Editor’s Note:

The pages of Yishu have often served as a voice reflecting the need for the historical grounding of contemporary Chinese art. However, with China’s booming economy and art scene, the “immediate” seems to hold a more urgent role in securing an international presence for that art. While the texts in Yishu 48 are not devoted solely to the four-decade history of China’s contemporary art history, it is something that resonates throughout this issue’s content.

Orianna Cacchione discusses a 1993 work by Xu Bing, Wu Street, and brings into question the slippery veracity of cultural translation within what was termed at the time The New Internationalism. Through the contemporary paintings of Duan Jianghua, Robert C. Morgan explores the ironic dissonance between desire for revolution and the hope for power in the US and China in the 1960s and 1970s. Two texts by Abby Chen focus on Lam Tung-pang, a Hong Kong artist who is acutely aware of the historical trajectory his city is experiencing in its shift from a British colony to its apparent absorption into the People’s Republic of China. And in spite of what appears in this context to be an unpredictable relationship with one’s identity, he suggests the climate for artistic activity has improved. Celine Lai, on the other hand, identifies the lack of viable studio space in Hong Kong as a problem in creating a healthy, productive art scene.

Marie Leduc interviews Wang Chunchen who eloquently discusses the social role of art in China both historically and in the context of today. This leads into a review by Jonathan Goodman of the first exhibition in the US to explore the pioneering art associations in mainland China who saw themselves as contemporary artists and not agents of the state. This is followed with a review by Xhingyu Chen of two exhibitions in Shanghai that propose a history of new media and video in China. Finally, we offer a review by Robert Linsley of two recent books—one by Gao Minglu and one by Ai Weiwei—that examine the ongoing problem of national identity in contemporary art.

One example of the complexity of defining this history: a number of the texts in Yishu 48 make reference to an early contemporary artists’ association in mainland China—Xing Xing Hua Hui—which is translated into either The Stars Group, The Star Society of Painting, or the Stars-Stars Association. That there is no consensus upon the official name reiterates how potentially confusing this history can become.

Keith Wallace

image (top): Lam Tung-pang, A Letter, 2006, acrylic, charcoal, and postage stamp on paper, 59 x 87 cm. Courtesy of the artist.

The staff at Yishu: Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art wish all our contributors, supporters, and friends a joyous and peaceful holiday and all the very best for the new year.

Thanks to you. Yishu is now in its tenth year of publication and we look forward to many more years of encouraging ideas and discussion about contemporary Chinese art.

image (top): Cover image of January 2012 edition of Yishu Journal. Lam Tung-pang working on Past Continuous Tense, 2011, charcoal and image transfer on wood. Photo: Gordon Lo.

Yishu is pleased to announce its continued participation in the 10th edition of Art Basel Miami Beach, which opens from December 1-4, 2011. Please come to say hello at Stand Q16. See you there!

ABOUT ART BASEL MIAMI BEACH

From December 1 through 4, Miami Beach, Florida, will host the 10th edition of Art Basel Miami Beach, the most prestigious art show in the Americas. More than 260 leading galleries from North America, Europe, Latin America, Asia and Africa will take part, showcasing works by more than 2,000 artists of the 20th and 21st centuries.

Open to Public: December 1-4, 2011

Venue: Miami Beach Convention Center
Miami Beach, Florida, USA

http://www.artbaselmiamibeach.com/

Editor’s Note:

Yishu 47 opens with texts by Huang Zhuan and Zhu Qi, the two recipients of the Second Yishu Awards for Critical Writing on Contemporary Chinese Art. Huang Zhuan surveys the work of Zhang Peili and ties together various aspects, primary among them his important contribution to the evolution of video art in China, that have distinguished his work during a twenty-five year career. Zhu Qi provides an unapologetic critique that suggests China, and in turn its contemporary art, is potentially gambling away its integrity through the promotion of spectacles in order to establish a position as a major economic and cultural player on the international stage.

In contrast to Zhu Qi’s focus on the spectacle, Voon Pow Bartlett considers blandness, an aesthetic that is little discussed in the contemporary context yet has held a specific historical resonance through the centuries of Chinese art. Alice Schmatzberger, in her discussion of photography and its relationship to the city, echoes Zhu Qi’s apprehension about the alarming and unbridled growth of Chinese urban centers, but she looks to artists who are presenting perspectives that question rather than celebrate such growth. Adding to the complexity of China’s ongoing social transformation is Patricia Eichenbaum Karetzky’s text on artist/gallerist Xu Yong and his compelling photographic document of one day in the life of a Beijing sex trade worker.

Joni Low interviews Howie Tsui, and Stephanie Bailey interviews Annysa Ng, two Hong Kong-born artists who now live and work in North America. While each of these artists explores different artistic mediums and iconography, they share an interest in subliminal states of consciousness, the supernatural, and the occult. And within this lies a strong influence of storytelling that draws upon traditional Chinese legend, myth, and opera as sources for their work.

Ken Lum’s recent survey at the Vancouver Art Gallery is reviewed by Jamie Hilder, who traces a distinct continuity in Lum’s employment of strategies that engage the viewer in a self-conscious and, at times, discomforting reading of his work. Lum demonstrates a particular propensity towards combining humour with sobering sociocultural issues that result in work that is immediately approachable yet provocatively disorienting. In her review of Wu Hung’s ambitious tome, Contemporary Chinese Art: Primary Documents, Micki McCoy articulates some of the challenges one faces in constructing a history of contemporary Chinese art and considers how this seminal book will function as a productive resource from which to further explore contemporary art’s complex trajectory.

Keith Wallace

image (top): Voon Pow Bartlett, Chinese Woman in Beijing (le flâneur), 2007, photograph on aluminium, 82 x 48 cm. Courtesy of the artist.

Yishu: Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art is pleased to announce the recipients of the Second Yishu Awards for Critical Writing on Contemporary Chinese Art. Two jurors each made an independent selection: Karen Smith, an independent curator, author, and critic who specializes in contemporary Chinese art, selected Huang Zhuan; and Hou Hanru, Director of Exhibitions and Public Programs, San Francisco Art Institute, and curator of numerous important international biennials, selected Zhu Qi. Both recipients are based in Beijing.

Each award carries a value of $5,000 CAD, and each of this year’s recipients has a text published in the current issue of Yishu. The Yishu Awards for Critical Writing were established to encourage and recognize writers who are making an outstanding contribution to understanding the history and current issues of contemporary Chinese art.

Upon graduating from the Central China Normal University History Department in 1982, Huang Zhuan studied for a master’s degree in Chinese fine art history at the Hubei Academy of Fine Art. He is currently a Professor at the Guangzhou Academy of Fine Art, where he leads masters students; he also serves as Director of the OCT Contemporary Art Terminal of He Xiang Ning Art Museum (OCAT) in Shenzhen.

Huang Zhuan edited the magazine Art Trends (Meishu Sichao) from 1985 to 1987, and from 1994 to 1996, he helped to revamp Gallery Magazine (Hualang). His published works include Issues in Contemporary Art (Dangdai Yishu Wenti) (1992), The Schema, Tastes, and Values of Literati Painting (Quwei yu Jiazhi) (1993), Pan Tianshou (1998) and Ideas and Actions in the Art World (Yishu Shijie zhong de Sixiang yu Xingdong) (2010).

In her nomination, Karen Smith remarked: “Huang Zhuan has been known and respected as a writer and critic for more than two decades. Since the late 1990s, much of his most important writing has been done in conjunction with exhibitions he has curated. The point here is that Huang Zhuan has always remained close to art and to the artists themselves. It sounds obvious, but this awareness of the creative process and of the individual’s thought processes informs his writing as much if not more than conceptual or theoretical notions. . . . The influence of Huang Zhuan’s writing and criticality has been demonstrated in the initiatives he leads at OCT Art Terminal, which focuses on mentoring the next generation in a systematic and considered fashion through seminars, workshops, and curatorial projects . . . within a framework for analysis and open debate where ideas get tested and affirmed, or negated, as necessary.”

Zhu Qi, born in Shanghai in 1966, holds a doctorate degree in art history. He is a Beijing-based independent curator and art critic and has curated notable contemporary art exhibitions since the early 1990s. In addition to curating, he has written numerous critical and academic essays on contemporary Chinese art since 1994. He was the Chief Curator of the inaugural edition of the Beijing 798 Art Festival in 2007 and Artistic Director of the inaugural edition of the Beijing 798 Biennale in 2009.

Hou Hanru notes: “Zhu Qi, an independent critic and curator who has not gone through any classical beaux-arts training system, has proved to be one of the few truly critical voices who dares to take ethical and artistic positions through his consistent and audacious writings over the past two decades. He has developed the courage to confront the art scene with the most urgent and sensitive topics currently influencing it. His critical scrutiny not only covers the field of visual arts, but is extended to all cultural, and even sociopolitical, terrain, and he challenges the social consensus that has transformed artistic and intellectual production into profit-making systems. What is particularly remarkable is that Zhu Qi has brought his critical insights into profound investigations of history and philosophy, taking his work far beyond the limits of the Chinese academic discursive system. Zhu Qi’s intellectual integrity and critical consistency are also unique, and he represents an exceptional but urgently needed example in the art world today.”

The awards is a project of the Yishu Initiative of Contemporary Chinese Art and is supported by the Canadian Foundation for Asian Art, and Stephanie Holmquist and Mark Allison.

On October 25, 2011, the Vancouver Biennale honoured Zheng Shengtian with the 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award for Curatorial Arts and Scholarship. The award recognized Mr. Zheng’s accomplishments as an artist, curator, scholar and professor in contemporary Asian art, and his role in introducing Asian artists to a North American audience, bridging cultures through exhibitions, publications and advocacy.

image (top): Artist Ken Lum presented the award to Zheng Shengtian. Photo: Don Li-Leger

image (below): [from left to right] Michael Audain, recipient of the 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award for Philanthropy in the Arts, Lucille Pacey, Ken Lum, Yvonne Domenge, recipient of the Sorel Etrog Award for Sculpture & Public Art, Zheng Shengtian, recipient of the 2011 Lifetime Achievement Award for Curatorial Arts and Scholarship, Lise Magee of the Listel Hotel, recipient of the Sustaining Community Partner Award, Barrie Mowatt. Photo: Don Li-Leger

Yishu is pleased to announce its participation in Art Toronto. Please come visit us at the Publication Booths.

About Art Toronto

Founded in 2000, Art Toronto is one of the most successful fairs in North America. Art Toronto is held annually at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Canada’s top convention and trade-show facility located in the heart of downtown Toronto. Art Toronto presents a dynamic series of presentations, panels and discussions featuring artists, curators, collectors and gallerists.

On View: October 28-31, 2011

Venue: Metro Toronto Convention Centre, Canada

For more information, please visit: http://www.arttoronto.ca

Yishu is pleased to announce the launch of the the Chinese-language edition of Yishu. Published in October, this inaugural issue includes a selection of articles published in the English-language version.

Selected texts featured in this issue include:

本地情境下的艺术评论——“Yishu学刊中国当代艺评奖”首届主题论坛演讲纪录
主持｜高名潞

文芳：艺术之路——从观察到参与
文 ｜爱丽丝·施麦茨伯格
译 ｜斯然畅畅

批判性反思时刻：重访陈界仁的《加工厂》
文 ｜米莱娜·霍丝伯格
译 ｜吕岱如

与四位香港艺术家对话——梁志和 林东鹏 黄荣法 李杰
文 ｜白慧怡
译 ｜翁子健

长征计划——胡志明小道

走在胡志明小道上
文 ｜高士明

创建黄灯共同体
主持 ｜卢　杰

当代中国与当代艺术——徐冰访谈
文 ｜本刊编辑部

访问亚洲艺术文献库(Asia Art Archive)——关于“未来的材料：记录1980－1990年中国当代艺术”研究计划
文 ｜黎俊仪

周而复始：2010台北双年展
文 ｜姚嘉善
译 ｜杜可柯

无价的图像 无心的绘画：刘鼎的批判与共谋
文 ︱丁达韦
译 ｜苏 伟

We would like to thank JNBY for their generous support of this project.

编辑手记

为什么出中文版？

2001年典藏杂志社简秀枝社长和我在上海商量办一份用英文介绍中国当代艺术和文化的期刊。2002年5月《Yishu：Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art》（典藏国际版）诞生，薄薄的94页，以上海美术馆蔡国强首次在国内展览的装置为封面。创刊主编林荫庭（Ken Lum）在前言中提到德布雷（Regis Debray）批评上世纪六十年代法国知识分子对中国的文化误读。林教授问：“文化误读会不会也是中西双向的？是不是双方对所谓相互‘基本了解’的结论做得太早了呢？”

本着这样地担忧，《Yishu》战战兢兢地走过了十个年头。对杂志来说十年算是高龄，尤其是份批判性的学术刊物。今天《Yishu》在许多国家的大学、美术馆和图书馆书架上都可看到，网上也几乎天天有人下载。如果说这来之不易，我想最应该感谢的是两个人：一位是坚定不懈支持《Yishu》的简社长；另一位是自2004年接过主编职务的华睿思（Keith Wallace）。Keith不仅在当代艺术界卓有声望，而且是我平生所见最认真、最敬业也最谦逊的一位学者。当然，《Yishu》的成长还离不开编辑部和出版社其他同仁的努力，以及世界各地作者和广大读者的帮助与鼓励。

早就有人建议出中文版，但我们一直很犹豫。主要原因是《Yishu》的定向为英文读者，编辑的内容和方法都依此而设。将同一盘菜端给中文读者其实未必合适。另一个更实际的原因是我们对翻译的水平没有把握。翻译是门大学问。译得不好不仅愧对作者，也会困扰甚至误导读者，浪费了大家的时间精力。

《Yishu》成立的初衷是为中外学者建立一个对话的平台，对作者用何种语言写作并无偏好。但在实践过程中，我们发现还是以英文为原文的文稿比较接近出版要求。如果从中文或别的文字翻成英文，质量就会大减。结果每期杂志三分之二以上的文章都选用了英文原作。也就是说，《Yishu》基本上发表的是非中文作者对当代中国艺术的观察和评论。不过这倒形成了《Yishu》的独特角度，在目前越来越多有关中国艺术的平面或网路媒体中，有它存在的价值与必要。

于是我们开始从另一个角度审视出版《Yishu》中文版的利弊。许多读者虽然不读英文杂志，但他们有兴趣了解外国学者对中国艺术的观点。《Yishu》出中文版就能提供一个这样的窗口。现在已经没有多少人再喋喋不休所谓“话语权”的问题了。我们尽可放心地把一些有见地的文章介绍过来，作为一家之言，也许会给国内思想界的论辩交流增加一点话题。

近年来有不少专攻中国当代艺术的青年学者从大学或研究院毕业，他们的双语能力较强，也使我们寻找高水平翻译的任务变得不那么艰难。感谢中国江南布衣公司和李琳女士的慷慨赞助，我们终于可以在《Yishu》十周年庆之际，向读者推出中文版的试刊号。

中文刊名叫《典藏国际版文选》，既是一份期刊，也可看作丛书。本期发表的11篇文章，主要从近期的《Yishu》中选出。也有一篇来自以前的刊物，作为档案发表。有研讨会记录、有艺术家专论、有访谈、也有展评，从翻译角度来说，我们希望这些译文不像一般习见的“翻译体”那样令人头疼。杂志一定要顺畅可读，而原作者的想法也不能让人猜天书那般晦涩费解。这是个很有挑战性的尝试。本雅明说：“译作无论多么完善，也无法取代原作的重要性，但原作却可以通过可译性而同译作紧密地联系在一起。”他认为好的翻译能够成为原作“生命的延续”。那么，就让我们以此共勉，期待《Yishu》的生命在《典藏国际版文选》中得到延续吧！

郑胜天
主编

The original English texts can be accessed at the following links:

Critical Writing from a Local Perspective: First Yishu Awards for Critical Writing on Contemporary Chinese Art Conference
Moderated by Gao Minglu

Wen Fang: The Path of Art—From Observing to Getting Involved
by Alice Schmatzberger

A Time of Critical Reflection: Chen Chieh-jen’s Factory Revisited
by Milena Hoegsberg

Four Discussions with Hong Kong Artists: Leung Chi Wo, Lam Tung Pang, Morgan Wong, and Lee Kit
by Stephanie Bailey

Long March Project—Ho Chi Minh Trail, 2008–2010

On the Ho Chi Minh Trail
by Gao Shiming

Building a Yellow Light Commonwealth

Contemporary China and Contemporary Art—An Interview with Xu Bing

Materials of the Future: Documenting Contemporary Chinese Art from 1980 to 1990. An Interview with Asia Art Archive.
by Chunyee Li

What Goes Around Comes Around: Taking a Spin Around the 2010 Taipei Biennial
by Pauline J. Yao

Eager Paintings, Empathetic Products: Liu Ding’s Critical Complicity
by David Spalding

Here are more photos of Ken Lum and Shengtian Zheng’s A square within a circle, a circle within a square, an installation work featured at the 2011 Moscow Biennale.

The Arts, Culture and Heritage Advisory Committee for the City of Sechelt is going to hold a new speaker series, from September 17 – October 29, showcasing Robin Mayor, past- president of Emily Carr, former interdisciplinary and painting faculty Geoff Rees, architect Ian Johnston, public art curator Lori Phillips and internationally renowned curator, juror and lecturer Keith Wallace.

The Curator’s Journey

The role of the curator is instrumental to the success of so many artists, from the selection and presentation of their work to their ongoing development. Keith Wallace, Yishu’s Editor-in-Chief, is going to discuss the evolution of curatorial practices during the past thirty years, the role of the curator within institutions and the art system, the relationship between the curator and the artist, and how exhibitions can be forms of both communication and mistranslation.

This event is sponsored by the district of Sechelt.

Venue: Seaside Centre, 5511 Shorncliffe, Sechelt

Open to Public: September 17 – October 29

For more information, please visit: http://www.district.sechelt.bc.ca/