Cao Fei’s “A Mirage” from the video Cos Players

• Name: The Rising Tide screening at the Morono Kiang Gallery
• Date: Saturday, May 24, 2008
• Location: Morono Kiang Gallery, Los Angeles

Wouldn’t it be great to bring back that grand ole Renaissance and not have to trek out to Renaissance fairs? At the screening of filmmaker Robert Adanto’s documentary The Rising Tide, this is the case in China today, where a huge renaissance is in full effect reflecting an ever evolving and exciting new art movement.

I entered the inconspicuous Morono Kiang Gallery, inside the 1920’s style Bradbury Building which made me question why anyone has ever said, L.A. has no architecture. As I made my way in, I encountered the work of contemporary Chinese artists Xu Ruotao, Li Jin, Lui Qinghe, Chen Wei, and Chen Chiehjen. The theme of the night was eminent from first glance as I took in these paintings, which echoed traditional Chinese art juxtaposed with the latest trends in contemporary media.

Zhang O’s “Daddy and I”

A fortunate group of 30 of us got to sit in the makeshift theater in the center of the gallery, while about 60 viewers outside awaited on stand-by to see if they could land a possible empty seat–sadly to no avail.

The Rising Tide explores the art movement in China and is told in a mosaic of interviews and narration by the professors who study and teach it, the gallery owners who collect and curate it and the artists themselves who create the work. Especially one of great drama in itself is how contemporary Chinese art was inseminated by Mao’s communism, a political structure which denied any form of self-expression for the sake of the state. With the fall of communism and the rise of capitalism, freedom of expression is back and with a greater exhilarated force than ever experienced before.

Filmmaker Robert Adanto

“In recent years”, Adanto explains, “Chinese artists, especially those working in photography and video, have gained international recognition for their powerful works capturing the social and aesthetic confusion created in a rapidly changing society. To the Chinese avant-garde, materialism is all pervasive and the dominant consumer culture has altered people’s mentalities. Interestingly, their work, influenced by Western ideals and art practice, remains distinctly Chinese in its content and aesthetic”.

In the audience that night, we got to see the confusion and angst of the new Chinese generations, torn between the dated traditions of heritage and identity from the past, and the blanketing ideals of the West in globalization—which appear to be the way of the future. We were able to see the works of artists mainly under 30 and becoming multi-millionaires in the Biennale business, such as Chen Quilin, BirdHead, Cao Fei, Song Tao, Wang Qingsong, Liu Zheng, Zhu Ming, Zheng Gougu, and Lu Chunsheng.

Chen Qiulin’s still photo from “Ellisis”

A Q&A following the screening sparked much questioning and thinking to the point of heated controversy over Chinese politics, and ended going over time by an hour. “We’ve never seen anything as exciting as China’s art,” commented the curator and moderator of the night.

The film contends that a new wave of art comes about every two years, moving the art scene in China at an incredible rate.

Through his three years of study, Adanto declares, “This is the tide that keeps rising higher.” And from what we’ve seen of China’s growth globally, that swell is only going to keep getting bigger.