Reckoning with the Past

Contemporary Chinese Painting
1 July - 6 September 1998

This exhibition of contemporary paintings from China, Taiwan and Hong Kong was curated by Chang Tsong-Zung, an art critic and dealer gallery director in Hong Kong.

Contemporary Chinese art entered a new phase after the violent repression of Tian’ anmen Square in 1989. The earlier enthusiasm for modernist and post- modernist styles, which had been inspired by contacts with the West, was drastically curtailed by the depressed social and political climate. A growing reaction against the intellectual idealism of the 1980s saw a cynical reassessment and ‘Pop’ art styled works, created by disillusioned youthful artists, echoed the sudden resurgence of Mao-fever on the Chinese mainland.

The 15 contemporary artists in this exhibition reflect this critical review of China’ s recent past. Looking at the immediate past is a way of making sense of the present and thus filling the emotional and psychological vacuum caused by the break with 3,000 years of political cohesion. This exhibition explores the main directions this new sensibility has taken and contrasts the artistic movements appearing in China with those of the other major Chinese societies in Hong Kong and Taiwan.

The legacy of Mao and his ‘ Great Leap Forward’ is recognised as more than just a political issue. His figure and the legacy of the Maoist years appears in the ‘ Pop’ art-styled works of Feng Mengbo, in Yu Youhan’ s glorified images of Mao Zedong or in Zhang Xiaogang’ s mesmerising frozen portraits.

Nostalgia for the past is also reflected in the post-modernist reworkings of traditional styles as in the works of Yu Peng, but this nostalgia is also seen as reflecting a loss of confidence in the future. Wang Xingwei paints scenes of himself pointing to an illusory dawn, or as Mao striding out to light the fire of revolution. It suggests a sentimental, yet critical, nostalgia for the idealised world of the previous generation.

As the curator Chang Tsong-Zung says, the myth of cultural continuity has always been at the heart of the Chinese psyche. Surrounded now by the ruins of a bankrupt idealism these young artists are ‘ reckoning with the past’ , re-interpreting, and even re-inventing their heritage. Such activities can generate a deep anxiety when faced with what the curator sees as the present lack of direction. Reckoning with the Past also deals with a search for a Chinese identity which relates comfortably with modern times. Although this concern is less apparent for artists in mainland China, it can be a deeply disturbing problem for artists living in Taiwan and Hong Kong. Their struggle to find personal and artistic identities is reflected in the subjects and the styles of these exciting new works freshly emerging from contemporary Chinese society.

Presented by Asia 2000 in association with the Robert McDougall Art Gallery
Supported by Creative New Zealand

This exhibition was held at the Robert McDougall Art Gallery in the Botanic Gardens.