CHINESE ART IN BRAZIL: Chinese Contemporary Art after 2000,
Curated by Ma Lin and Tereza De Arruda

Santanu Ganguly

ChinaArteBrazil , curated by art historians Ma Lin and Tereza de Arruda, shows for the first time in Brazil a unique panorama of Chinese contemporary art proposing to enhance the cultural dialogue between Brazil and China. Santanu Ganguly reviews.

The Chinese Contemporary Art Landscape is complex, built from the dual influences of China’s own cultural background and the trends in Western Art. How should we interpret Chinese contemporary art? How should we evaluate Western critiques of Chinese Contemporary art? In the Chinese art world, these questions are being rethought and discussed. Now, as the concept of “Chinese symbol” has been accepted internationally, the task of finding artists whose works extend beyond “Chinese Symbol” has been undertaken by only few curators and art critics in China. Of course, we can’t use one label to summarize all Chinese Contemporary Art, but can only provide a selection of Chinese Contemporary Art since 2000. Ma Lin Section artists are: He Chengyao, Huang Jun, Li Shan, Li Yifan, Li Zhouwei, Liu Yongtao, Mou Huan, Ni Weihua, Qu Yan, Song Gang, Wang Jingsong, Wang Nanming, Wang Xiaosong, Wong Shun-kit, Wu Song, XU Weixin, Yang Kai, Yang Qian, Zhang Minjie, Zhang Jian-jun, Zhang Xiaotao. For the curated section, presented in three parts, twenty one artists were selected for the ChinaArteBrazil exhibition, the theme being “Chinese Contemporary Art after 2000”. Part 1 “Art intervenes in Society” showcases artists Wang Jingsong, Ni Weihua, Li Yifan, Qu Yan, Wang Nanming, He Chengyao, Xu Weixin and Zhang Minjie’s works.

It focuses on how the artists look for new art in non-art, How the artists broke the boundary of art and present social problems throughout their works? Part 2 “History, Memory and Future” showcasing Li Shan, Zhang Jian-jun, Zhang Xiaotao and Song Gang explores imagination of the future and present, targeting the problems that people have overlooked. Part 3 “Image and Form” showcases new paintings and angles, such as Wong Shun-kit, Yang Qian, Huangjun, Mou Huan, Wu Song, Wang Xiaosong, Yang Kai, Li Zhouwei, Liu Yongtao’s works discussing post-abstractionism, images, graffiti, strokes and other issues. The twenty-one artists in this exhibition are examples of the development of Chinese contemporary art. Because of their different academic backgrounds, they show different creative tendencies in their works on the same theme. This is the first time China’s latest art is shown in OCA, Sao Paulo. Due to limited funding and space, the artist’s series works could not be presented, hoping to exhibit them next time.