LOS ANGELES — Chinese installation artist and activist Wu Yuren, who was arrested on questionable charges last year, has reported on Twitter that as of March 30 the charges have been dropped and that he has received his passport back.
China
LOS ANGELES — One thing many Americans notice about first-tier Chinese cities like Beijing and Shanghai is that there are very few homeless people. Indeed, life on the margins in major Chinese cities often means life literally on the margins, away from the public eye.
LOS ANGELES — Beijing and Shanghai get all the press, but China’s art scene extends far beyond its most famous cities. Guangzhou, for instance, best known as a thriving port city, also hosts its own triennial and is home to popular photographer Cao Fei.
LOS ANGELES — I’d be hard pressed to name a single contemporary Chinese literary writer. So I was happy to hear about Pathlight magazine, an English-language literary magazine that aims to bring contemporary Chinese literature into the English-speaking world.
LOS ANGELES — Deep in western China, in the deserts of Xinjiang Province, artist Lisa Ross photographed curious and colorful memorials, and she’s showing them this month at UC Berkeley.
LOS ANGELES — A new report in China Daily points to “former billionaire” Wang Yongchao in Shaanxi, China, who’s been snatching up priceless antiques and cultural relics. But rather than sell them for profit, he’s become a one-man movement to preserve China’s cultural heritage.
A press release from Artprice, an art market information source, has some interesting stats — even if they sound far too sunny — about the state of art auctions around the world.
The heart of a society is most open when dealing with death. Its spoken and unspoken fears and hopes, both for life and the afterlife, are embedded in rituals of remembrance and memorial. In China, this has taken the form of detailed objects made of Joss paper that are burned for the deceased.
A few years ago, artist Guy Laramee began his The Great Wall series, which imagines a 23rd century when the Chinese empire has overthrown its American rival. His artist statement is a piece of science fiction and it sets the stage for his sculptural works that tap into American anxieties about empire, civilization and, most importantly, decline.
