Guy Ullens, a Chinese art collector, says "The shock and the enthusiasm with the quality of the works Chinese artists producing is outstanding. Putting this together in an architecture under the German influence of the Bauhaus for other purposes, and having a look at this. It's so mind-boggling."
The investment of the wealthy Belgian couple is being enhanced through the expertise of renowned Chinese art critic Fei Dawei. He's now the artistic director of UCCA.
Fei is best known for introducing Chinese contemporary art to the West in the 1980s. Over the last two decades, he has devoted himself to exhibiting Chinese contemporary art around the world.
Fei Dawei, artistic director of UCCA, says There's hardly a private non-profit art space like this one in Beijing, especially a foreign-funded one. There's not an educational platform on this scale here.
Fei Dawei says "We hope to establish an academic system, completely separated from commercial practice. Our programs and seminars are not related to what's happening in the market."
"The development of Chinese contemporary culture largely relies on its own independence, rather than other factors."
"Our exhibition complies with the development of Chinese art and with academic circles. The exhibitions, lectures and seminars are oriented towards a good interaction with contemporary arts in the world.
There's also an educational aspect in our facility. Our Archive is China's first public contemporary arts library."
The mid-1980s is often considered a watershed in Chinese contemporary art history. It was a time when Chinese artists began reinventing their culture -- breaking free from decades of social realism. They had begun a process of intense experimentation. The era it set off, is remembered in the inaugural exhibition: "85 New Wave: The Birth of Chinese Contemporary Art."
The works on view are reminders of how quickly Chinese artists put Chinese art on par with international contemporary art. These pioneer artists, broke out of cultural seclusion. Working almost from scratch, they created a parallel and alternative to Western contemporary art. The artists revolutionized Chinese art shifting it away from a doctrine of strict social realism and taking it to mature experimental and conceptual practice.
More than twenty years after the 85 New Wave began, it now can be placed in perspective in context to the present. It was an important time for rethinking the meaning of art.
85 new wave artists say "The period marks the true thinking of Chinese young people."
"Despite the external influences on Chinese fine arts, there's an innate drive to it. The 1980s marks the emergence of a new wave of artists in Chinese fine arts. To put it simply,it has truly realized the principle of a hundred flowers blossoming. "
