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- All Subjects: Art criticism
- Creators: Brown, Claudia
Description
The relationship between Chinese modern and contemporary artistic creation and the national sovereignty of China is a worthy subject of debate. Within it, modernism and intellectual/artistic subjectivity are two necessary starting points. However, there is still a good deal of uncertainty around these two points. First, can the modernization process of China be accepted as the general meaning of modernization? Second, are some Chinese modern and contemporary artists actually modern intellectuals? Based on clarification of the above two uncertainties, this thesis is an attempt to argue that the Chinese artists who regard themselves, their artworks and creations, as intellectual, reflect the collision domain between themselves and the political entity of national sovereignty in China: the communist regime controlled by the CCP, Chinese Communist Party中國共産黨.
In this thesis, three chapters discuss the relationship between Chinese modern and contemporary art and the CCP. In my theoretical exposition, I argue that the artistic/intellectual subjectivity of modern Chinese artists gradually developed and changed during the conflict and struggle with the Communist rule.
In the first chapter, I introduce the biography and artistic creation of Chinese literati painters under the communist rule, exemplified by Wu Hufan吳湖帆. I analyze and demonstrate how the subjectivity of the traditional literati gradually lost strength under the pressure of nationalism, the disenchantment with modernization, and communism. In the second chapter, I focus on the Scar Art art movement of the 1970s to the 1980s, as well as representative artists and their works in this direction of art, such as Cheng Conglin程叢林 and Gao Xiaohua高小華. In this chapter, I use feminism and Foucault's political-philosophical theories to explain these visual expressions of the memory of historical trauma in Scar Art during this period. In Chapter 3, by discussing the works of two artists, He Gong何工 and Ai Weiwei艾未未, in the context of Foucault’s political philosophy, I argue that artists how to express their intellectual subjectivity and political resistance through their contributions to Chinese contemporary art.
In this thesis, three chapters discuss the relationship between Chinese modern and contemporary art and the CCP. In my theoretical exposition, I argue that the artistic/intellectual subjectivity of modern Chinese artists gradually developed and changed during the conflict and struggle with the Communist rule.
In the first chapter, I introduce the biography and artistic creation of Chinese literati painters under the communist rule, exemplified by Wu Hufan吳湖帆. I analyze and demonstrate how the subjectivity of the traditional literati gradually lost strength under the pressure of nationalism, the disenchantment with modernization, and communism. In the second chapter, I focus on the Scar Art art movement of the 1970s to the 1980s, as well as representative artists and their works in this direction of art, such as Cheng Conglin程叢林 and Gao Xiaohua高小華. In this chapter, I use feminism and Foucault's political-philosophical theories to explain these visual expressions of the memory of historical trauma in Scar Art during this period. In Chapter 3, by discussing the works of two artists, He Gong何工 and Ai Weiwei艾未未, in the context of Foucault’s political philosophy, I argue that artists how to express their intellectual subjectivity and political resistance through their contributions to Chinese contemporary art.
ContributorsSun, Yiliang (Author) / Mesch, Ulrike (Thesis advisor) / Brown, Claudia (Committee member) / Baker, Janet (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2020
Description
“I want something that will show what is truth itself.”- Zheng Chongbin For artist Zheng Chongbin, truth is visualized through elegant, frenetic dances of blacks, whites, and grays on paper and sculptural transformations of divine spaces. Beginning with the vehicle of ink and its materiality, Zheng explores the potentialities of phenomenological realities in his artworks. His pieces are portraits and scenes of cosmic links and structures intended to question preconditioned biases and awaken human perception of elemental forms and the unnoticed beauty in our environment. This paper follows the evolution of Zheng’s visual philosophy by tracing the thread of influences, spanning disciplines, cultures, and time, behind Zheng’s artistic endeavors. While a body of literature on Zheng’s practice exists, mainly written by art historians with a specialty in contemporary Chinese art, much of it is largely concerned with establishing his position as a revolutionary artist revitalizing and transforming the Chinese ink painting tradition. Interpretative essays and critical writings about Zheng’s artwork most often attempt to fit them within the Chinese artistic canon or are surface aesthetic comparisons to Western post-war artists. However, little to no scholarly research has comprehensively addressed Zheng’s inclination towards transdisciplinary and transhistorical schools of thought and how those ideas are integrated into his methodology. By revealing the rich philosophical constructs behind Zheng’s practice, the paper opens up pathways for new approaches to his artworks. Ultimately, this challenges the narrow categorization of Zheng’s practice as definitively Chinese contemporary art, and instead facilitates the understanding that his artworks demonstrate a convergence of multiple artistic hereditary lines and global discourses.
ContributorsYang, Celia (Author) / Hoy, Meredith (Thesis advisor) / Little, Stephen (Committee member) / Brown, Claudia (Committee member) / Arizona State University (Publisher)
Created2021