EDITOR'S NOTE

Yishu 33 continues its exploration into cultural issues that have assumed increasing prominence following the Beijing Olympics and the post-market boom. Yishu 32 brought into focus the social role of the artist now that the market is exerting less influence, and in Yishu 33, Fiona He brings into the discussion the state of critical writing on art as well as the evolution of alternative exhibition venues that have recently emerged in various cities throughout China.

We also offer three texts featuring artists—Yan Pei-Ming, Cui Guotai, and Xie Xiaoze—whose paintings appear to have similarities in that they are representational and share subdued palettes, but, in fact, prove to be surprisingly different in their conceptual underpinnings. In addition, two articles examine the different ways photographers Xing Danwen and Dong Wensheng address the abandonment of cultural traditions and social interaction in the face of the all-consuming modernization of urban China.

Yishu has continously exercised flexibility about what might constitute the “Chineseness” in contemporary Chinese art. To begin with, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and mainland China are all considered China culturally, even though they have very different modern histories and social structures. Added to this is the vast Chinese diaspora, making for an even more complex and sometimes problematic understanding of Chinese art. With this in mind, we are featuring reviews of two exhibitions, The Third Mind at the Guggenheim New York, and Outside In: Chinese x American x Contemporary at the Princeton University Art Museum. These reviews examine the influence of Asia on American art as well as provoke questions about what “Chinese” art might be. Finally, we have a review of Navin Rawanchaikul’s exhibition Super China! at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing. Rawanchaikul, an innovator of alternative strategies for presenting art, is neither ethnic Chinese nor a resident of China, but his ambitious exhibition offers an insightful and humourous meditation on the current Chinese art system.


Keith Wallace

photo: Dong Wensheng, The Face Without a World View, 2008, photograph. Courtesy of Iberia Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing.