The period marking Chinese contemporary art began in the mid-1980s.The second stage of contemporary art began in the early 1990s. Chinese contemporary art was no longer an experiment using concepts of Western art or imitation of its methods; Chinese art peaked on its own, making full use of methods that were explored, imported,and learned in the 1980s.

In China, if you have exhibited at 798, you have "made it" as an artist. Relatively little-known outside China until very recently, every travel guide on China now mentions 798. It has captured the attention of the international art world and is developing into a major cultural phenomenon.

As this book shows, 798 is the result of a unique cultural paradox: as China embraces more and more individual artistic freedom, this is combined with China's long, collectivist history Gf "doing work together." For the artists who have exhibited at 798,their association has become a badge of legitimacy within the art world and often a passport to worldwide acclaim. This book offers a revealing first-look behind the artistic and cultural phenomenon that is at the vanguard of contemporary Chinese art.

Prologue

Preface

From Factory to Fantasy

Academy in a Factory

Bauhaus and Loft

Revival and Survival

Foreseen Prosperity: Artists in Alienation

Windows to Chinese Contemporary Art

The Emergence of Chinese Contemporary Art

Chinese Contemporary Art in the 1990s

Chinese Contemporary Art since 2000

ARTISTS

Sui Jianguo→Huang Rui→Ai Weiwei→Xu Yong→Li Xiangqun→Li Tianyuan→He Yunchang→Ma Han→Cang Xin→Wang Qingsong→Liu Liguo→Canghai and Shi Yan→LLi Shanchuan→Wang Huaxiang

Exploring 798

Exhibitions

Behavioral Art

Art Spaces

Art Organizations

Artists with Studios in 798

APPENDIX

Recent News

Postscript

Index