Modern Chinese Art
Introduction and Outline
Culture and art are a representation of the history and ways of any group of people. For centuries, art has formed a core part in many societies and sought to create a platform to express the views that people share. The Chinese art forms one of the greatest artistic representations today. With a rich culture, the Chinese have carried and shared their culture through generations through art. Chinese art mainly comprises of visual art practiced by the Chinese people. This art’s point of origin and genesis was in China and is inclusive of the art from overseas Chinese as well as that from Taiwan. Thus, whether the art is either ancient or modern, it is definitely Chinese Art if it shows traits of both culture and heritage from China. In addition, this art has a history of continuity as opposed to other art from various cultural backgrounds such as the Western culture. However, this art played a huge role during the revolutionary periods in China whereby various people used it as a means of voicing out their different views and feelings. Therefore, this paper discusses the general roles that the Chinese art played during Cultural Revolution, the ways in which it represented the people and the government, and ultimately, how it aids in the shaping and setting ideologies for the society in the Republic of China.
Draft
In Asia, there exists an art gallery mainly comprised of different paintings and drawings of muted landscapes that seek to represent Matisse and Cezanne. This exhibition commonly referred to as “Light before Dawn” represents China’s repressive period from 1974 to 1985 (Feng 17). In addition, the work is by courageous twenty-two Chinese artists who quietly joined hands during and right after the extremely saddening revolutionary culture in China. During this period, their aristocratic ruler Mao Zedong passed a ruling that any form of art had to serve the state, commonly known as “revolutionary romanticism” (Hyer par.1). By this, he meant that the Chinese artists had only the choice to either draw art that represented social realism or not to have anything altogether. As such, art representing landscapes were against that law since snowy roofs, paths, and finally gardens symbolized purity contrary to Mao’s ruling (Feng 20).
With time the artists united and shared different techniques in drawing their rebellious art. Their main aim was to oppose the extreme levels of brutality, hypocrisy, and irrationality among others, practiced during China’s Cultural Revolution (Rawson 29). Undoubtedly, these artists were determined since for their survival, some of them sacrificed to work in factories during night shifts in order to create time for their painting during the day. Again, in Beijing, some artists hung various art works in walls of the National Art Gallery in the area (Rawson 29). These art works included sculptors, oil paintings, and ink drawings (Berman par.1). As a result, those paintings drew a lot of attention from all lovers of art such that the manager of the Chinese Art Association even offered to endorse the paintings (P. par.4). However, the police intervened and ultimately closed the unauthorized art gallery thereby destabilizing the show.
Thus, understanding contemporary Chinese art is important since art tends to lay a platform for various people to represent their various ideas. Besides, it is through art that people show their feelings towards their society and political leaders at large. As such, various artists through the creation of political based cartoons evidence this in the modern society. This platform helps them create funny cartoon drawings to address their various political issues, views, and general dissatisfaction of the politicians. Dikotter claims that the Chinese artists also used different forms of art in an act of rebellion against the oppressive rules from Mao during their revolution in culture (30). Thus, these different kinds of art during this turbulent period in China showed the people’s dissatisfaction on one hand and the government’s oppression on the other hand. Therefore, this period is both intriguing and rewarding since it provides a link between the thoughts from the public and the government thereby acting as a means of communication. Besides, the fact that those forms of art contain hidden meanings that require a lot of mind engagement in order to decipher their actual meaning is indeed interesting.
Additionally, understanding contemporary Chinese art helps one appreciate various kinds of art as a form of history as well as the role it played in China’s complicated history. Hence, the Chinese culture originated from the great Yellow River across China’s northern plain which incorporates many stable settlements since time immemorial (Berman par. 7). This indicate the Neolithic periods of art in China, which showed that the individuals then possessed tools that had beautiful finishing, cultivated silk worms, and they produced a variety of Chinese cultural artifacts (Dikotter, 47). After this period, the Chinese artists then engaged in visual art which was inclusive of Chinese pottery, carvings, and arts of jewelry, Chinese painting and finally calligraphy among others.
Furthermore, it is also important for one to be familiar with the research on the history of the representation of the general Chinese life during their Cultural Revolution. Regardless of the contradictory propaganda from Mao’s government, and the rebellious art work from the Chinese artists, it ultimately led to different insights in the society. In addition, Mackenzie argues that the Chinese art also had both moral and social functions whereby art work such as the mural paintings symbolized different benevolent leaders as well as their evil compatriots in order to serve as a warning to the viewers (12). Again, portrait art also brought out this moral function whose main purpose was to highlight on the subject’s character and status within the society as opposed to their facial and physical features. Moreover, it is evident that artwork still influences the future growth of the society in China. Thus, the Chinese art serves as the main means of communication between the people’s personal ideas and views with the political leaders and their various approaches to the future expectations and ideologies for the country.
Moreover, the presentation of the whole historical picture of the Cultural Revolution in China is both intriguing and exciting. The revolution led to a series of rebellious art works from some of the Chinese artists and the manner in which they rebelled is interesting as well (Mackenzie 26). In addition, the Cultural Revolution in China is a major turning point in history just as it is in many other countries that experienced a similar revolution (Mackenzie 26).
In addition, art work whether through drawing or painting is beautiful and satisfying to look at. As such, it is the easiest way to represent thoughts and feelings since apart from the beauty, viewers are inclined to reach out for the inner meanings of the pictures. This is in relation to an old saying that “a picture is worth a thousand words”; thus, a single painting or picture ends up representing too many feelings, views, and emotions (Feng 47). Therefore, all the works of art created by the Chinese artists during their revolution is essentially an interpretation of the Chinese history through the lens of its people whose perspective change after the revolution. However, the art continued to voice out their feelings of dissatisfaction to their aristocratic leader and acted as an insight to the society.
Art is undeniably an interesting connection of the history and the modern society. As Feng argues, by placing art as the underlying influence, individuals in the modern society are able to know their history (69). In other words, people use the ancient drawings and paintings to decipher the happenings of the past. For example, the Cultural Revolution in China happened in the past but through historical artifacts such as the various art works created by the rebellious Chinese artists, people in the modern world tend to know the exact occurrences entailed in the revolution.
According to Rawson, the history of the Chinese rebellious painters stemmed from their main aim which was to oppose Mao’s aristocracy in the Chinese government (92). Therefore, they had to rebel against all forms of Mao’s ideology, oblique intention, and structure on the rules and regulations in his government. Furthermore, Rawson notes that these stories on the history of the painters are extremely important as they show another side of history whereby people lived through eras where social realism was totally active but the painters decided to use art to express their views (97). Finally, Lu offers various critiques and opinions on the propaganda resulting from the different art works created by rebellious artists during the revolution (87). He includes a number of carious quotations from people in China and the most recent standing of the art during the Cultural Revolution in China.
In essence, there is a need for more information on real stories and reviews on the various ways in which art shapes the modern art in China and the general modern society. The foundations on the history of art are resourceful and well structured. In addition, the history of the Chinese Cultural Revolution are founded on a rich culture that appreciates art and its dynamics. Understanding past artistic presentations pave way for developing better future representation.
Works Cited
Berman, Greta. “Portraying the Chinese Revolution: Propaganda or Art?” The Juilliard School, October. 2008, http://www.juilliard.edu/journal/portraying-chinese-revolution-propaganda-or-art. Accessed October 01, 2016.
Dikötter, Frank. The Cultural Revolution: A People’s History, 1962-1976. , 2016. Internet resource.
Feng, Jicai. Ten Years of Madness: Oral Histories of China’s Cultural Revolution. San Francisco: China Books & Periodicals, 1996. Print.
Hyer, Eric A. “Art & Politics in Mao’s China.” Kennedy Center, February 2005. http://kennedy.byu.edu/art-politics-in-maos-china/. Accessed October 01, 2016.
Lu, Xing. Rhetoric of the Chinese Cultural Revolution: The Impact on Chinese Thought, Culture, and Communication. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2004. Print.
Mackenzie, Colin, Keith L. Pratt, Jeffrey Moser, and Katie Hill. The Chinese Art Book. Phaidon Press, 2013. Print.
P, J. “Expressions of Rebellion.” The Economist, 03 June. 2013, http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2013/06/chinese-art-during-cultural-revolution. Accessed October 01, 2016.
Rawson, Jessica. The British Museum Book of Chinese Art. New York: Thames and Hudson, 1993. Print.
