Contemporary Chinese Art

Contemporary Chinese art arguably began in the late 1970s, when the country’s leader Deng Xiaoping began introducing modernizing policies in China that empowered artists to learn more about art from around the world, as well as the ability to work independently of state commission and the sanctioned Socialist Realist style. In the following decades, a diversity of styles and artistic approaches emerged, including Cai Guo-Qiang’s explosive firework shows, Ai Weiwei’s political activism, and Zhang Huan’s body-altering performances. Record-breaking auction sales for contemporary Chinese art include Zao Wou-Ki’s Juin-Octobre 1985 (1985) at $65 million, Cui Ruzhuo’s Twelve Screens of Finger (2017) at $36 million, and Zeng Fanzhi’s The Last …