Contemporary Asia Thru Postcolonialism: Reinventing China Through Body Art

REINVENTING CHINA THROUGH BODY ART
Contemporary Asia Thru Postcolonialism
Date
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Abstract
China has always been – remains to be – misunderstood by outsiders and a new emerging generation no longer connected to a slipping past. Culturally, China is stereotyped as exotic, if not incomprehensible, by and in Western art and exhibitions. In more recent decades, contemporary Chinese art has been undergoing radical changes in an attempt to reclaim, or perhaps reimagine, China. In a postcolonial, post-Cultural Revolution period, however, Chinese art is hard pressed between official claims on country’s historical art, actual or imagined, to project a New China, and genuine experimentations spearheaded by leading avant-garde artists. Zhang Huan epitomizes a new wave of Chinese artists who, in unique subversion of conventional cultural and artistic conventions, redefine Chinese art (and cultural history) for international audiences eager to “decipher” a puzzling China, now in purely native voices. Using body as a strong mode and medium of expression, Huan recaptures a China, in diaspora and locally, long dismissed, intentionally or not, in a postcolonial understanding of China’s art and, by extension, culture. Specifically, Huan, one leading Chinese avant-garde artist, is discussed in a context of a postcolonial lens according to which native, not Eurocentric, approaches to modernism are adopted and increasingly promoted. This paper offers a broad overview of underlying dynamics in contemporary Chinese scene, proceeds to present an understanding of postcolonial art in Chinese context, provides an in-depth analysis of origins, influences and meanings in Huan, particularly in using body as and for art, and, finally, wraps up by a general conclusion.
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Outline
Title: Zhang Huan: Reinventing China Through Body Art
Thesis: This paper explores use of body art in Zhang Huan, a leading contemporary Chinese performance artist and a post-Tiananmen Square avant-garde experimentalist rising to prominence from early 90s as part of Beijing East Village art scene, to reinvent a new China informed by postcolonial, non-Eurocentric sensibilities. I. Introduction.
Offers a broad overview of underlying dynamics in contemporary Chinese scene.
II. Zhang Huan: Post Colonialism in Context
Present an understanding of postcolonial art in Chinese context.
III. Zhang Huan: The Body Is & For Art
Provides an in-depth analysis of origins, influences and meanings in Huan, particularly in using body as and for art.
IV. Conclusion
Restates main argument.
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The growing profile of China as a global international power has repositioned Chinese art of the 80s and 90s in uniquely avant-garde, contemporary perspectives. More specifically, contemporary Chinese artists, particularly ones exposed to Western artistic experiments, can be said to be leading a new cultural revolution. Informed by local origins and inspired by increasingly diverse non-Chinese artistic influences, a growing number of Chinese artists have been reshaping Chinese art scene (and influence) for years. For current purposes, and informed by a postcolonial lens, one artist is selected to highlight emerging patterns in contempor...