Traditions and Innovations in Chinese Contemporary Sculpture

Abstract

After the Cultural Revolution, an unprecedented period of openness began in China. The gradual deepening of the Reform and Openness Policy created more opportunities for the development of contemporary Chinese sculpture. For "tradition", sculptors combine the form and content of traditional culture and sculpture, expressing the problems of modern life and human society, forming a rich creative thought and a broad creative outlook. Two art directions were formed. The first direction follows the creative method of sculptors who studied in France before the formation of the People's Republic of China, focusing on the study of the "language" of the actual sculptural art by combining the methods, forms and aesthetics of traditional Chinese sculpture. The second direction uses traditional Chinese culture and sculpture to carry out the "modern transformation". In this process, the form is subordinate to the content, and "tradition" appears in an artwork as a specific symbol through which the artist's opinion is expressed. The two creative directions have formed a symbiosis and co-prosperity at present. We can say that they both confirm the development of modern Chinese sculpture on the path of "nationalisation and localisation" over the past 40 years. At the same time, these two creative directions have brought a new climax to contemporary Chinese traditional sculpture and culture.