1990s---Bringing
local into the Global
For
Chinese contemporary artists, the 1990s were a time of rebirth. The post-Tiananmen
period brought ideological control and increasing economic pressure for deeper
reform, as well as a steady decline of avant-garde activity and other cultural
pursuits. Art publications came under stronger controls, which resulted in the
banning of many art journals and magazines that had been devoted to art movements
since 1985. Unexpectedly, young faculty and students in the art academies joined
this avant-garde art movement. Their joining of this movement resulted in China's
New Art, Post-1989 exhibition inaugurated at the Hong Kong. Through the foresight
of the organizers, more than 200 works by 50 artists were included-paintings,
sculptures, and installations, predominantly in the style theorized at the time
as Political Pop and Cynical Realist. After this decade, China's Contemporary
Art advanced in international prestige, bringing itself from the local concerns
of Chinese culture to the concerns of major globalized cultural issues.
