the stars 星星
contemporary chinese avant-garde
Initiated by Huang Rui and cofounded by Ma Desheng, the Stars Art Group (Xing Xing 星星) was a foundational movement of the contemporary Chinese avant-garde active in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Mostly self-trained, the Stars championed individualism and freedom of expression both in their work and public activities. Taking personal experience and social issues as their subject matter, they pointedly diverged from state-sanctioned Socialist Realism. The group’s members made history in 1979 when they defied government regulation and mounted an unofficial exhibition on the railings of the National Art Museum in Beijing.
The group’s main leaders were Huang Rui, Ma Desheng, Wang Keping, Qu Lei Lei, and Yan Li. Members included Ai Weiwei, Bo Yun, Li Shuang, Mao Lizi, Shao Fei, Wang Luyan, Yang Yiping, Zhong Acheng(Ah Cheng), Zhang Hongtu, Zhang Wei, Zhao Gang and Zhu Jinshi.
The artworks of The Stars Art Group were born from the defiance of their youth. These avant-garde artists challenged the status quo to initiate free artistic expression in the post-Mao era. Their works were a voice of the future within a China that was on the verge of transformation.
historical exhibitions
- 1979 September 27-28th, FIRST STARS ART EXHIBITION
An unauthorized exhibition hung on the gates of the National Art Museum of China in Beijing. (outlawed after two days)
- 1979 November 23rd- December 2nd, Beihai Park Stars Exhibition
A continuation of the First Stars Art exhibition hosted in Huafangzhai, the space of the Beijing Artists’ Association. It attracted approximately 33,000 visitors.
- 1980 August 24th - September 14th SECOND STARS ART EXHIBITION
National Art Museum of China, Beijing The National. Art Museum exhibition was the culmination of the Stars artists’ aspirations. The act of presenting their work in the museum gave a certain credibility to the movement.
media
Language : Chinese with English subtitles
text
- MEMOIRS OF “THE STARS” EXHIBITIONText by Wang Keping - click here to read
photos
Wang Keping in a conversation with a visitor at the first Stars Art Exhibition, Beijing, 1979, photograph by Li Xiaobin, © Stars Art Foundation
Wang Keping's sculpture, Silence, hanging outside the National Art Museum of China, during the first Stars Art Exhibition, Beijing, 1979, photograph by Li Xiaobin, © Stars Art Foundation
Visitor in front of Wang Keping's sculpture at the first Stars Art Exhibition, Beijing, 1979, photograph by Li Xiaobin, © Stars Art Foundation
Visitors in front of Wang Keping's sculpture at the first Stars Art Exhibition, Beijing, 1979, photograph by Li Xiaobin, © Stars Art Foundation
Visitors outside the National Art Museum of China, during the first Stars Art Exhibition, Beijing, 1979, photograph by Li Xiaobin, © Stars Art Foundation
Wang Keping (2nd from the left) along with spectators in front of his sculptures during the first Stars Art Exhibition, Beijing, 1979, photograph by Li Xiaobin, © Stars Art Foundation
Liu Xun, Qu leilei along with other spectators listening to Wang Keping at the first Stars exhibition, Beijing, 1979, photograph by Li Xiaobin, © Stars Art Foundation
Wang Keping (front row, 4th from left) holding the poster "Demand for artistic freedom" during the October 1st demonstration, Beijing, 1979, photograph by Li Xiaobin, © Stars Art Foundation
From left to right : Wang Keping, Ma Desheng, Yan Li, Qu Leilei and Huang Rui in Huang Rui’s courtyard, 1980. Photograph by Joan Lebold Cohen. © Stars Art Foundation
the stars exhibition - 40th anniversary
press and other ressources
- Wang Keping talking about the stars groupVideo - 10 Chancery Lane Gallery production - watch the video
- LES ETOILES DISSIDENTES DE L'ART CHINOISPress - M - Le Magazine du Monde n°423, Oct. 26, 2019, p. 46-51 - read the article
- portrait of a chinese artistPress - South China Morning Post - 1979 - read the article
- eroding mao's legacyPress - Newsweek - Oct 15th 1979 - read the article
- Liberalisation with limitsPress - Asiaweek 1979 - read the article
- Peking permits once-banned exhibit of new artPress - New York Times Peking Oct. 19, 1979 - read the article
- chinese sculptor ridicules mao's ubiquitous red bookPress - New York Times 1979 - read the article
- the former red guardPress - Time Nov. 10, 1980 - read the article
- dim stars over chinaPress - Newsweek 1986 - read the article