“On the Edge: Contemporary Chinese Artists" at Indianapolis Museum of Art

Monday, 26 June 2006 10:14

Indianapolis, IN - An exhibition opening at the IMA on June 30 will explore recent Chinese art from a perspective never before presented in the West.  “On the Edge: Contemporary Chinese Artists Encounter the West” aims to replace old assumptions concerning China’s contemporary art with a fresh appreciation of its form and substance, and of its interconnectedness with the international art world.  The exhibition will feature works by 11 of China’s leading avant-garde artists.

The IMA is hosting the exhibition as part of its Forefront series, an ongoing series of exhibitions that presents recent contemporary art by international artists and offers a changing view of major developments in the art world.  Forefront is sponsored by Carrier Corporation.

“The IMA has one of the best permanent collections of traditional Chinese art in the United States,” said Lisa Freiman, curator of contemporary art at the IMA.  “‘On the Edge’ gives our visitors the opportunity to reflect on more recent examples of Chinese art, particularly the ways that contemporary Chinese artists negotiate the complex relationships between international art and politics.” 

The exhibition explores the intersection of art and politics, an issue visible throughout Chinese art history.  Chinese artists now in their 40s learned about the inseparability of art and politics during their adolescence, when Mao’s theories on art shaped the visual landscape.  Younger Chinese artists have become obsessed with a blend of art and politics — what some call “cultural politics” — focusing on the positioning of Chinese art within the global art scene.  Some of China’s best artists have reacted to this by producing bitingly humorous pieces commenting on the situation.  “On the Edge” includes the most important of these works.

Artists represented in the exhibition include Hong Hao, Huang Yong Ping, Qiu Zhijie, Sui Jianguo, Wang Du, Xing Danwen, Xu Bing, Yan Lei, Yin Xiuzhen, Zhang Hongtu, Zhang Huan and Zhou Tiehai, with works in a full range of materials, including oil, airbrush, photography, resin, installation and video.  “The West,” an interactive CD-ROM by Beijing-based artist Qiu Zhijie, allows exhibition visitors to explore Chinese ideas of the West, ranging from ridiculous or shocking popular misconceptions to historical views.  MacArthur award winner Xu Bing has created a classroom — included in the exhibition — where visitors can learn to write Square Word Calligraphy, a method of writing English words as square graphs resembling Chinese characters.

“On the Edge” was organized by the Iris & Gerald B. Cantor Center for Visual Arts at Stanford University.  The exhibition and catalogue are made possible in large part through the generosity of Karen Christensen and an anonymous donor.

The Indianapolis Museum of Art is among the largest general art museums in the United States.  Situated on 152 acres that incorporate Oldfields–Lilly House & Gardens as well as breathtaking gardens and grounds, the IMA features significant collections of African, American, Asian, European, contemporary and decorative art, including paintings, sculpture, prints, drawings and photographs, textiles and costumes.

Visit The Indianapolis Museum of Art at : www.ima-art.org