New China, New Art

Contemporary Chinese Art has exploded onto the international scene, attracting intense critical attention and soaring market responses. The fast-paced social and economic transformation of the People's Republic of China is reflected by a startling liberalization in subject matter, frenetic formal experimentation, canny appropriation of Western themes and mediums, a struggle to preserve and express Chinese identity in a global context, and rapid commercialization that at once embraces and challenges the international gallery and auction systems. Here for the first time in a medium-by-medium critical survey, Richard Vine, a leading authority on the new Chinese art, provides an insider's introduction to this vitally important artistic field.