ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at a few examples with a focus on the period during and not long after the New Wave, that is, from 1985 to 2000. It examines the fascinating new perspectives the works produced and focuses on some of the questions they raised. Besides the ending of the Cultural Revolution and the implementation of an economic reform and open policy, more direct impact on artists came from the increasing accessibility of Western intellectual works translated into Chinese and made available through bookstores. Invented by the artist by reassembling the original strokes in new ways compatible with the compositional principles of Chinese characters, they look authentic even to native eyes. In fact, thousands of painters, sculptors, print makers, mixed-media artists, performers, and other artists launched an unprecedented Avant-garde art movement that eventually turned Chinese contemporary art into a global phenomenon.
