'Asian Modernities is a groundbreaking comparison of two contemporary Asian art cultures.
This is the first analysis that defines a space for Asian modernity without direct reference to Euroamerica. Based on John Clark's extensive primary research using vernacular written and interview materials in Chinese and Thai, Asian Modernities also develops theoretical perspectives on genealogies of modernity, and the twin phenomena of globalisation and transnational artistic identity. This highly illustrated book combines institutional examination with a close attention to art works and to the way artists have positioned themselves through them at home and abroad.' —from the back cover

With forewords by Yin Shuangxi and Apinan Poshyananda. Includes bibliographical references and index.
Access level

Onsite

Location code
REF.CLJ
Language

English

Publication/Creation date

2010

No of pages

287

ISBN / ISSN

9780909952389

No of copies

2

Content type

monograph

Chapter headings

Introduction

Research intentions and outline

Research development

Underlying theoretical issues

Modernities

Application of evolutionary theories

Comparing universes

Further implications of evolutionary models

Biological and cultural sign-systems

The artwork

Mixed genealogies

Chapter 1: Style and institutions in China

Preamble to Chapters 1, 2 and 3

Historical discourses in Chinese art

Externality and internality of art discourses

The Chinese arts system

Styles

Function of the outside revisited

Xin-guohua (neo-traditionalist painting)

– Chinese women artists and women's art

Art and consumer society

Conclusion

Chapter 2: Style and institutions in Thailand

Historical discourses of Thai art

Externality and internality of art discourses

The Thai arts system

Styles

Function of the outside revisited

– Neo-traditionalist painting

– Thai women artists and women's art

Art and consumer society

Conclusion

Chapter 3: Style and institutions in China and Thailand compared

Preamble

Reformulation of the academic

Grandiose horror

Tradition as modernist reference: local and international

Quirky or tendentious objection

The curator's smiles, or tears

Objects of consumption, critical and natural

Implications for hypotheses about modernity in art

Chapter 4: The economy and art

Introduction

China: The economy and the Chinese art world

– The Chinese economy as a whole

– The particular economy of the Chinese art world, including art markets

– The economic domain of the Chinese artist's livelihood

Thailand: The economy and the Thai art world

– The Thai economy as a whole

– The particular economy of the Thai art world, including art markets

– The economic domain of the Thai artist's livelihood

China and Thailand compared

Implications for hypotheses about modernity in art

Chapter 5: Art education and modern art

Introduction

Art school education in China

Art school education in Thailand

China and Thailand compared

Implications for hypotheses about modernity in art

Chapter 6: The public discourse of modernity and art

Introduction

China

– Nationalism

– The project of modernisation and its defects

– Modernity as the property of a cultural and ethical system

– Art as a reflection of a social system

– Periodisation

— Before the 1980s

— The 1980s

— 1989 to 1990

— 1991 to 1992

— 1997

Thailand

– Nationalism

– The project of modernisation and its defects

– Modernity as the property of a cultural and ethical system

– Art as reflection of a social system

– Periodisation

China and Thailand compared

Implications for hypotheses about modernity in art

Chapter 7: The global

Globalism and globalisation

New identities

China

– Globalism and globalisation

– Modernity and post modernity

– New identities

Thailand

– Globalism and globalisation

– Modernity and post modernity

– New identities

China and Thailand compared

Implications for hypotheses about modernity in art

Chapter 8: Conclusion — Are there other modernities in art?

Products and interventions on the national

Endogenous and exogenous

Stylistic discourses

Institutions

Histories, periods

The mapping of modernity

– Explicit state art ideology/Inexplicit state ideology

– Non-art discourse intervention in art/Non-art discourse isolated from art

– Relativised past/Naturalised past

– Developed art-critical discourse/Underdeveloped art-critical discourse

– Art discourse periodisation correlates strongly with politics/Art discourse periodisation correlates weakly with politics

– Style cycling is rapid and exogenously correlated/Style cycling is slow and endogenously correlated

– Privileging of exogenous discourse/De-privileging of exogenous discourse

– Overseas recognition of artwork and artist, privileges artist at home/Overseas recognition of artwork and artist, does not privilege artist at home

– Artists are conscience-bearers as members of professional elite/Artists are decorators as members of craftsmen coterie or ateliers

– Artist affiliates to the transnational/Artist affiliates to the national

– Education of less than 1 fine arts graduate per 100,000 population per annum/Education of more than 1 fine arts graduate per 100,000 population per annum

– High development of art discourses in urban environments/High development of art discourses in rural environments

– Arts practice taught as part of selective education before and at tertiary level/Arts practice taught as part of general education before and at tertiary level

– Large amount of monetary sales for economic capital accumulation/Small amount of monetary sales for cultural capital accumulation

A coda

Asian Modernities: Chinese and Thai Art Compared, 1980 to 1999
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Asian Modernities: Chinese and Thai Art Compared, 1980 to 1999

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