‘Transience: Chinese Experimental Art at the End of the Twentieth Century is a thoughtful and tightly focused exploration of certain themes ― “Demystification”, “Ruins”, and “Transience” ― which Wu Hung (curator of the exhibition) has identified as critical to a broader understanding of artistic production in China now. It is through this focused approach, we believe, that Western audiences can better develop a contextualized understanding to an international discourse about the nature of contemporary art in this postmodern age. In its focus on individual artists, their lives, and career trajectories, and on close readings of individual works, all in the context of the exhibition’s organizing themes, “Transience” constitutes a new voice in the current fast-paced discussion about contemporary Chinese artistic practice and its place in a broader, post-national scheme of cultural understanding.’ ― Director of the David and Alfred Smart Museum of Art, the University of Chicago

This catalogue was published in conjunction with the exhibition. It includes a checklist of the exhibits, a selected bibliography and a glossary of Chinese names and terms. Biographies of the artists and a survey of contemporary Chinese art are provided in the appendixes.