It appears that a combination of the post-Olympic and post-market boom periods have afforded a pause for reflection about the future of contemporary Chinese art. The first three texts in Yishu 32 propose that it is time for artists and critics to enquire more deeply into the meaning of art and its function in today’s society, especially in light of the impact the art market had upon much of the art that was produced during the past decade. Hou Hanru discusses China’s new metropolises and probes into the imaginative and utopian social roles that urban planners and artists can contribute, Gao Minglu offers a timely plea for the nurturing of intellectual and critical voices during these vulnerable times, and artist Wang Qingsong talks about his art and the maintenance of one’s integrity in the face of pressures from both the State and the market.

Complementing these important issues are conversations with, and about, four artists who have highly distinctive and often unexpected, approaches to their art practice. Xu Zhen has attempted to challenge any complacency towards contemporary art with provocative and problematic work that has generated considerable debate. Li Pinghu, Pak Sheung Chuen, and Song Kun explore, each in their individual ways, the crossover between art and an intensely personal and subjective relationship to the social reality that they inhabit. Philosophically and conceptually, they exhibit a daring independence that is all too uncommon within the art world, where conformity and acceptance is often the driving force for artists.

Tim Birch contributes an overview of the Chinese Arts Centre in Manchester, a pioneer of such institutions as they exist outside of China, and asks its new CEO, Sally Lai, where its future lies. In conclusion, we present substantive reviews on recent exhibitions by Huang Rui and Huang Zhiyang, and a review of two new publications that survey different generations within China’s evolving history of contemporary art; coincidentally, in its final paragraph, this review circles back to some of the very issues broached in the opening texts.

Yishu will again be present at Art Basel from June 10 to 14. Please stop by and say hello.


Keith Wallace


Photo: Wang Qinsong, Present, 2001, C-print, 120 x 200 cm. Courtesy of the artist.