Deconstructing Contemporary Chinese Art

The book presents a range of articles and discussions that offer critical insights into the development of contemporary Chinese art, both within China and internationally. It brings together selected writings, both published and unpublished, by Paul Gladston, one of the foremost international scholars on contemporary Chinese art. The articles are based on extensive first-hand research, much of which was carried out during an extended residence in China between 2005 and 2010. In contrast to many other writers on contemporary Chinese art, Gladston analyses his subject with specific reference to the concerns of critical theory. In his writings he consistently argues for a -polylogic- (multi-voiced) approach to research and analysis grounded in painstaking attention to local, regional and international conditions of artistic production, reception and display.

Paul Gladston is a full professor at Nottingham - Chair of Contemporary Visual Cultures and Critical Theory. Between 2005 and 2010 he served as inaugural head of the Department of International Communications and director of the Institute for Comparative Cultural Studies at the University of Nottingham Ningbo, China. He has written extensively on the subject of contemporary Chinese art with particular reference to the concerns of critical theory. His recent book-length publications include Contemporary Art in Shanghai: Conversations with Seven Chinese Artists (Timezone 8 - Blue Kingfisher, 2011); a special edition of the Journal of Visual Art Practice, 'Contemporary Chinese Art and Criticality', co-edited with Katie Hill (2012); 'Avant-Garde' Art Groups in China, 1979-89 (Intellect and University of Chicago Press, 2013); and Contemporary Chinese Art: A Critical History (Reaktion and University of Chicago Press, 2014). He is principal editor of the Journal of Contemporary Chinese Art and was an academic adviser to the exhibition 'Art of Change: New Directions from China', which was staged at the South Bank Centre in London in 2012.