Contemporary Chinese Art

The market for contemporary Chinese art is one of the fastest-growing internationally, attracting buyers from all over the world, including, increasingly, from within China itself. There are thriving artistic communities in major cities throughout China, most notably Beijing's world famous 798 Art Zone. Meanwhile, the arrest and secret detention in 2011 of artist Ai Weiwei focused attention on China's politics and issues of state control. This book sheds light on the development of Chinese art since Deng Xiaoping's policy of 'Opening and Reform' was confirmed in 1978, putting the art into context within China and internationally. Paul Gladston provides a critical mapping of ideas and practices that have shaped contemporary Chinese art, showing how they bind the art -  as a consequence of artistic complicity and/or resistance - to structures of power and state not just within but also outside China.