Set in the period from 1976 to 2016, this course offers students insight into artistic production in China over a period of immense social, political, and cultural change. The instructor, herself a resident of Beijing with strong connections to artists' communities, will introduce students to the recent history of Chinese art across media. The focus will be on the complex relations between art and architecture, art and activism, and art and progressive politics within China as well as the effect of counterbalancing influences coming from global society. Students will come to know the work of individual artists and group movements and consider the redeployment of cultural motifs, symbolic architectural landmarks, and traditional iconic imagery by Chinese artists engaged in often contentious cultural politics. The course, with no prerequisites, provides a window into current Chinese history and politics.

HISTART Concentration Distributions: 4. Modern and Contemporary, C. Asia.