Avatars and Antiheroes

This book by Claudia Albertini, an Italian sinologist with an MA in Advanced Chinese Studies from the University of Sheffield, showcases 40 of the latest and most relevant contemporary artists from China. Featuring stunning full-color plates of the work of leading painters, photographers, sculptors, performance artists, video artists, and even a fireworks artist, this book gives a fascinating insight into modern Chinese society and its vibrant contemporary art scene.

Chinese contemporary art is currently enjoying a worldwide boom, fetching record-breaking prices at auction houses around the globe. China's rapid transition from communism to consumerism, and the dizzying changes brought by urbanization, globalization, and new technologies have created a fascinating explosion of contemporary art overwhelmingly concerned with the search for self-identity in a society that, from Confucius to Mao, has traditionally disregarded individualism for the collective good.

"Avatars and Antiheroes" reflects the schizophrenic undercurrents of a nation in continuous fast-forward. From the Cynical Realism and Political Pop movements associated with the post-Tiananmen generation of artists such as Yue Minjun whose grinning representations of himself as antihero seem to mock the revolutionary heroes of old, to the pop-culture generation spearheaded by Cao Fei whose digital avatars live in a world without borders, this book showcases the work of the most important contemporary artists to emerge from China in recent years.

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