This August the Seattle Asian Art Museum will present Shu: Reinventing Books in Contemporary Chinese Art, a thought-provoking exhibition that examines the impact and notion of the book on Chinese artists.
Organized by the China Institute Gallery in New York City and curated by Wu Hung, the Harrie A. Vanderstappen Distinguished Service Professor of Art History at the University of Chicago, the exhibition will be on view at the Seattle Asian Art Museum in Volunteer Park from August 9 through December 2, 2007.
Shu: Reinventing Books in Contemporary Chinese Art features paintings, drawings, prints, artist’s books, installation and sculpture by some of the leading Chinese artists working today including Cai Guo-Qiang, Zhang Xiaogang and Xu Bing. Many artworks show that “paintings and the book have enjoyed a unique relationship in Chinese culture, a relationship which is so fundamental to the artist that it has transcended enormous changes in Chinese art over the past 2,000 years,” says Wu Hung.
“Shu” is the Chinese word for books. Historically, the most respected Chinese artists were also well-learned scholars. To excel in painting and calligraphy, the major art forms in China, artists must also be well-versed in classical philosophy and literature. The book, as a symbol of learning, cultivation and knowledge, became inextricably linked with the arts. Yet many contemporary Chinese artists spent their younger days in farms and factories during the turbulent period of the Cultural Revolution. They were deprived of books and learning. The few selected books, such as Chairman Mao’s Little Red Book, became powerful tools to indoctrinate certain ideologies, to which the artists were subjected. Many book-related art projects in contemporary China are reactions to cultural and political authority. Some works in the exhibition are imbued with vivid personal memories of the Cultural Revolution while other works question the roles that books have played in education and political propaganda.
The exhibition features a number of engaging works, including A Self Portrait Book (2003) by Qin Siyuan (Colin Chinnery), Tobacco Project: Red Books (2000) by Xu Bing, which pairs cigarettes with quotations from Chairman Mao; and Yue Minjun’s Garbage Dump (2005), which features six fiberglass sculptures of seated individuals grinning at ‘useless’ books.
The seminal work in the exhibition is the installation of A Book from the Sky by Xu Bing, a 1999 recipient of the MacArthur Genius Award. Conceived in the late 1980s, A Book from the Sky consists of a series of books and scrolls that are produced by traditional woodblock printing techniques. Despite the familiar forms of the printed books, the characters are distorted and unreadable, totally baffling the viewer.
In addition to contemporary works, there will be a gallery with a timeline showing a history of the book and methods of documentation, as well as eight works from SAM’s permanent collection. The works range in age and medium, and include an oracle bone with ancient inscriptions, rubbings from a Nestorian stele and sutra covers. These works will give visitors a taste of the origins and importance of the Chinese written word that the contemporary artists in the exhibition are responding to.
“As a notion and a form, the book remains a source of contention and inspiration to these artists,” says Josh Yiu, SAM’s Foster Foundation Assistant Curator of Chinese Art and curator of the exhibition in Seattle. A full-color catalog with statements from the artist will accompany the exhibition.
Thursday, August 9 The Cultural Revolution and Reflections on Contemporary Chinese Art Seattle Asian Art Museum, Emma Baillargeon Stimson Auditorium, 7 – 9 p.m.
Sent to cultivate the hinterland during the Cultural Revolution (1966-76), Professor Gu Xiong provides a personal account of his experiences during this turbulent and traumatic period of modern Chinese history.
He will discuss how his hope and frustration are reconciled and vented in his sketchbooks, which approaches the Cultural Revolution from personal, historical and political perspectives, and how that experience continues to affect Chinese contemporary artists up to now. This backdrop will lead the audience to understand the particularity of contemporary Chinese art, whose impact on the global art scene is being increasingly felt. Also taking part in the evening's celebration will be Ng Sio Leng, whose video installation Representing Ink will be on view at the SAAM. Join us for this opportunity to see the artist at work. Free and open to the public. To reserve your space, please call the SAM Box Office at 206.654.3121. Seating is available on a first-come, first-served basis.
This exhibition was organized by the China Institute Gallery. Support for this exhibition provided by the Washington State Arts Commission, which receives federal funding from the National Endowment for the Arts; and The W.L.S. Spencer Foundation. Endowment support provided by the Robert M. Arnold Endowment in Support of Chinese Art and the Mimi Gates Asian Art Endowment Fund. -- www.seattleartmuseum.org
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