Contemporary China is characterized by an incredible dynamism. Things seem to be transformed everyday, fuelled by astonishing economic growth, frantic urban development and the preparations for the 2008 Olympics. Of course these changes are reflected in art. Throughout the 1990s Chinese artists slowly emerged into the international art world and were invited to take part in numerous exhibitions across the world. Now, at the threshold of the new millennium, interest in Chinese contemporary art is peaking again, as a new generation of artists - born in the late 1960s and 1970s - appears on the scene.
This new generation presents us with an accurate and complex picture of a culture in transition. They take as their subject matter the country's disappearing traditional landscape, its new urbanism and rapidly changing social values. They are also concerned with the ways in which Chinese people are adapting their lifestyles to contemporary realities, freeing themselves from traditional stereotypes while actively utilizing new technologies.
"Follow Me! Chinese Contemporary Art at the Threshold of the New Millennium" introduces over forty works by nineteen artists of this new generation. The title of the exhibition is taken from Wang Qingsong's photo-tableau "Follow Me," included in the show, which shows the artist as a teacher seated in front of a blackboard covered in Chinese and English writing on which the logos of famous American and European brands can be seen - a sideways comments perhaps on China's recent wave of privatizations and opening up to foreign markets. But the words at the center of the board - "Let China walks towards the world! Let the world learns about China!" - suggest that they should not slavishly follow the developed world. In fact, the artist seems to be asking who, in the future, will be doing the leading.
In confronting the many faces of the new China there can no longer be any single point of view or message in the art. One thing is sure though, the influence of this country's artists is certain to grow in the future.

Artists

Cao Fei
Chen Shaoxiong
Chen Wenbo
Liu Zheng
Lu Hao
Ou Ning
Shao Yinong / Mu Chen
Shi Yong
Wang Qingsong
Weng Fen
Xu Zhen
Yang Fudong
Yang Zhenzhong
The Yangjiang Group (Zheng Guogu, Chen Zaiyan, Sun Qinglin)
Yin Xiuzhen
Zhou Tiehai

The catalog for the Follow Me! exhibition was awarded a prize in the "The 47th National Catalogue and Poster Exhibit," which is organized by the Japan Federation of Printing Industries and the Printing and Publishing Institute.

MAM SCREEN each month presents a video work related to an exhibition currently on at the Mori Art Museum. The work is shown at several screens throughout Roppongi Hills, such as the 500 inch outdoor screen of Metro Hat and PDP monitors in West Walk. To coincide with "Follow Me!" three works by young Chinese artists will be screened from July through September, 2005. July Xu Zhen Shouting 1998 courtesy of the artist and the ShanghART Gallery, Shanghai August Deng Dafei Astronaut of Shenzhou Spaceship No.9 2004 courtesy of the artist and Long March Space, Beijing September Cao Fei Hip-Hop 2003 courtesy of the artist and the CourtYard Gallery, Beijing