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’Avant-garde’ Art Groups in China, 1979-1989

This book gives a critical account of four of the most significant avant-garde Chinese art groups and associations of the late 1970s and ’80s. It is made up largely of conversations conducted by the author with members of these organizations that provide insight into the circumstances of artistic production during the decade leading up to the Tiananmen Square Massacre of 1989. The conversations are supported by an extended introduction and other comprehensive notes that give a detailed overview of the historical circumstances under which the groups and associations developed.

155 pages | 55 halftones | 7 x 9 | © 2013

Art: Art--General Studies

History: Asian History


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Reviews

“Paul Gladston is one of the few, among many, writers on contemporary Chinese art whom I really find worth reading and thinking about.”

Jerome Silbergeld, Princeton University

‘Avant-Garde’ Art Groups in China, 1979–1989 is one of the most thought-provoking books on the subject of contemporary Chinese art. It addresses head-on the problematic identity and cultural politics of contemporary Chinese art in the late 1970s and 1980s. At the same time, it gives reader unfamiliar with the field a theoretically sophisticated introduction. A must-read even for those already familiar with pressing issues related to globalization and contemporary art in general.”

Jason C. Kuo, University of Maryland, College Park

“Gladston’s interviews will be of value to readers seeking to understand the roots of contemporary Chinese art. . . . an excellent sourcebook through which to discover the contentious, politicized discourse of Chinese artistic modernity in the 1980s.”

Journal of Asian Studies

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