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Challenging concept

Geoffrey Han

LAST SEPTEMBER, the Galerie Rudolfinum in Prague hosted the world's first major retrospective of Chinese conceptual photography entitled A Strange Heaven: Contemporary Chinese Photography. The show was co-curated by Hong Kong gallery owner Johnson Chang Tsong-zung but, the full exhibit didn't come to Hong Kong - another reminder that, although Chinese conceptual art is making waves abroad, it's not as recognised closer to home.

It's why practitioners regard the opening tomorrow of an exhibition at the Central Library as so important. Reality Spells: Chinese Conceptual Photography Since the 90s will be Hong Kong's first look at the art from China that is dazzling critics worldwide. The exhibition - co-organised by Art Map, the CS Cultural Foundation, and the Arts Development Council - showcases more than 80 pieces by 25 artists from the mainland, Hong Kong and Taiwan, and includes a series of lectures.

Conceptual photography first surfaced in the west in the 1960s and was primarily a means of social critique that questioned and mocked the traditional definition of art and how it was represented in museums. It places more emphasis on the idea or concept of a piece than its physical form or artistic technique. The point the artist is trying to make takes precedence over whether they have a photo in perfect focus, for example. As the movement gained popularity, it spread around the world, reaching China in the late 80s. Hong Hao, one of China's most internationally recognised contemporary artists and a participant in Reality Spells, says conceptual photography 'has the ability to lead the audience to think differently. It doesn't aim to pursue a breakthrough of photographic technique, but the realisation of an idea.'

Much of Reality Spells is conceptual with a capital C: drunk on irony, sarcasm, and a distinctive humour. A good example is Hong's My Things series, which is his commentary on the messiness of modern life and the ridiculousness of all the objects we have in our homes. For these works, he scanned in photos of thousands of his daily objects - Chinese coins, a pack of ramen noodles, a paper KFC cup, a TV remote control, whitening toothpaste, a bitter melon - and put them back together like a jigsaw puzzle.

Another example is a long horizontal landscape by Hong Lei that shows a grey coalmining area in Xuzhou. It's a modern image, but the title, Imitating Zhao Mengfu's Autumn Colours on the Que and Hua Mountains, refers to a classic 13th-century painting that looks strikingly similar in composition. But instead of a beautiful mountain, there's a giant pyramid of coal, a slender tree is replaced by a smokestack, and a large rock in the corner becomes a concrete building. The social and environmental commentary is obvious, as is the photo's conceptual nature. A traditional artist would see a landscape he liked and be inspired to draw it. Hong was inspired first by his desire to comment on China's industrialisation, and then used digital photography to make his point.

'In this exhibition, we will discuss conceptual Chinese artists from the 1990s on, reviewing the process of development,' says the exhibition's curator, Anthea Fan Wen-jen. 'After 1989, many artists believed there was a conflict between China's need for freedom and their lack of it. They began to champion the values of free expression. In their work, many artists use overtly strong messages.'

When the earliest such artists began to surface in China during the 90s, Fan says, 'there wasn't much recognition ... because all conceptual art at that point was underground. Artists didn't have proper places to show their work. They resorted to showing in underground locations, and [exhibitions] would be finished in one day. It was often illegal or dangerous.

'After about 1995, the Chinese economy had improved,' she says. 'Young artists began to present work that showed no burden of past history. Nowadays, artists are more focused on modern culture.' The change in artistic styles was so great Fan decided to divide the exhibition into two parts: artists who were established in the 90s, and emerging artists.

There are still constraints on conceptual artists. In 2001, The New York Times wrote: 'In China, the stakes involved in such conceptual games are higher. Western artists can knock anything from the Mona Lisa to Barnett Newman ... But in China, art forms like calligraphy and landscape painting have a kind of quasi-religious aura as part of a national heritage. Mess with them, and you could be asking for trouble.'

One of the initial difficulties stalling Chinese contemporary work from entering international circles was western audiences' fascination with traditionally 'exotic' art. However, Fan says, 'some of the westerners who came to China [in the 90s] became excited and attracted by the new Chinese work ... These westerners have become more mature in looking at contemporary Chinese art. They don't regard them as exotic art any more.'

It was curators in the west who actively promoted Chinese conceptual art in the beginning. At the 45th annual Venice Biennale in 1993, China, which didn't have its own pavilion, was invited to participate as part of the Italian pavilion. 'The Italian curators went to China and invited a curator named Li Xingtin,' Fan says. 'He recommended some artists to show in the Italian pavilion. This was the first real introduction of Chinese conceptual artists to western audiences.' Perhaps because of this, some artists feel they're seeking the approval of the western art world. 'Chinese conceptual art is inevitably influenced by western art,' says Lukas Tam Wai-ping, a Hong Kong artist and participant in the exhibition. 'Although the western art world will now look at Chinese artwork more, rarely will they use it as a reference. And, if they do, they'll only use it as surface material and hardly get into the thinking process.'

'The legitimation of many art genres still relies on the acceptance of western art circles,' says Woody Lee Kwok-chun, another Hong Kong participant in Reality Spells.

It will probably be some time before it's readily accepted here - although a large show at a popular public space like a downtown library will definitely help.

Reality Spells: Chinese Conceptual Photography Since the 90s. Tomorrow-Jun 17, Exhibition Galleries 4 and 5, Central Library, 66 Causeway Rd, Causeway Bay. Three free lectures (Putonghua): Contemporary Art in the Neo-materialism Era in the 90s, Wed, 3pm-5pm, Central Library; Reflection on Contemporary Conceptual Photography, Sat, 2.30pm-4pm, Museum of Art, TST; Historical Reference in Chinese Contemporary Arts, Sat, 4.30pm-6pm, Museum of Art. Bookings advised. Inquiries: 2770 2157

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