Economics and contemporary Chinese art
Another negative result from the economic development in China is the corruption and oppression in politics. In order to achieve a united success, the communist government carried on cruel and indifferent enforcements. These sensitive issues soon became scars in Chinese citizen’s heart. Being forbidden to talk about these matters, artists use their brushes to release their anguish and helplessness. These contemporary Chinese art works conveyed the voices from liberals all around world and established themselves as the only way that true Chinese citizens can express their true souls. An art movement with the name ‘Cynical Realism’ was originated. Artists under this movement often use art as the vehicle to drive forward their dissatisfaction and pessimism towards Chinese politics. Yue Minjun would be a great representative for this movement. He is renowned for oil paintings depicting himself frozen in the signature laughter. The image below is Yue Minjun’s most famous painting – ‘Execution’. As always, his simplistic style makes the message of this painting crystal clear. The Chinese style wall in the background represents Tiananmen Square; the stripped men represent the unarmed students; the men in shooting position represent the police and the man on the far right represents the government. All the front-faced characters are laughing, though for different reasons. Through laughing, the oppressed becomes even more powerful as fearlessness and contempt are shown.
Overall, Zeng Fanzhi demonstrated how, under globalization, his acquired knowledge of Expressionism helped him to establish his own style and launched his career with the remarkable ‘Mask’ series. Zhang Xiaogang set the example of achieving fame through foreign investment, which then encouraged westerners to explore the artistic meanings of his bizarre ‘Bloodline’ series that only sinologist could have interpreted. Zhang Huan carried out his eccentric performances to represent the voice of the bottom of society, who receives unfair treatment in this uneven economic development. Yue Minjun led the movement of ‘Cynical Realism’ with his signature laughter, which challenges the oppressive political regime used to achieve economic success in China. Therefore, all four aspects, either positive or negative, of China’s rising economy certainly stimulated the growth of Chinese contemporary art both commercially and artistically.
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