Like the society from which it was born, Chinese art is at a crossroads, between East and West. Against the backdrop of the world's oldest civilization, artists in China today are at the forefront of what is also the world's newest civilization. Their works grapple with issues of the global and local, the past and the future, but more than anything, with issues of collective and individual identity. It is their unique position as individuals (and as a group ) at the vortex of the powerful forces converging in China today that makes their work so vibrant, powerful, evocative and even shocking at times, but above all, worthy of the art world's attention.
This volume is comprised primarily of the contents of Chinese-art.com, an online magazine started in 1997 and brings together images, essays, interviews, rountable discussions, eyewitness accounts and biographies published on the web in 2000. It's timely and diverse "insider" views are those of Chinese art critics living and working in China, but also include scholars outside the China context. To such a broad and diverse compilation of material, professor Wu Hung brings both an "insider" point of view and an international sensibility. His careful editing and organization of the material, along with the six introductory essays he wrote for this volume, make the book understandable and enjoyable to both the art scholar and the art enthusiast.