Chinese Art Today

China Today
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China Today
Chinese art seeks to represent Chinese heritage and culture. The earliest Chinese art dates back to 10,000 BC where it was mainly simple sculptures and pottery. Unlike art from other parts of the world, Chinese art remains the oldest continuous tradition. Looking at both the ancient and contemporary Chinese art indicates a level of continuity. Nonetheless, since contact with Western art since the 19th Century, Chinese artists have embraced contemporary art.
Meaning of Art
No single definition exists regarding the meaning of art. Different people look at the definition of the term from different perspectives. I look at art from the perspective of artists expressing their imaginations, ideas, and skills by creating audio, visual or any performing artworks. When individuals engage in the process of creating something meaningful using art, they are doing art. In creating art, individuals use their skills and creativity to convey their message. Artists want to communicate something to their audience. They apply their skills and imagination to package the message in a way that reaches the target audience.
Fascinating aspects of contemporary Chinese art
The emergence of underground creative energy accelerated the avant-garde in China. In the late 1970s and 1980s, underground artists sought to put their creative energy into art (Tsao & Ames, 2011). Art schools became popular and enlisted artistically gifted students. The main drive for the students was the 30 years of isolation from Western Culture. During this time, art institutes were permitted to inscribe Western art into their books and magazines. 1989 marked the explosion of art with the first major exhibition of modern Chinese art in the show named “China/Avant-Garde.” The artwork at the exhibition moved away from traditional and acceptable Chinese expressions.
Contemporary Chinese art has been politically provocative. During the China/Avant-Garde exhibition, student protests took place. The occurrence of the two events alarmed the authorities who viewed the departure from cultural expressions to Western-oriented art as the source of the rebellion. As a result, a majority of the contemporary Chinese artists found themselves torn between their individuals’ preferences and the prevailing sociopolitical values (Vinograd, 2011). Due to the unfavorable environment, some Chinese artists left China and immigrated to other countries like the U.S., U.K., and Australia. Chinese avant-garde art has continued to disrupt and agitate the status quo. The art continues to provoke individuals to ask themselves the meaning of being “Chinese” in the 21st Century. The contemporary Chinese art hence keeps on pushing the boundaries beyond what the government places on how artists can express themselves.
Despite the...