'85 New Wave

XU Bing

Born in Chongqing in 1955. Earned a Master¡¯s degree from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1987, currently living and working in New York.

Xu Bing is one of the most important members of the ¡¯85 New Wave era. He brought his adept woodblock skills and deep interest in calligraphy and characters into full play with the creation of Book From the Sky, a work with abundant significance. Xu Bing used woodblock printing to create more than 1000 ¡°characters¡± that were completely illegible, although these characters abided by the principles of traditional characters, they never actually existed, and it was impossible to interpret their meaning. This work was the first to definitively raise issues of the ¡°insignificance¡± of artistic languages; it was also the high point of installation art made during the ¡¯85 New Wave era. It was not only a breakthrough in the spatial language of artworks of this period, the work also included the elements of time and process and was an examination of history and reality.