Modern and contemporary art as we know it in the West (with movements such as expressionism, abstract and conceptual art) could only develop in China from the late 1970s. This means that modern Chinese art is little more than 25 years old and is therefore the product of an unprecedented pressure-cooker effect, in which a whole miscellany of diverse and contradictory elements play a part - confusing and intriguing at one and the same time. This evolution is described in an essay and in interviews with several prominent artists.

Modern and contemporary art as we know it in the West (with movements such as expressionism, abstract and conceptual art) could only develop in China from the late 1970s. This means that modern Chinese art is little more than 25 years old and is therefore the product of an unprecedented pressure-cooker effect, in which a whole miscellany of diverse and contradictory elements play a part - confusing and intriguing at one and the same time. This evolution is described in an essay and in interviews with several prominent artists.

This richly illustrated volume surveys recent trends in contemporary Chinese art with a focus on installation art and staged photography. All these works were created after 2000, and some were specially commissioned by the Groninger Museum for the exhibition. The selection of works therefore provides an impression of the current diversity of working methods, guiding principles and artistic approaches, along with the commentary of the artists themselves.

The publication documents and describes the work of about 25 artists, including Yin Xiuzhen, Sun Yuan and Peng Yu, Xin Danwen, Mu Chen and Shao Yinong, Zhang Wang, Weng Feng, Li Song Song, Shi Jingsong, Chi Peng, Zhang Hui, Liu Wei, Miao Xiaochung, Shi Guorui, Jin Jiangbo, Liu Jianhua, Leung Mee Ping, Bai Yiluo and Wang Gonxin.