The Painting Of "regression"

My research focuses on the emergence of German Neo-Expressionism in the1970s, and analyzes its influence on the emergence of Chinese contemporary art in the1980s. Mainly painting-based, German Neo-Expressionism is an art movement that emerged as a "post-modern" reaction to the Performance Art, Video Art and Happenings, of the1960s and early1970s. German Neo-Expressionism is often understood as a "return" to painting, and it notably relates to German Expressionism of the early20th century. However, such an account remains too narrow to satisfactorily cover all aspects of German Neo-Expressionist art.In fact, German Neo-Expressionist artists from the1970s and earlier had a wide variety of individual inspirations and motivations for their paintings. Among these inspirations, one can cite, inter alia, are American Abstract Expressionism, Tachisme, Informal Art, Pop Art, Action Painting, and Body Art--art movements that in some cases preceded German Neo-Expressionism by decades. Other sources are, however, just as important. Soviet Socialist Realism, Surrealism,16th century Mannerism, contemporary photography and film, and of course, political events, notably the relations of East and West Germany with America and the Soviet Union, have all inspired Neo-Expressionist artists in different ways. But the artists have one thing in common:they chose painting as their creative medium. So I have decided to focus my thesis on the Neo-Expressionist "return to painting." By "return" I mean not simply "to come back" or "to reappear," but "to be created anew."It appears hard to overstate the immense influence that the Cold War trauma of a split Germany had on German Neo-Expressionists. East and West Germany, separated by walls and ideologies, seemed to be a miniature version of the titanic battle between capitalism and socialism waged in Europe and the wider world. The artists' personal experience of this separation of East and West stimulated their profound reflection on war, history, capitalism, consumption society, and gave birth to their provocative art works. The concepts generated by their paintings are aesthetic, socially critical, and historical. This thesis tracks the emergence of German Neo-expressionism, primarily through the work of Georg Baselitz and Jorg Immendorf. The early paintings of Gerhard Richter and Anselm Kiefer are also understood to be'Neo-expressionist'by many art historians; this research explores the relation of their paintings to photography and installation. In the1970s and80s, the"return" of painting became an international trend. American artists such as Julian Schnabel may be looked at as part of this trend, as well as Italian trans-avant-garde artists who bear a close relationship to the German Neo-Expressionists.German Neo-Expressionism impressed many Chinese artists in the1980, at a time of great changing, a time when China was reopening to the world. Chinese artists and art critics mainly understood German Neo-Expressionism as an art movement, though the knowledge of the movement remained limited, because it generally sprang from pictures in magazines and catalogues instead of original works. Certain Chinese artists promoted understanding of the movement by making original paintings based on the Chinese context. The1980s were the first of three decades of galloping economic development and fast developing consumerism for China, and represent the first encounter with liberal idealism, western culture, and the art market. When Chinese contemporary art began to be independent, an avant-garde art scene emerged.That being said, in the middle of the1980s, through exposure to the German Neo-Expressionism movement, some Chinese artists felt encouraged to address contemporary social problems through painting and to follow certain neo-expressionistic approaches to their art. Although a considerable cultural difference separated German and Chinese artists, the latter still felt attracted to German Neo-Expressionism for several reasonsFirst, the political, critical, historical nature of German neo-expressionistic themes; Second, the similarity of German Neo-Expressionism and historical painting being taught in Chinese art academies; Third, the connection of German neo-expressionistic art works with new mediums, such as photography, film, and installation.Chinese contemporary art confronted western contemporary art in a manner similar to the way thatGerman Neo-Expressionism confronted American contemporary art after the Second World War. The personal ideological struggle of German artists caught in the migration from East to West provided an unique source of inspiration to Chinese artists themselves facing a rapidly changing culture.Inspired by the example of German Neo-Expressionism, Chinese contemporary artists found a way to adjust and re-locate their artistic expression to reflect their own ideology, art system, cultural vision, and methods of knowledge construction.