Cynical realism

Last updated March 22, 2019

Cynical realism is a contemporary movement in Chinese art, especially in the form of painting, that began in the 1990s. Beginning in Beijing, it has become one of the most popular Chinese contemporary art movements in mainland China. It arose through the pursuit of individual expression by Chinese artists who broke away from the collective mindset that existed since the Cultural Revolution. The major themes tend to focus on socio-political issues and events since Revolutionary China (1911) to the present. These include having a usually humorous and post-ironic take on a realist perspective and interpretation of the transition that Chinese society has been through, from the advent of Communism to today's industrialization and modernization.

Contemporary art art of the present time beginning with Pop Art and Conceptual Art

Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic combination of materials, methods, concepts, and subjects that continue the challenging of boundaries that was already well underway in the 20th century. Diverse and eclectic, contemporary art as a whole is distinguished by the very lack of a uniform, organising principle, ideology, or "-ism". Contemporary art is part of a cultural dialogue that concerns larger contextual frameworks such as personal and cultural identity, family, community, and nationality.

Chinese art is visual art that, whether ancient or modern, originated in or is practiced in China or by Chinese artists. The Chinese art in the Republic of China (Taiwan) and that of overseas Chinese can also be considered part of Chinese art where it is based in or draws on Chinese heritage and Chinese culture. Early "stone age art" dates back to 10,000 BC, mostly consisting of simple pottery and sculptures. After this early period Chinese art, like Chinese history, is typically classified by the succession of ruling dynasties of Chinese emperors, most of which lasted several hundred years.

Painting is the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a solid surface. The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush, but other implements, such as knives, sponges, and airbrushes, can be used. The final work is also called a painting.

Artists associated with Cynical Realism include Fang Lijun, Liu Wei,^[1] and Yue Minjun.^[2]

Fang Lijun is an artist based in Beijing. He was born into a wealthy family with a high social status. In the 1990s, there was a cultural movement in China referred to as Cynical Realism of which Fang Lijun was a member. Living in China during this critical time shaped his worldview in terms of his views on art, human values and morality.

Liu Wei is an artist based in Beijing.

Yue Minjun is a contemporary Chinese artist based in Beijing, China. He is best known for oil paintings depicting himself in various settings, frozen in laughter. He has also reproduced this signature image in sculpture, watercolour and prints. While Yue is often classified as part of the Chinese "Cynical Realist" movement in art developed in China since 1989, Yue himself rejects this label, while at the same time "doesn't concern himself about what people call him."

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Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is characterized by the glorified depiction of communist values, such as the emancipation of the proletariat. Despite its name, the figures in the style are very often highly idealized, especially in sculpture, where it often leans heavily on the conventions of classical sculpture. Its similarity to the art of the Third Reich is unmistakable, and the two are often grouped together as heroic realism. Although related, it should not be confused with social realism, a type of art that realistically depicts subjects of social concern, or other forms of "realism" in the visual arts.

Saatchi Gallery real life and online contemporary art collection in London Chelsea

The Saatchi Gallery is a London gallery for contemporary art, opened by Charles Saatchi in 1985 in order to exhibit his collection to the public. It has occupied different premises, first in North London, then the South Bank by the River Thames, and finally in Chelsea, its current location. Saatchi's collection—and hence the gallery's shows—has had distinct phases, starting with US artists and minimalism, moving to the Damien Hirst-led Young British Artists, followed by shows purely of painting, and then returning to contemporary art from America in USA Today at the Royal Academy in London. A 2008 exhibition of contemporary Chinese art formed the inaugural exhibition in the new venue for the gallery at the Duke of York's HQ.

Photorealism is a genre of art that encompasses painting, drawing and other graphic media, in which an artist studies a photograph and then attempts to reproduce the image as realistically as possible in another medium. Although the term can be used broadly to describe artworks in many different media, it is also used to refer specifically to a group of paintings and painters of the American art movement that began in the late 1960s and early 1970s.

Nouveau réalisme artist group and art movement

Nouveau réalisme refers to an artistic movement founded in 1960 by the art critic Pierre Restany and the painter Yves Klein during the first collective exposition in the Apollinaire gallery in Milan. Pierre Restany wrote the original manifesto for the group, titled the "Constitutive Declaration of New Realism," in April 1960, proclaiming, "Nouveau Réalisme—new ways of perceiving the real." This joint declaration was signed on 27 October 1960, in Yves Klein's workshop, by nine people: Yves Klein, Arman, Martial Raysse, Pierre Restany, Daniel Spoerri, Jean Tinguely and the Ultra-Lettrists, Francois Dufrêne, Raymond Hains, Jacques de la Villeglé; in 1961 these were joined by César, Mimmo Rotella, then Niki de Saint Phalle and Gérard Deschamps. The artist Christo showed with the group. It was dissolved in 1970.

The Misty Poets are a group of 20th-century Chinese poets who reacted against the restrictions on art during the Cultural Revolution. They are so named because their work has been officially denounced as "obscure", "misty", or "hazy" poetry. But according to Gu Cheng, "the defining characteristic of this new type of poetry is its realism—it begins with objective realism but veers towards a subjective realism; it moves from a passive reaction toward active creation." The movement was initially centered on the magazine Jintian, which was founded by Bei Dao and Mang Ke and published from 1978 until 1980, when it was banned.

Literary realism is part of the realist art movement beginning with mid-nineteenth-century French literature (Stendhal), and Russian literature and extending to the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Literary realism attempts to represent familiar things as they are. Realist authors chose to depict everyday and banal activities and experiences, instead of using a romanticized or similarly stylized presentation.

Classical Realism refers to an artistic movement in late-20th and early 21st century in which drawing and painting place a high value upon skill and beauty, combining elements of 19th-century neoclassicism and realism.

The American University Museum is located within the Katzen Arts Center at the American University in Washington, DC.

Art in Ruins was formed in 1984 as a collaborative interventionist practice in art and architecture, staging exhibitions and publishing texts, by Hannah Vowles and Glyn Banks.

Realism, sometimes called naturalism, in the arts is generally the attempt to represent subject matter truthfully, without artificiality and avoiding artistic conventions, or implausible, exotic, and supernatural elements. Realism has been prevalent in the arts at many periods, and can be in large part a matter of technique and training, and the avoidance of stylization.

Tatiana Vladimirovna Kopnina - Soviet Russian painter and art teacher, lived and worked in Leningrad - Saint Petersburg, regarded as one of the representatives of the Leningrad school of painting, most famous for her portrait paintings.

Galina Alexandrovna Smirnova is a Soviet Russian painter, living and working in Saint Petersburg, a member of the Saint Petersburg Union of Artists, regarded as one of representatives of the Leningrad school of painting, most famous for her portraits of contemporaries.

Vasily Vasilievich Golubev was a Soviet, Russian painter. He lived and worked in Leningrad, was a member of the Leningrad Union of Artists, as is regarded as a representative of the Leningrad school of painting.

Irina Ivanovna Getmanskaya is a Soviet, Russians painter and art teacher, living and working in Saint Petersburg, a member of the Saint Petersburg Union of Artists, regarded as a representative of the Leningrad school of painting.

Samuil Grigorievich Nevelshtein - Soviet, Russian painter, watercolorist, graphic artist, and art teacher, lived and worked in Leningrad, regarded as one of the representatives of the Leningrad school of painting, most known for his portraits of children and youth.

Boris Ivanovich Shamanov was a Soviet Russian realist painter, graphic artist, and art teacher, People's Artist of the Russian Federation, who lived and worked in Saint Petersburg. He was a member of the Saint Petersburg Union of Artists, and regarded as one of the representatives of the Leningrad school of painting.

References

↑ Richard Gunde, Culture and Customs of China, Greenwood Press, 2002, p83. ISBN 0-313-30876-4
↑ Damian Harper, China, Lonely Planet, 2005, p62. ISBN 1-74059-687-0

External links

Don't believe the hype about Chinese art - Guardian art blog commentary by Ana Finel Honigman
China will shake the art world yet - Guardian art blog commentary by Eliza Gluckman

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[1] Richard Gunde, Culture and Customs of China, Greenwood Press, 2002, p83. ISBN 0-313-30876-4

[2] Damian Harper, China, Lonely Planet, 2005, p62. ISBN 1-74059-687-0