The Allure of Matter: Materiality Across Chinese Art

Product Description
This book focuses on the under-explored significance of materials throughout Chinese art.
Since the inventions of porcelain and gunpowder, Chinese artists have experimented with unconventional artistic materials and used conventional materials in unorthodox ways. This groundbreaking volume is the first publication to expound the trans-historical importance of materiality in Chinese art by bringing together essays from leading scholars, curators, and conservators. Essayists Anne Feng, Yuhang Li, Wei-Cheng Lin, Catherine Stuer, and Yusen Yu examine how materials including lacquer, crystal, paper, and gold stimulated advances in premodern Chinese art. Alex Burchmore, Orianna Cacchione, Nancy P. Lin, Sara Moy, and Rachel Rivenc analyze several instances of material experimentation in contemporary Chinese art in essays that consider materials as varied as gunpowder, plastic, and water. This book builds upon scholarship originally presented at the Art and Materiality Symposium, held on the occasion of the Smart Museum of Art’s exhibition
The Allure of Matter: Material Art from China.
About the Author
Orianna Cacchione is the Curator of Global Contemporary Art at the Smart Museum of Art. With Wu Hung, she curated
The Allure of Matter: Material Art from China, which was presented at the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, the Smart Museum and Wrightwood 659.
Wei-Cheng Lin is an associate professor of art history and the College at the University of Chicago.