Anthropocenic Landscape in Chinese Contemporary Art

The condition of the Anthropocene and its aesthetics has become one of the most important issues in global and Chinese art of the 21st century. It has allowed the rediscovery of landscape art as its preferred means of expression and medium to reveal the relationship between man and nature in the past, present and future. Landscape art, or more specifically the genre of landscape painting (shanshuihua), is one of the oldest traditions and it has had a special significance in Chinese culture. Its relevance in Chinese contemporary art is far greater and has more implications. The paper aims to explore the main genres of anthropocenic landscape in contemporary Chinese art and it looks into their relationship with traditional shanshuihua. The paper considers their similarities and differences, and reflects the global transformation of the concept of landscape itself. The paper analyses famous anthropocene landscapes by contemporary Chinese artists (Zhao Liang, Yao Lu, Hong Lei, Yang Yongliang, Xu Bing) that have been inspired by and 'flirt' with traditional shanshuihua (or imitate and re-conceptualise it).