Memories of the Cultural Revolution: Three generations of Chinese contemporary artists

This thesis examines themes of the cultural and individual memories of four Chinese artists: Zhang Xiaogang, Ji Dachun, Liu Ye, and Chen Ke. I have divided these artists into three, chronologically-based groups: the 1950s generation, the 1960s generation and the late 1970s generation, with the purpose of exploring how Chinese contemporary artists reflect the Cultural Revolution (1966-1976) and the Mao-era.;The first chapter examines the work of Zhang Xiaogang, a member of the 1950s generation. The sorrow expressed in his paintings show his negative perceptions towards the Cultural Revolution. Compared to the seriousness and oppression shown in Zhang's paintings, the artworks of Liu Ye and Ji Dachun, two artists of the 1960s generation, demonstrate a freedom and playfulness in their visual language. These artists emphasize their dreamlike childhood experiences during the Cultural Revolution. Both consider political symbols to be visual signs to be incorporated into their works, rather than part of a painful history. Chen Ke, an artist from the late 1970s, was born at the end of the Cultural Revolution. Her artworks represent the loneliness caused by the collapse of Mao-era collectivistic values and from China's One Child Policy. Visual signs dating from the Cultural Revolution lose their original meanings in her artworks. A key observation of this thesis is that over the course of the three generations of artists discussed, the collective memory of the Cultural Revolution has been fading and the use of visual symbols from the Mao-era art are diminishing in importance.