Contemporary Queer Chinese Art

The volume not only creates a rich archive of feminist activism, queer-themed exhibitions and artistic practices; it also brings to the fore the lived experiences of queer individuals that have been consistently relegated to the margins of public and academic discourse. This pioneering volume is a major achievement for the study of queer art in China and demonstrates the great potential – and urgency – of this novel field of research. * The China Quarterly *
This book explores an uncharted world of contemporary queer Chinese art. Through selected case studies on the topics of gender, sexuality, identity and politics in the transcultural and interdisciplinary contexts, it showcases artistic practices in diverse forms, reflecting heterogeneity of queer life, culture and personal experiences in China today. A substantial and thought-provoking contribution to the field of Chinese contemporary art. * Jiang Jiehong, author of The Art of Contemporary China *
A timely collection of personal accounts and scholarly inquiries, this anthology engages with the vital intersections of feminism, avant-gardism, and queer art in contemporary China that are part and parcel of Chinese queer activism. It is nothing short of a courageous and groundbreaking endeavor from the editors’ part in providing an academic platform for intimate, illustrative, and at times inspiring reflections from practitioners who have made this activist and artistic discourse possible in China and beyond. * Meiqin Wang, California State University Northridge, USA *
Bringing together a diverse array of scholars and curators of queer Chinese art as well as the voices of many important queer Chinese artists themselves, Contemporary Queer Chinese Art is a groundbreaking and timely introduction to the burgeoning transnational Chinese art world. * Casey James Miller, Muhlenberg College, USA *
Contemporary Queer Chinese Art provides a crucial and timely extension to queer art theory from a global perspective. Covering a wide range of subjects and methodological approaches this book establishes a rich ground for future research and offers invaluable guidance to further transnationalize and decolonize the studies of queer art. * Susanne Huber, University of Bremen, Germany *
Contemporary Queer Chinese Art significantly extends critical debates related to Chinese contemporary art. It does so by elucidating diverse intersecting queer identities in conjunction with a close attention to the particularities of Sino-cultural discourses and practices. The innovative mapping of trans-cultural and trans-historical intertextualities provided by this volume opens up interpretative perspectives that intervene productively with established Eurocentric conceptions of visual culture. * Paul Gladston, the Judith Neilson Chair Professor of Contemporary Art, UNSW, Sydney, Australia *
This book offers a remarkable comprehensive survey of contemporary queer Chinese art by lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) identified Chinese and Sinophone artists. The context, conceptualization, and reflection of their own works and the creative processes by artists, many of them translated from Chinese, are especially valuable, so as the informative, reflective, and critical essays by curators, activists, art critics, and scholars. These works engage queer transnationalism and decolonial queer politics by queering notions of Asianness, Chineseness,queerness, and womanhood. It’s a much-have book for learning about contemporary queer Chinese art, and queer love, history and culture in the transnational Chinese context. * Xin Huang, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, USA *
This is a ground-breaking book that makes visible a meaningful yet marginalized field of study. The book has three major contributions. First, chapters in the book have collectively delineated a continuum of contemporary Queer Chinese art, which was previously silenced in heteronormative master narratives of art history. Second, the book has put together the achievements of Chinese artists at home and abroad, and it has especially revealed how transnational/diasporic experiences have shaped the big picture of queer Chinese art in a globalized age. Third, the book has provided a critical and intersectional perspective on the postcolonial conditions within queer arts, which reminds us of the theoretical and practical importance of third-world queerness. -- Kaixuan Zhang and Yanrui Xu * Feminist Media Studies *