Move over, Ai Weiwei – 5 Chinese contemporary artists who are making a splash around the world
Stunning works by Lu Yang, Paul Chan, Xu Zhen, Xinyi Cheng and Lawrence Lek have helped them make names for themselves
Chinese contemporary artists have been making a splash in the international art scene. Their works include modern-day references and classical painting, as well as the introduction of uniquely Asian techniques into contemporary art.
Check out five artists that deserve your attention.
1. Lu Yang, Human Machine Reverse Motion Capture Project
How can the human body overcome its limitations, even to the extent of Buddhist teachings allotted to the idea of a genderless society?
This is one of the themes explored by multimedia artist Lu Yang in her visually stunning, brightly neon-coloured, video-game-inspired Human Machine Reverse Motion Capture Project.
Deeply immersed in the subcultures of manga, anime, and video games – imagine walking intoxicated into the craziest Tokyo club while wearing neon-coloured glasses – the science fiction aesthetic is actually based on traditional and contemporary dances from Indonesia, Japan and India.
Yang, who was born in 1984, records dancers meticulously down to the movements of every single joint or eye shift, and then mimics these complex actions using robotic technologies. Thus she creates dancing pop culture figures dissolving the borders of human and robotic movement – and possibly taking robotic movements beyond the limitations that come with being human.