About the author: Caterina is an art historian and writer living in Edinburgh, UK. She holds a PhD in art history from the University of Glasgow and a Master in Chinese Studies from the University of Edinburgh. She has been studying Chinese art, culture, and history for twenty years. More about Caterina.
With the end of the 1970s and the economic reforms pushed by the leader Deng Xiaoping (1904-1997), China took its first steps into the international markets. These steps also influenced the perception of art that, especially after the 1990s, became a considerable commodity within and outside of China. Curators began to include Chinese artists in their exhibitions, proving that the lens used to see the art world could be extended in order to include different ways of interpreting reality and history.
One of the first exhibitions to showcase Chinese art was the 1989 Magiciens de la terre at the Centre Pompidou and Parc de la Villette in Paris. Magiciens de la terre featured over a hundred artists, half of which were described as non-Western, and aimed at presenting contemporary art made worldwide. The curator, Jean-Hubert Martin, noted that the issue was that “one hundred percent of exhibitions [are] ignoring 80 percent of the Earth.” Mainland China was represented by three artists: Yang Jiechang (b. 1956), Gu Dexin (b. 1962), and Huang Yong Ping (1954-2019).
Thanks to Magiciens de la terre, other exhibitions followed the practice of featuring Chinese artists in their catalogue. In 1990, Art Chinois 1990: Chine Demain pour Hier in Aix-en-Provence was the first exhibition of contemporary Chinese art after the events of Tiananmen Square (1989). Six artists, all residents outside China, were invited to work with the concept of art in situ. The result was a modification of the landscape of the French village of Pourrières through explosions, digs, and installations. By engaging with a foreign landscape and their inhabitants, Huang Yong Ping (1954-2019), Cai Guo-Qiang (b. 1957), Gu Wenda (b. 1955), Yang Jiechang (b. 1956), Chen Zhen (1955-2000), and Yan Pei-Ming (b. 1960) demonstrated that their work could exist, be valid beyond and independently from their country of origin.
The Venice Biennale of 1993 with Passage to the Orient was the largest international exhibition that officially recognised the entity and scope of contemporary Chinese art. In that year’s fringe section, Xu Bing (b. 1955), Wang Guangyi (b. 1957), Fang Lijun (b. 1963), and others opened the way for the increasing number of Chinese creators that wanted to be a part of the artistic discussion of the time. In 2005, the Venice Biennale established the China pavilion, a sign that officially marked the international growth of infrastructure dedicated to contemporary art beyond Western borders.
Museums and collectors quickly followed this change of attitude as the growing reputation of Chinese artists on the international stage could not be ignored. In 1999 in San Francisco, Inside/Out: New Chinese Art was the first exhibition to present artworks, all created post-1985, by artists from mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, as well as those who had left China after 1989. With more than 80 works, Inside/Out showcased the evolution of contemporary Chinese art during years of social, economic, and cultural change.
In 2008, the enthusiasm created by the Beijing Olympics also reached the art sector. In October, the Saatchi Gallery in London opened the exhibition The Revolution Continues: New Art from China. With works by Zhang Xiaogang (b. 1958), Yue Minjun (b.1962), and Zeng Fanzhi (b. 1964), it attracted an average of 5,200 people a day, a number that confirmed the interest in all-things-Chinese art of that year. The Guardian reported that in 2008 eleven of the twenty top-selling international artists were Chinese.
The number of exhibitions featuring or completely dedicated to Chinese artists has never stopped growing and it follows that many collectors and art enthusiasts are keeping track of the hottest artists. While the names of Western collectors might be elusive, the Chinese ones are in the open. The Shanghai-based David Chau (b. 1985), for instance, is the mind behind ART021, the Shanghai 21 Contemporary Art Fair, regarded as the most influential in mainland China, and the IAG (Immersive Art Gallery). In 2023, his exhibition Crossing the River by Feeling the Collectors caused a real buzz within China. With the works of more than 90 artists from all over the world spread over five floors, Chau attracted the attention of international as well as local art dealers.
Born in Qingdao in 1966, Guan Yi is considered one of China’s “super-collectors.” Guan began buying art in the mid-1990s and in time created a collection that is now the reference point for contemporary Chinese art. In 2001, he established the Guan Yi Contemporary Art Museum, the emphasis of which is on conceptual art and large scale installations — he is Huang Yong Ping’s top collector. In 2014, Guan donated 37 works by renowned contemporary Chinese artists to M+, the Hong Kong museum for visual culture.
There is an undeniable interest in contemporary Chinese art and this might be a perk of globalisation. With no geographical boundaries and an accessible art market, collectors and art lovers can let their curiosity drive them down the rabbit hole of a new, thrilling culture. Whether this curiosity stems from unfamiliarity or simply aesthetic considerations, it is still worth the exploration.