48th Venice Biennale Opening Ceremony
Unknown
1999
About-
Title:
48th Venice Biennale Opening Ceremony
Creator:
Unknown
Date Created:
1999
Original Format:
Description:
From right to left: Fei Dawei, Zhuang Hui, and Yang Shaobin
In 1999, twenty Chinese artists—the most from any single country—showed more than fifty visual artworks at the Forty-Eighth Biennale. This historic shift reflected the post-1989 circulation of contemporary art from China in Hong Kong, Japan, Europe, and the United States, as well as the erratic but gradual loosening of political control of art in China. By the early 2000s, Chinese cities such as Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, and Shanghai had adopted the "biennale" model, seen as a marker of cultural cosmopolitanism, and began launching large contemporary art exhibits of their own. During this period of change, an almost uniformly male cohort of artists, noted for their bad boy political dissent, garnered attention on the international museum circuit and art market.
In 1999, twenty Chinese artists—the most from any single country—showed more than fifty visual artworks at the Forty-Eighth Biennale. This historic shift reflected the post-1989 circulation of contemporary art from China in Hong Kong, Japan, Europe, and the United States, as well as the erratic but gradual loosening of political control of art in China. By the early 2000s, Chinese cities such as Beijing, Chengdu, Guangzhou, and Shanghai had adopted the "biennale" model, seen as a marker of cultural cosmopolitanism, and began launching large contemporary art exhibits of their own. During this period of change, an almost uniformly male cohort of artists, noted for their bad boy political dissent, garnered attention on the international museum circuit and art market.
Book Reference:
Introduction, Page 7
More Info +
Cultural Context:
Is Format Of:
Lu Peng, 90s Art China 1990-1999 (Changsha: Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House, 2000), 19.
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