As Seen is a series of publications that review the work ofChinese artists as presented in public museums and galleries inChina. As Seen is not exhaustive, but it is the result of extensiveexhibition-going. With particular focus on the achievements ofyoung artists, As Seen 2 continues to track the pulse of the timesas it underscores artistic content andform.
As Seen is the perfect book to keep posted by the historianof the Chinese contemporary art scene. Thanks to Karen Smith, eachyear we have a great summary of what’s going on in China, as apanorama of the year’s top shows. A memory of the future, don’tmiss Karen’s eyes. Jér?me Sans, curator Published simultaneously in English and Chinese versions, anddistributed both through the official Chinese system and theinternational art world system, this volume goes a long way towardcreating a common frame of reference for recent developments inChinese art, both inside and beyond China. Philip Tinari, director, UCCA
Karen Smith has been writing about China’s contemporary artscene since the early 1990s. She has lived in China for twentyyears during which time she has contributed to numerousinternational and domestic publications and exhibition catalogues,both for individual artists and group exhibitions.
Her personal books include several monographs on China’s leadingartists, and the historical compendium Nine Lives: The Birth ofAvant-Garde Art in New China, which examines the careers of ninefounding fathers of China’s new art movement which began in1985.
In her capacity as curator, Smith regularly produces exhibitionsin China and abroad.
4 FOREWORD | Philip Tinari, director, UCCA
6 AS SEEN 2 | Introduction
14 Heman Chong | A Stack
18 Pak Sheung Chuen | The Horizon Placed at Home
22 Luo Dan | Simple Song
28 Li Ran | Mont Sainte-Victoire (and other points ofreference)
36 Chen Zhen | Same Bed, Different Dreams
44 Gu Dexin | Important is not the Meat
52 Huang Ran | Disruptive Desires, Tranquility, and the Loss ofLucidity
58 Liao Guohe | Popular Painting
62 Zhang Hui | Groundless
68 Xie Fan | The Layers
72 Wang Du | Contemporary Art Museum of China
76 Xu Bing | Book from the Ground
80 Irrelevant Commission | Why We Do Useless Things? and UnrelatedParades
4 FOREWORD | Philip Tinari, director, UCCA
6 AS SEEN 2 | Introduction
14 Heman Chong | A Stack
18 Pak Sheung Chuen | The Horizon Placed at Home
22 Luo Dan | Simple Song
28 Li Ran | Mont Sainte-Victoire (and other points ofreference)
36 Chen Zhen | Same Bed, Different Dreams
44 Gu Dexin | Important is not the Meat
52 Huang Ran | Disruptive Desires, Tranquility, and the Loss ofLucidity
58 Liao Guohe | Popular Painting
62 Zhang Hui | Groundless
68 Xie Fan | The Layers
72 Wang Du | Contemporary Art Museum of China
76 Xu Bing | Book from the Ground
80 Irrelevant Commission | Why We Do Useless Things? and UnrelatedParades
86 Ma Ke | Life Most Intense
92 Jiang Zhi | If This is a Man / 5
98 Yang Fudong | Close to the Sea / Revival of the Snake
104 Jiang Xiaochun | 7
108 Li Shurui | The Shelter / A Wall
114 Zhang Ding | Buddha Jumps over the Wall
120 Hu Xiangqian | Protagonist
124 Wang Sishun | Liminal Space
128 Hai Bo | Solo
134 Zhou Tao | Collector
140 Pei Li | Generation P
146 Li Dafang | Throw-back: Jin Zhan’s Messy Growth, His Languageand His Relatives
150 Wang Wei | A Wall on the Wall—A Floor on the Floor
154 Geng Jianyi | Wu Zhi
164 Chen Wei | A Forgettable Song / Xian City
170 Li Songsong | The One
176 Hu Yun | The Secret Garden / Reeves’s Pheasant
182 Zheng Guogu | Spirits Linger With Dust
188 Liu Wei | By Order of the Artist: No Title Necessary
192 Utopia Group | Trudge: Geography of Utopia Group
200 Zhou Yilun | Our House by the Seashore
206 Hu Xiaoyuan | No Fruit at the Root
210 Cao Fei | Secret Tales from the Museum
216 INDEX OF EXHIBITIONS
219 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS