The 20th century in China is dominated by political and government changes that was shaped from their prior history. Art was greatly effected by these changes, whether it was the subject of the paintings or drawings, or the style of art, or the techniques used in each work. These changes were both voluntary and involuntary, depending on who was the leader of the country throughout the 1900s. One artist that spoke out against the forced change was Ding Cong, and through his political drawings, his message of exposing government corruption, along with illuminating realities that China faced, was widely known.

Ding Cong, also known as Xiao Ding (Little Ding), created many drawings over his career that shed light on what the average Chinese citizen was experiencing, and after the Sino-Japanese War, many Chinese, including Ding himself, struggled to survive during a period of rampant inflation (Ristaino 2009, 60). A few of his drawings represented the incredible inflation, with some drawings referring to national and abroad problems associated with it. Ding extensively drew upon the rampant corruption, market chaos, uncontrolled inflation, and abject poverty and unemployment that plagued Chinese citizens in his drawings. His signature stylistic trait that most of his art had were contradictions in society – depicting rich and poor or abuser and abused – to portray a country in morale decline (Ristaino 2009, 62). One drawing, that was published on the cover of a popular Shanghai magazine Zhoubao (Weekly Magazine), called “The Perfect Citizen” (1945) highlights the different ways the Nationalist regime would censor the population. The figure has his brain opened for brainwashing, his ears plugged with bribes, his eyes shaded by sunglasses, and his lips locked together (Ristaino 2009, 63).

My theme will present works by Ding Cong that show the changing environment Chinese citizens faced throughout the civil war (1945-1949), the Anti-Rightist Movement (1957-1968) and the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976). My hope is to arrange pieces in a way to show both differences and similarities between the time periods through Ding’s work.

“The Perfect Citizen” (1945)

Ristaino, Marcia R. Chinas Intrepid Muse: the Cartoons and Art of Ding Cong. Warren, CT: Floating World Editions, 2009.

Chen Danqing first left the comfort of the Shanghai metropolis at the ripe age of 17 as a result of Chairman Mao’s Cultural Revolution policy to expose the revolutionary youth to the struggle and toil of the Chinese countryside.  This was a formative and integral part of Chen’s youth as he, along with tens of millions of other metropolitan youth, was forced into an unrecognizable and uncomfortable new environment.  Upon the closure of the Cultural Revolution in the late ‘70s, Chen cultivated a passion for Native Soil Art, influenced by French realist Jean-Francois Millet.  He sought to employ Native Soil styles to depict the harsh realities of the lives of China’s ethnic minorities, particularly those living in the Tibetan Autonomous Region.

Chen has published numerous paintings on the lives and traditions of the nomadic peoples living in the Tibetan region; their ways of living, cultural nuances, traditional beliefs and practices, occupations, and more.  Thus, this exhibition will focus on the meaning behind Chen’s into Tibetan culture and the objective of Chen’s portrayal of Tibetan culture through his unique Native Soil techniques.  Typical in Native Soil Art, realism is stressed in the portrayal of personal expressions, landscapes, and objects portrayed in the image, often an earthy, almost ominous coloring.  Native Soil techniques, fully opposed to the techniques employed during the Cultural Revolution, help popularize a burgeoning realist faction in Chinese art circles in the 1970s and ‘80s.  These groups sought to identify the struggles and successes of the Chinese people through harsh, realist portrayals rather than glorified, optimistic socialist-realist styles.  Not only does Chen seek to demarcate the normalcy and uniqueness of the average Tibetan’s life, but he also aims to depict the tangible nature of Tibet and its peoples, often considered an exotic and faraway region to most living on China’s east coast.

In Chinese mainstream media, those living in Tibet are often subjected to labels such as anti-Beijing, subversive peoples who seek to liberate themselves from the rule of the CCP.  However, employing techniques typical of Native Soil Art, Chen depicts Tibetan people for who they really are; he highlights their longstanding cultural and religious practices, the intimacy of family and interpersonal relationships, and most importantly, the negligible differences between them and the majority Han population.

Chen Danqing (b.1953), Harvest Fields Flooded by Tears, 1976. Oil on canvas, 120 x 200 cm. Image source: artnet.com

Depicting the toil and struggle of the Tibetan peoples in their primarily agricultural and nomadic lifestyles, Chen delineates a clear message: Those living in Tibet are remarkably similar to those living in Wuhan, Beijing, and Shanghai.  While their garb, physical appearances, and spiritual beliefs may differ from their Han compatriots, their identity as Chinese and life experiences indeed draws similarities and connections with the rest of the Greater China population.

Citations:

Galimberti, Jacopo, Noemi de Haro García, and Victoria H. F. Scott. Art, Global Maoism and the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Manchester University Press, 2019. muse.jhu.edu/book/71777.

Kao, Arthur Mu-sen. The Dormant Volcano of Art in China: New Art Policy and Art Movement. Journal of Developing Societies, 74-90, 1994. https://search.proquest.com/docview/1307823101?accountid=14637.

Do Facial Features Paint a Perfect Picture? Yue Minjun Thinks Otherwise

Facial features, specifically smiling and laughing, is often deceptive. Yue Minjun, a contemporary artist born in Daqing, China in 1962, has instituted an inventive and unique style for self-portraiture work. Yue graduated high school in 1980, and then attended Hebei Normal University, training as a painter, sculptor, and printmaker (artnet.com). In art school, he was influenced by the 1985 New Wave (a new art movement in China that shifted from Socialist Realism style) and the works of artists such as Liu Xiadong (a leading founder of the Cyclical Realism movement in China during the 1980s and 1990s), providing him with the groundwork for his future direction (Peng 2010, 943). In many of his works, Yue expresses beliefs about the historical and present day political and social system in China. My exhibition will focus on the following themes in Yue’s work, many of them overlapping with each other: stylistic features (facial expressions that Yue incorporates), the painting Execution and its similar counterpart (Francisco Goya’s painting May 3 in Madrid or The executions), the historical event(s) that influenced Yue (specifically the Tiananmen Square protests), along the artistic movement that Yue was the forefront of (Cynical Realism Movement). My exhibition will also incorporate works by Yue that share similar messages of suppression and social turmoil to that of Execution. 

The act of smiling and laughing by the subjects in Yue’s paintings will be the primary stylistic component that I will be analyzing. Through painting and sculptures, Yue has created works that depict his own laughing figure in different iconic moments in history. The subjects in his painting often have a big, over-exaggerated smile on their face, bringing a comical dimension to the appalling situation they are in or are victim to. Yue’s smile is contagious, and the subjects he depicts are almost frozen in laughter, in disbelief about the absurdity of the situation that they are in. This sheds light on dysfunction in the country throughout varying periods, such as the Tiananmen Square protests and the rule of Mao and other political figures in the CCP. Essentially, smiles and laughter serves as a medium to describe the ridiculousness that Chinese citizens were facing in different time periods. According to Yue, “at first you think [the person] is happy, but when you look more carefully, there’s something else there…a smile doesn’t necessarily mean happiness; it could be something else” (Bernstein 2007). Moreover, repetition in Yue’s work is key. The consistency and repetition of facial features in his work intensifies the postmodern melancholy in the nation, while also serving as a reminder of the everyday struggle that Chinese citizens face.

In addition, the theme of powerlessness is applicable in many of Yue’s works, including Water, a 1988 oil painting that depicts Mao enclosed in a swimming pool inside the brain of the subject. In Water, Yue is trying to amplify the fact that Chinese citizens are like a puppet to Mao and the CCP. This painting is one of many that Yue has created to further personify the manipulation and helplessness that Chinese citizens face. 

In respect to the 1989 Tiananmen Square massacre, this historical event had a distinctive influence on Yue’s work. Yue was disgusted by the restrictiveness of the Deng regime in China during the 1980s, and the tyrannical violence displayed by the Chinese government during the Tiananmen Square Protests stimulated Yue’s initiative to challenge the political hierarchy in the country. Moreover, this massacre ignited the Cynical Realism Movement beginning in the 1990s. Yue has had a lasting impact on the Cynical Realism Movement in China (although he rejects this acknowledgment) (artnet.com). The Cynical Realism Movement is a contemporary art movement that emerged in Beijing, promoting individual expression with less limitations. Many perceive Cynical Realism as an alienated reality of surrealism. This movement emphasized the utilization of “political pop.” The political pop that developed during this movement often challenges the political and social system in the country (visual-arts-cork.com). Further, Cyclical Realism was the spiritual product for a dismantled psychological state of the Chinese people (Peng 2010, 941). 

Lastly, Yue’s oil painting Execution broadcasts its powerful message through content, colors, composition, and subjects. This painting illustrates the Tiananmen Square massacre. The declaration of martial law on June 4th, 1989 enabled the government to partake in immeasurable and unnecessary violence, by equipping troops with assault rifles and tanks. What started as a vehicle to convey political expression, quickly escalated into a bloodshed event that further suppressed Chinese citizens’ civil rights. Comparing Execution to Goya’s 1814 painting May 3 in Madrid or “The executions,” Yue’s painting resembles almost identical components to Goya’s. In both paintings, suppression and political controversy are an apparent theme. In respect to Goya, he based his work on the Spanish resistance of Napoleon’s army in 1808, where innocent Spaniards were murdered by the French (Museo Del Prado). 

Yue Minjun (b.1962), Water, 1998, oil on canvas. Image source: publicdelivery.org

Yue Minjun (b. 1962), Execution, 1995. Oil on canvas, 59 x 118 in. Image source: Forbes.com. 

Francisco Goya (b. 1776) May 3 in Madrid or “The executions,” 1814. Oil on canvas,  8′ 10″ x 11′ 5.” Image source: museodelprado.es. Museo Del Prado, Madrid, Spain, room 064. 

Work cited

Bernstein, Richard. “An Artist’s Famous Smile: What Lies Behind It?” New York Times, November 13, 2007. https://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/13/arts/design/13smil.html.

“Cynical Realism (1990s).” Cynical Realism: Chinese Contemporary Art. Accessed April 8, 2020. http://www.visual-arts-cork.com/history-of-art/cynical-realism.htm.

Lü Peng. A History of Art in 20th-Century China. Milano: Charta, 2010.

“Yue Minjun.” artnet. Accessed April 8, 2020. http://www.artnet.com/artists/yue-minjun/.

https://link.gale.com/apps/doc/A334486089/LitRC?u=nysl_ca_unionc&sid=LitRC&xid=4292b9f5

 “The 3rd of May 1808 in Madrid, or ‘The Executions.’” Colección – Museo Nacional del Prado. Accessed April 16, 2020. https://www.museodelprado.es/coleccion/obra-de-arte/el-3-de-mayo-en-madrid-o-los-fusilamientos/5e177409-2993-4240-97fb-847a02c6496c.