Peggy Wang (Ph.D. candidate, University of Chicago)
Oct. 10. Friday, 4:00-6:00 p.m. at CWAC 152
Establishing Chinese Values: The 1992 Guangzhou Biennial and the Origins of a Domestic Art Market
Abstract
During the 1990s, contemporary Chinese art rose to international prominence through a new global exhibitionary culture, which sought to embrace previously under-represented areas of the world. Inside of China, this escalating exposure was greeted with a mixture of excitement and controversy. Early on, artists and critics expressed concerns over the role that Western cultural authorities would play in determining the success and value of contemporary Chinese art. This paper examines the 1992 Guangzhou Biennial in light of these anxieties and as part of a new sense of urgency towards reclaiming one’s own art, culture, and history in the face of global influences.
Evolving out of the belief that Chinese people should establish Chinese values, the Guangzhou Biennial marked an attempt to legitimize contemporary Chinese art through its own defined standards of evaluations. Organized by art critic Lü Peng, the Biennial was conceived as a new mode of exhibition that would marry the art market to academic standards. This paper examines the rhetorical and operational mechanisms that Lü Peng sought to employ in his curatorial agenda to codify value, elevate standards, and edify history.
