A form of realism, “scar art” as a movement attempted to draw closer to reality than the Socialist Realism of the time.
In 1986, Gao Minglu published an essay called “On Rational Painting” in the magazine Meishu (Fine Arts), in which he categorized some of the paintings that emerged in the first half of the 1980s as “rational painting,” referring mainly to the analytical and critical tendency of those paintings, as opposed to intuitive and emotional expressions. Gao stated that realist painting was one kind of rational painting that involved both faithful depictions of reality and a humanistic spirit, as well as an aspiration for a “real” realism, a realism of critical reflection instead of a romanticized one.
Liu Libin, “Nan yi Wangque de ‘85 Yundong’: Duihua Gao Minglu” [The unforgettable “85 Movement”: A dialogue with Gao Minglu], Art World Magazine, 2005.
Zhu Zhu, Yuandian: “Xingxing Hua Hui” [Point of origin: The “Stars Art Group”] (Nanjing: Vision Art Publisher, 2007), 22.
Ibid.
Zhu Zhu, “Huang Rui Fangtan” [Interview with Huang Rui], in Yuandian.
Zhu Zhu, Yuandian.
Ibid.
Fairbank.
Hans van Dijk, “Painting in China After the Cultural Revolution: Style Developments and Theoretical Debates (Part I: 1979–1985),” China Information 5.3 (Winter 1991–92): 1–21.
Wang Hui, Zhongguo “Xin Ziyou Zhuyi” de Lishi Genyuan [The Historical Roots of “Neoliberalism” in China] (Beijing: Sanlian Bookstore, 2008), 123.
Hans van Dijk, “Painting in China After the Cultural Revolution.”
Jiang Feng, “Beijing Paintings At the Beginning of the Reform and Open Door Policy,” in A History of Beijing Paintings in the Twentieth Century, eds. Shao Dazhong and Li Song (Beijing: Beijing Fine Art Academy, 2007). Text taken from the website.
Song Yonghong, Artist’s Statement as part of a text by Lv Peng, “The Spiritual Comfort of Objective Expression: On Song Yonghong’s Art,” in Song Yonghong (Beijing: Beijing Art Now Gallery, 2006). 40.
Wang Hui, “Appendix 1: Answering Questions on Modernity,” in Zhongguo “Xin Ziyou Zhuyi” de Lishi Genyuan [The Historical Roots of “Neoliberalism” in China], 482–511.