Journal of Australia-China Affairs 2014

inspecting his own work, To Raise the Water Level in a Fishpond. 3 In an accompanying article, Zhang’s “exhilarating” performance was described as an image “that will stay with me forever.” 4 The exhibition clearly had an effect on Canberra Times reporters. A reviewer of the opening gala remarked, “The controversial exhibition is brutal in its effect, yet the viewer returns, and returns again, because it is fascinating.” 5 Reviewing ‘Inside Out’, art critic Sasha Grishin praised it on two counts: “Firstly, it brings to Canberra some absolutely stunning work, which is outstanding as art in any company. Secondly, it does present a “time capsule” of a very important and exciting moment in Chinese visual culture when there was a great fecundity of creative work”. 6 Just as the local cognoscenti had been wowed, so too was the Chinese Embassy irked. Meeting with NGA director Dr. Brian Kennedy and senior staff, cultural counselor Sun Gengxin was believed to have raised concerns “related to political content, the inclusion of Taiwanese artists and aesthetic concerns – a more traditional approach was suggested rather than the confronting nature of some the contemporary works [sic].” 7 Admirably, the NGA did not budge. China and Australia had come together in the most perplexing of fashions, and right in my hometown. Intrigued, and with $7.50 in my pocket, I made my way to the NGA. For all my lack of sophistication in appreciating modern art, ‘Inside Out’ jolted my imagination. I had entered a wonder world of colour, confusion and confrontation. Beyond the pop art pieces (a style I was familiar with thanks to a Roy Lichtenstein-­‐loving high school art teacher), there was much that captivated me. Casting my mind back, the first things I recall are the works featuring attention-­‐grabbing faces. There was the wary family of Zhang Xiaogang’s 张 晓刚 Bloodline: The Big Family No. 2, contrasted with the multiple bald-­‐headed figures (one looking pained, the other three seemingly doped up) in Fang Lijun’s 方 力 均 Series 2: No. 2 and the contorted and forceful yet emotionally ambiguous expression in Geng Jianyi’s 耿 建 翌 The Second Situation, Nos. 1-­‐4. All left an impression on me, and even now if you say ‘modern Chinese art’, the first word that comes to my mind is ‘faces’. But it was not only these striking images of the human face that remain etched in my memory. What the images in ‘Inside Out’ evoked was a place where thousands of years of artistic techniques and visions had yet again (as I would later learn) been infused with new ideas and influences. A dynamic, chaotic and at times unpleasant society was unveiled to me. Even representations of mundane material objects, such as furniture, teacups, dumplings, derelict buildings, skyscrapers and building sites appeared thrilling and novel. These competing visions of Chinese cultures on the cusp of the twenty-­‐first century gave me a visual yardstick to gauge my observations during later trips to Hong Kong, China, Tibet and Taiwan. The merit of the art shown in ‘Inside Out’ has been debated, but its aesthetic qualities were not what stimulated my urge to get serious about China. 8 Rather, it was how the complexity of China was shoved right in my face. ‘Inside Out’ seemed a physical manifestation of an emerging region of contorted histories and irrepressible forms that I had hitherto only 3 ‘Artist not sheepish about stripping off for opening’, Canberra Times, 3 June 2000, p. 1. 4 Peter Robinson, ‘A raw look at changing China’, Canberra Times, 3 June 2000, p. 6. 5 ‘Cindy Pans the critics and turns the gallery inside out’, Canberra Times, 6 June 2000. 6 Sasha Grishin, ‘A Chinese time capsule’, Canberra Times, 7 June 2000, p. 16. 7 Gia Metherell, ‘NGA tells embassy: no change to show’, Canberra Times, 3 June 2000, p. 6. 8 For an excellent analysis of ‘Inside Out’ that places the artists and their work within the context of modern art in China, Taiwan and Hong Kong, see: Nicholas Jose, ‘Inside out: anatomy of an exhibition’, Art Monthly Australia, July 2000, pp. 8-­‐12. 124 JOURNAL OF AUSTRALIA-­‐CHINA AFFAIRS