This book provides a historical analysis of the avant-garde art movement in China in the 1980s. This art movement is the product of China's reform and opening up, during which time a small number of Chinese artists understood the western modernist art movement, and they started their avant-garde art experiment in combination with the actual situation of China. This avant-garde art experiment completely broke all the artistic styles in Chinese history, and it caused a huge shock. After about a decade of radical attempts, it began to form its own position in China. This book discusses its birth background, its dominant artists and works, its theme and interest, and its final decline. This is not only a work of art history, but also a work of cultural history with strong sociological analysis. This book is beautiful in writing, detailed in analysis and highly readable. It is a very suitable book for those who want to know avant-garde art and Chinese since the 1980s.

Translated by: Michael Dutton, Deborah Kessler