry of Culture, resulting in last minute subtractions, the exhibited artists included many who embody the new art period (post-Cultural Revolution, from 1976 onward). Since China's reopening in the late 1970s, artists have been creating works with a richness in diversity that is providing a voice for individual discovery, unique personalities and strong, intimate feelings. The works in the Biennale were representative of this group, both in terms of quality and scale.

The curators invited three artists who had not exhibited in China since emigrating to the West. The works of Cai Guoqiang, Huang Yongping and Yan Peiming still showed characteristics of their Chinese heritage. Huang's work made an interesting statement. On the ground floor of the museum he erected a sandcastle in the mould of the Hong Kong and Shanghai Bank building. As the exhibition carried on, the `bank' dried and parts collapsed, possibly questioning the strength of China's economy. It was also refreshing to see artists such as Fang Lijun, who hung large wood-cuts with his hallmark de-individualized figures, and Wang Jianwei, whose video quietly portrayed transformations within Chinese society, included in an exhibition within their own country. Many of China's contemporary artists are finding more of an audience for their work outside the country, so for them inclusion in the Biennale was almost an official acceptance of their art. The work of lesser known but emerging artists, such as Hai Bo's photography and Liang Shuo's sculptures, was also represented. The diversity in media þ installation, traditional Chinese and oil painting, video and photography þ was quite an encouragement toward artistic modernization within officially sponsored exhibitions. Many critics have already pointed out that this was the first government-endorsed exhibition since the 1989 `China Avant-Garde' show in Beijing.

The question of `art versus the institution' arose when a few non-exhibiting artists staged performances at the official opening. Two artists living in London, Cai Yuan and Xi Jianjun placed curator Hou Hanru under mock arrest, citing his curatorial preferences, both past and present, as being shortsighted. Beijing-based Chen Qingqing handed out funeral flowers, which could be read as a critique of the death of institutional art. The Biennale was well attended and this can only be a motivation for the next one in two years' time.

The Shanghai Art Fair ran from 2 to 8 November in the Shanghai Mart. Slightly more up-scale than in previous years, the fair was clearly commercially driven. Prominent contemporary galleries based within China, Beijing's Red Gate, CourtYard Gallery and Han Mo, and Shanghai's Hwa, Eastlink, Yi Bo and ShanghART decorated the somewhat bland fair with vibrant works by Wang Yuping, Ji Dachun (both exhibited in the Biennale), Zhang Dali and Zhao Nengzhi. To match the Biennale's international tone, Galerie de France shipped over a modern bronze cast from the original mould of Auguste Rodin's 1880 work, The Thinker. The work sold to a company in Pudong for a reported US$ 1 million. With that sale, the fair ended on a high note.

The satellite exhibitions proved to be more challenging to their visitors, providing relief from the speeches and symposiums. One of the better organized shows was `Portraits, Figures, Couples and Groups: Works from the Modern Chinese Art Foundation'. This exhibition was curated by Hans van Dijk and ran from 8 November until 3 December. Van Dijk selected works from the Belgian foundation's vast collection of contemporary Chinese art. The collection is believed to be one of the best at providing a general overview of art from the past two decades. This certainly seems to be the case as works by seminal artists such as Liu Wei, Liu Xiaodong, Qi Zhilong, Zhang Hai'er and Zhao Bandi were shown. These artists have all been associated with artistic phases of the last fifteen years; cynical realism, political pop and apartment art. Besides showing works by major exponents of these earlier movements, the foundation has collected works by emerging artists who are more representative of today's trends. Artists such as photographer Rong Rong, oil painter Zhang Yajie and performance artist Song Dong were included. Shown at the new BizArt location, viewers were able to see eighty images by 36 artists. Highlighting critical contributions to the last two decades of development in Chinese art, the strength of this exhibition lay in the collaborative story told by these works.

During the mid- to late 1990s, as the international art world showed increasing interest in contemporary Chinese art, artists themselves seemed to have consolidated their awareness of their developing society, and began producing a more grounded quest for identity in an increasingly trans-national environment. As records of their observations on reality and daily lives, artists are exploring issues such as gender, population and the environment. The rebelliousness and harsh political criticism seen in the late 80s and early 90s has faded into a more individual art relevant on a global level. Representing these trends in Chinese art were three satellite exhibitions.

The satellite exhibitions were well organized, engrossing and thought-provoking. The organizers, many of whom were participating artists, are aware of the rapid developments within the art scene where artists are continually inspired and influenced by social structures. These artists are infusing their works with emotions reflecting what is taking place around them and creating a fresh artistic language. The three exhibitions showed works that explore the complex relationship between culturally specific issues and the larger developments of the global age. While the Biennale hinted at this type of art, these unofficial exhibitions presented a brasher yet less consistent version of it.

The largest and most provocative of the three was politely known in English as `Fuck Off'. (A literal translation of the Chinese title, `Bu Hezuo Fangshi' is `Uncooperative Approach'.) Curated by Ai Weiwei and Feng Boyi, the exhibition was held in Eastlink's new warehouse space. The unfinished look and feel of the venue intensified the themes found within the exhibition; death, sensuality, meat, the body and modernity. In the accompanying catalogue essay, the curators stated that the show emphasized `the independent and critical stance that is basic to art's existence, and its status of independence, freedom and plurality in the situation of contradictions and conflict'. The selected works bore out the exhibition statement, but when displayed together, they appeared to crowd and corrupt one another.

The exhibition showed fifty artists, mainly based in Beijing, and included performances, video, photography, installation and works on canvas and paper. The most compelling works were not the macabre extreme made of meat (Gu Dexin's meat-stuffed chair or Qin Ga's meat corpses), but the works that questioned social conditioning and structure. He An's large photographic series Fifteen Reasons for Fashion was a sensitive male perspective on the topic of women, their bodies and fashion. The images showed sections of women's bodies with an imitation scar or injury, such as a gash in the leg from a fall due to high heels. He also commented on the uglier idea of the fashion industry with women's r‚sum‚s stating their height, weight and favourite drug. Rong Rong also displayed photographs which were not images he shot himself. In his Pieces series, the artist processed cut-up films he discovered in a deserted room and printed them in large formats. The images turned out to be shots of unclothed women lying on beds. Rong Rong's decision to reprint the films is another example of how these artists are documenting their daily lives. The contents are also a comment on changes within Chinese society, where nudity in art has only been re-accepted recently.

`Fuck Off' was the only exhibition shut down by authorities, but that was after the international press and viewers had left Shanghai. Eastlink's director reported that the police confiscated catalogues and a few works, including Rong Rong's, stating that they were `unhealthy'. Everything was returned a few days later, and no other problems resulted. The works at this exhibition were documents of the developments and changes within contemporary society. The media was different and in some cases quite bold, challenging the viewers to find meaning within art that may have been just created to shock.

Displaying a more kitschy approach to art was `Unusual and Usual' curated by Gu Zhenqing. The curatorial philosophy behind this exhibition of 24 artists was that situations within Chinese society have slowly been changing from unusual to usual. Gu gave the example of hair-washing salons and how everyone knows that there can be other `services' provided. He stated that this used to be unusual, but today people are accustomed to it, thus it has become usual. He grouped the artists into the two categories and suggested that usual art is real art, and that unusual artists are just using unusual modes to explore their relationship to the immediate environment. His statement lacked clarity, as did the classification of what was unusual and usual. Instead, the works stood on their own; performances (three were staged at the opening), conceptual and documentary photography, and installation work.

The show lasted ten days, with standouts like `unusual' artist Yin Xiuzhen who showed installations of used clothing in light-boxes shaped like houses and buildings. One of China's well-known female artists, Yin uses a domestic language, with gender issues at the centre, to reiterate the ideas of self and the environment distinct to women in China. The `usual' artist Cang Xin can be seen licking everything from a 100 yuan note to a miniature terracotta warrior. He exhibited his most recent series of photographs called My Identity: Tourist Series. In this work, he wears the clothing of a willing participant while another person poses with him in undergarments. There were photographs of a waitress in a karaoke bar, a chef in a restaurant and a pedlar recycling cardboard. The lack of an obvious theme did not distract from the exhibition; instead it made the viewers find their own dialogue with the works.

`Useful Life' was a more intimate exhibition. It showed the video and photographic works of Shanghai artists; Xu Zhen, Yang Fudong and Yang Zhenzhong. The most outstanding work was Yang Zhenzhong's video I Will Die. In this short piece, he filmed people of different ages repeating the phrase `I will die'. Each had their own way of saying the phrase, from a giggling child to an elderly woman who clearly enunciated the three-word phrase. In contrast to the somewhat chaotic shows mentioned earlier, this exhibition was arranged so that each artist had his own defined space, thus allowing the viewer to grasp the greater meaning of the work. Many artists exhibited at more than one show, including those in the Biennale. It is unimportant to determine which of these events represented the current direction of contemporary Chinese art. What is important is that the two weeks presented a sophisticated step forward for artists working in China.

China's push for modernization has not only affected its economy, but also its cultural identity and art. The concerns facing artists today cannot help but be influenced by this phenomenon. While many artists are producing social commentary with personal views on change, their art encompasses the judgement and critique of an emerging global culture in an intelligible way. All the events showed this, and for two weeks placed contemporary Chinese art on an level equal with the international art world.