Joshua Gong | Shanghai Normal University (original) (raw)

Books by Joshua Gong

Chinese Art Today: From 20th-Century Tradition to Contemporary Practice, 2023

While contemporary Chinese art is playing a significant role in the global evolution of art, rece... more While contemporary Chinese art is playing a significant role in the global evolution of art, recent developments of art in China have not yet been properly interpreted for a wider audience.
In Chinese Art Today the renowned Chinese art critic and historian Dr. Joshua Gong provides this interpretation by exploring the context of contemporary Chinese art and its effects on society, the individual and more general art forms. The intriguing issue of juxtaposing global and national art identities is explored throughout the book, using as examples the eight most representative artists: Lin Fengmian, Wu Dayu, Sanyu, Zao Wou-Ki, Wu Guanzhong, Su Tianci, Zhang Enli and Chen Yujun.

Hsiao Chin and Punto: Mapping Post-War Avant-Garde, 2020

Hsiao Chin spent his formative years in Europe experiencing the Western Modern Art movement. As a... more Hsiao Chin spent his formative years in Europe experiencing the Western Modern Art movement. As a leading post-war Asian artist, he has contributed immensely to the development of avant-garde art and established himself prominently in the modern abstract movement in Asia. As a co-founder of Punto Movement in Milan during 1961-1966, Hsiao is the first and only post-war Chinese artist attempting to convey Eastern philosophical ideas and the concepts of mindfulness and self-contemplation in the Western pictorial language of abstraction. Hsiao s works are not only artistic representations of Asian philosophy but, in a broader context, are an intellectualised expression of Asian ideas in their essential forms. The understanding of the entire post-war avant-garde art scene would not be complete without mentioning Hsiao Chin and the Punto Movement, along with American Abstract Expressionism, French Lyrical Abstraction, and Japanese Gutai. This book records 13 Punto exhibitions, which demonstrates Hsiao s contribution to the international cultural realm throughout his artistic career. Included here are in-depth articles on Hsiao s historical significance in the twentieth century. The book also introduces his iconic oeuvres over the last six decades; work that reconciles Eastern and Western art prospects.

《图像与范式：早期中西绘画交流史（1514—1885）》, Sep 2014

Book Reviews by Joshua Gong

Papers by Joshua Gong

3812 Gallery, 2021

In the age of Post-Modernism, when information is overflowing and superfluous, artists con‐ front... more In the age of Post-Modernism, when information is overflowing and superfluous, artists con‐ front the conundrum of realising new visual possibilities. In the case of painting, after Clem‐ ent Greenberg, theorists have been captured in the riddle of the grids. Evolutionism is dead, Ernst Gombrich proclaimed. But the Will-to-Form has never been extinguished, as human‐ kind have never given up the lust for life. How to find new plasticity on canvas, after the min‐ imalists prevented the apotheosis of great heroes and annulled the literature invasion?
Artist Liu Guofu has noticed that modern painting's intention appears to be bizarre (Baudelaire) and surprising (Apollinaire), which is active, separating the self against the oth‐ er. The source of inspiration has exhausted, when later generations found hubris inself-blind‐ ness. The conflicts between idealism and empiricism in the art can be reconciled. To submit the self to nature, is to reaffirm the humble status, through which sublimation can take up from Blandness. Blandness is neither languor nor dialectic.

Life Week, Feb 14, 2017

In the age of hedonism and full of doubts in belief, if Love and Art are still justifiable to be... more In the age of hedonism and full of doubts in belief, if Love and Art are still justifiable to believe and pursue?
The article interprets the famous painting by Jan van Eyck, and questions the history of sexuality in the West. From Ovid to Pierre Abelard, from Gothe to Sartre, the concept of Love in literature and art has both changed and persisted.
The painting from 1434 AD has remained in public as a symbol that commemorates a problematic relationship; meanwhile, it has witnessed many changing views throughout history.
Is Love materialistic? Yes. Is Love spiritual? Yes. Is Love a trade? Perhaps. May Love be eternal? Affirmative. Even if the interpretations of love can be misunderstandings, but for the eternally floating emotions, why not maintain such misconceptions?

Life Week, Apr 3, 2016

When entering the age of reason (thirty years old), Bob Dylan, the singer, made a decision that o... more When entering the age of reason (thirty years old), Bob Dylan, the singer, made a decision that opened his lyricism into the visual. He was communicating with a painter called Norman Raeben, and subsequently picked up brushes. Dylan was interested in portraiture, and later on, his paintings were put on display at the National Gallery (London); meanwhile, his work was represented by the Gagosian Gallery. Before 30, Dylan participated in a rapid reform of social changes in the US, and he and his songs have become the symbol of the age. His art is justifiable in the field of music, but what about painting? Is it a game of fame, strongly associated with the so-called Cultural Capitalism?
The essay analysed the boundary between museology and gallery curating. Furthermore, it illustrated how capitalists operate values in the so-called collective/public space, suggesting the public to keep a critical stand to all kinds of social phenomena.

Museums in China have problematic identities, and their museological practice can be experienced ... more Museums in China have problematic identities, and their museological practice can be experienced differently than those institutions in the West. The Yinchuan Museum of Contemporary Art (Yinchuan MoCA), which opened in 2015, is an example of the controversial identity of museums in China. Its planning and necessity in contemporary Chinese society have been discussed since the initial proposal of its development.

It has been 30 years since the 85 New Wave (the "birth" of avant-garde Chinese art). New art in C... more It has been 30 years since the 85 New Wave (the "birth" of avant-garde Chinese art). New art in China has been deeply commercialised while still being attached to institutions under the governmental control. Its market share was taken over by the American artists in 2015, while in previous years the two nation equally dominated the field. So what caused such an avalanche? This article attempts to explore the issue through three aspects: the historical, media and the social.

Rongbaozhai Journal , Oct 2015

Spring's Peaceful Message was one of Emperor Qianlong's favourite works of art. Not only did the ... more Spring's Peaceful Message was one of Emperor Qianlong's favourite works of art. Not only did the emperor wrote a poem on the painting to praise its marvellous representation, but also arguably the painting was regarded by many art historians as a signifier about transferring power from Yongzheng to Qianlong, from the father to the son. The article criticised such an assertion by analysis who exactly in the portrait was Qianlong, and whether Yongzheng ever appeared with him in painting.

Journal of Art Historiography, Jun 1, 2014

Lv Peng is one of the most influential Contemporary Chinese art historians, who began publishing ... more Lv Peng is one of the most influential Contemporary Chinese art historians, who began publishing his work in 1986 by introducing various innovative approaches and methods to the field.
Even though he gained momentum in his field, his totalising and ever-revised publication scheme came under incessant criticism from friends and rivals alike. This article is an attempt at surveying Lv Peng’s oeuvre, while testifying the value of his art history writings, and by making his various approaches more legible and systematic. His most popular publications as well as a few projects that are still in progress will be analysed for a more comprehensive understanding of his operational art history.

Contemporary Chinese art marketing had been growing rapidly since 2004, but the worldwide financi... more Contemporary Chinese art marketing had been growing rapidly since 2004, but the worldwide financial crisis in 2008 made a few young artists begin to realise it is necessary to rethink about the materialistic and hedonistic society. New patrons emerge from the behind scene to the cultural stage with fresh strategies, distinctive tastes and artistic demands. Post Modernism has extended the expressions of art, concrete and abstract alike; and it provides the new era with ardent pursuits. Xiao Jingxin as an artist of the new era, has inherited the formalist approaches of the conceptualists and the minimalists for addressing the specific issues that are happening in contemporary Chinese society. Her unique perspective offers not only a pure visual presentation, but also acute observation and criticism on the ecology of contemporary art.

The Dimension of Civilization, International Conference , Sep 2014

Recently there were three panels of reversed painting on mirror (Fig. 1, 2, 3) available for exam... more Recently there were three panels of reversed painting on mirror (Fig. 1, 2, 3) available for examination, and the result was most singular as it was able to address many unsolved questions that puzzled the field of Oriental art studies for many decades, such as the originality of paintings on glass in China and its technique, the complicated patron/artist relationship between the Chinese Emperors and the Western artists who served in Qing court and the influence of the Chinese Courtly Art on its Export Art. This article will offer a thorough scrutiny on the three special objects in hoping to explore their content and locate them in the correct context, further more, to discuss the iconography within the milieu of communication between China and the West and debate the social cultural and historical dynamics that surround the works of art.

Two of the most talented Chinese artists with national funds studied at The Slade in the UK durin... more Two of the most talented Chinese artists with national funds studied at The Slade in the UK during the second world war. Their teacher was the first chancellor of China Central Academy of Fine Art and the greatest classicist master, Xu Beihong.
The two artists for various reasons did not return after the Chinese civil war. They were close friends with Sir Stanley Spenser, and nearly remained unknown to the contemporary Chinese art circle. Yet, their arts were influential before the second world war in modern Chinese society.

This article aimed at reinterpreting the lost art and artists, in hoping a sharper picture about modern (1912-1945) Chinese art would be more concrete via biographic approach.

Research of Chinese Fine Arts, Jun 2014

There is a courtly painting depicting Emperor YongZheng hunting a tiger; and the identity of the ... more There is a courtly painting depicting Emperor YongZheng hunting a tiger; and the identity of the author and under what circumstance the work was commissioned were uncertain. This article has explored the archive of The Imperial Household, with other visual evidence, Giuseppe Castiglione could be proved to be the artist. In addition, the date of making the work could also be traced, that also helped updating a series pictures that were produced under the same situation.