Beauty in the face of destruction: A Chinese artist growing up in the Cold War era.

摘要

During the twentieth century, China experienced devastating political and social change. Civil war, conflict with neighboring territories, shifting governmental policies under a dictatorship, and extreme levels of censorship, all contributed to the framework of China's cultural legacy. These cataclysmic changes affected generations of Chinese people and virtually all aspects of Chinese life, including the field of fine arts.;This essay examines Chinese artist Cai-Guo Qiang and how the political, social, and cultural contexts of China during the Cold War era shaped his later work. Specifically, I will analyze his position as a Chinese artist who grew up under the constant fear of nuclear attack following World War II, as well as the tensions between Mainland China and Taiwan, and the rise and fall of Mao Zedong. By focusing on the works executed by Cai Guo-Qiang after moving to New York in 1995, where the contemporary Asian art scene flourished, I can construct a more complete assessment of how the artist addressed his complicated cultural heritage through an explosive range of artistic media.