1993 APT1 Conference : Identity, tradition and change

some people be lieve th a t these artis ts are genuinely continuing and developing trad itiona l Chinese lite ra ti consciousness, in rea lity what they a re doing is propagating an emp ty playfulness - something th a t was never an e lem en t of lite ra ti cu ltu re . It could th e re fo re be said th a t the g re a te s t problem or danger fac ing Chinese ink painting is no t th e confron ta tion with western a rt, but Chinese a rtis ts them selves. Some a r tis ts recogn ise this problem. A number of them who are in th e 30 -50 age group a re cu rren tly engaging in bold experimentation th a t is unpreceden ted in the history of Chinese a rt. Work like th a t of Chen Xiangxun, Li Xiaoxuan, Zhang Hao, Luo Pingan and Chen Xingmao from Shanghai. These a rtis ts are diligently studying aspec ts of Western a r t and a t the same tim e continuing and streng then ing th e ir knowledge of Chinese a rt. The products of the ir labour may be regarded as th e most 'o b je c tiv e ' experim en tations in contemporary Chinese a rt. • In tim e to come these a rtis ts will find th e ir own p lace within a rtis tic discourse no m a tte r whe ther th e ir a r t is considered to be Chinese contemporary painting or contemporary Chinese painting. The question of how to categorise Chinese a rt is a real issue. It was only a t the beginning of this cen tu ry th a t boundaries were clearly drawn be tw een d iffe ren t ca tego ries of a r t - Chinese ink painting, oil painting, print making, w a te r colour, e tc . In China all aspec ts of a rtis tic activ ity observe these ca tego ries - a r tis tic disciplines within a r t schools, the organisation of official a r tis t associations, and the se lec tion and display of artworks in official national exhibitions. Many a r tis ts like to emphasise the special charac te ris tic s of p a rticu la r a rtfo rm s - one o ften hears th e exhortation th a t ink painting is to look like a p roduc t of the mo therland . Those who work in a pa rticu la r discipline will ra re ly experim en t with o the r media fo r fe a r th a t the ir own a rt form may lose s treng th and disappear a ltog e th e r. An exception to this case are oil pa in ters who tu rn to ink pain ting and are then p ra ised fo r coming over to the side promoting 'n a tio n a lc u ltu re '. Since th e 1930s artworks have been produced which are d ifficu lt to c a tego rise by a rtis ts such as Lin Fengmian and Wu Guauzhong. According to th e old ca tego ries, n e ith e r of th e ir works con stitu te 'C h inesepa in ting ', ye t now works by th e se a rtis ts a re included in 'C h inese a r t exhibitions'. Lin Fengmian and Wu Guanzhong didn 't think of th e ir own works necessary as 'Ch inesepa in tings'. Works produced by young avan t-garde a rtis ts since the 1980s, o ften inco rpo ra te a g re a t v a rie ty of unconventional m a terials and a re included in oil pa in ting exhibitions and Chinese pa in ting exhibitions. Their works challenge c a tego risa tion . No doubt in th e fu tu re th e situa tion will become even more complex and will cause a fundam en tal change in contemporary Chinese a rt. The ph rase ' t h a t which cannot be accu ra te ly named, does not have a p lace and th e re fo re canno t e n te r into discussion' is a well known p re c ep t in Chinese socie ty . As th e names and th e categories of a rtis tic s tru c tu re s a lte r , a r tis tic concep ts and forms will also experience u ltim a te change.