Gao Brothers

Beautiful women stare out, lost in a bleak industrial landscape. Naked bodies are crammed into tiny wooden compartments. The sound of barking echoes in the room—a short film portraying office workers as a pack of rabid dogs. These are just a few of the works that confront you at the newest exhibition at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, Red Flag: Contemporary Chinese Art.  

Red Flag is a show that represents the versatile work of Chinese artists who have burst onto the international avant-garde scene in the past decade. The work of these artists has been increasingly recognized in the art world; in 2009, 29 Chinese artists were listed on the art market’s top 100, compared to just one only eight years before. The exhibition includes works in many different media—photography, pottery, sculpture, film, and even a tapestry made of human hair.  

Despite this diversity of styles, all the pieces in Red Flag relate to one resounding theme; the jarring disconnect between traditional Chinese culture and modern, urban, industrialized life. Wang Tianade’s work, for example, includes photographs of classic Chinese texts reduced to ashes, and a traditional silk garment slashed and painted with Mandarin characters. Chen Jiagang’s melancholy photographs picture women dressed in mid-19th century clothing, looking displaced in settings that show the dark side of rapid industrialization. Zhan Wang’s stainless steel sculpture seems to sum up these ambiguous feelings—his piece is an ancient mountain rock, covered in a shiny but distorted exterior.

Though it’s a small collection of artwork, the Red Flag exhibition is neither too spacious nor overcrowded. One massive red wall looms over the space, representing the Communist system that still underlies Chinese society. Unfortunately the lighting leaves something to be desired, as what is likely meant as dramatic mood lighting is simply too dim.  

The carefully curated pieces are quite strong as a unit, however, and together they form an intriguing picture of the booming Chinese avant-garde scene. Most interesting is the sense of overwhelming anxiety that these artists have about present-day China. Rapid changes, overpopulation, mass production, Westernization—these worries manifest themselves in powerful works that unflinchingly force the viewer to come face to face with the problematic elements of modern China.  

Red Flag is free at the Museum of Fine Arts, and runs until June 5.