Shu: Reinventing Books in Contemporary Chinese Art, is a traveling exhibition organized by the China Institute under the guidance of Wu Hung, professor of Chinese art at the University of Chicago. Featuring 31 works by 23 artists, this exhibition examines the impact and notion of the book (shu in Chinese) in the artists’ upbringing and in their art.
In contrast to traditional artwork, contemporary Chinese artwork is inspired by the book—and, by extension, knowledge— in an almost perverse way, because many book-related artworks parody the purpose and power of the book. Some artists create unintelligible books with blurred characters, or books devoid of a logical sequence or narrative, thereby nullifying the authority of the text. They create meanings without words and words without meaning. In addition to distorting the content of the book, they critically examine and reinterpret its format. Nevertheless, these works should not be understood simply as defying the authority of the book. In many ways, they echo other forms of contemporary art in the ways they challenge conventional wisdom and perceptions. (from the website)
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Also looking forward to this: The first four books in the new VQR Poetry Series!
Field Folly Snow (The Vqr Poetry Series) by Cecily Parks (Author)
Hardscrabble (The Vqr Poetry Series) by Kevin Mcfadden (Paperback - April 1, 2008)
Boy (The Vqr Poetry Series) by Patrick Phillips (Paperback - Mar 1, 2008)
The History of Anonymity: Poems (The Vqr Poetry Series) by Jennifer Chang (Paperback - April 15, 2008)
All available now for pre-order on Amazon!
(Thanks to AB for the heads-up)
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