NEW WORLD ORDER. CONTEMPORARY INSTALLATION ART AND PHOTOGRAPHY FROM CHINA

Modern and contemporary art as we know it in the West (with movements such as expressionism, abstract and conceptual art) could only develop in China from the late 1970s. This means that modern Chinese art is little more than 25 years old and is therefore the product of an unprecedented pressure-cooker effect, in which a whole miscellany of diverse and contradictory elements play a part - confusing and intriguing at one and the same time. This evolution is described in an essay and in interviews with several prominent artists. This richly illustrated volume surveys recent trends in contemporary Chinese art with a focus on installation art and staged photography. All these works were created after 2000, and some were specially commissioned by the Groninger Museum for the exhibition. The selection of works therefore provides an impression of the current diversity of working methods, guiding principles and artistic approaches, along with the commentary of the artists themselves.