Artist Song Yang and his drawings in 2008 Photo: IC

Last Saturday the Linda Gallery in Singapore opened Chinese artist Cai Lei's solo exhibition Method of Descent, which runs until February 9. The exhibition includes 15 artworks produced by Cai over the past three years.

Cai was born in 1983 and studied sculpture at the China Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA) in Beijing. However, in this exhibition, none of his works are traditional sculptures. Defined as mixed media, the works can be construed as blurred paintings of empty rooms presented in a 3D format.

Like Cai, many other Chinese artists born in the 1980s have shown their talent at international exhibitions over recent years, and have grabbed more attention from the media.

The classification of different generations of artists has always been a popular topic of discussion. Whether the modern young artists are still searching for their own art language or have already found their special style is still up for debate. What is clear is that the famous artists born in the 1950s and 1960s are gaining increasing market success, while those born in 1980s are becoming more mature in their creations.

Cai Lei's work Unfinished Home No.2 Photo: Courtesy of Linda Gallery

A more focused generation



The 1980s artists freely promote their knowledge of art, often blurring the boundaries of what being an artist entails.

At the end of 2013, there was a special Beijing Googut auction for young artists named the Chinese Contemporary Art Power of Youth. The art sold for over 6.6 million yuan ($1.1 million) and provided confidence in the domestic art market. An oil-on-canvas Bad Girl - Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter by Song Yan sold for 1.25 million yuan.

Song was born in 1981 and he works as an illustrator, column writer and musician. He recently released a music CD album called Bad Girl Cures Song Yang Art, in which he invited 10 international musicians to write songs inspired by the "bad girl" image. Covering classic, electric, folk and many other styles, the album took three years to produce and can be seen as a connection between visual art and music.

Song sees the future of contemporary art in its influence of fashion, cartoons, architecture and all kinds of design.

"I think artists in the future will be more pluralistic and vertical. The concept  of what art is will also change. The world is flat. We are going to create something different," Song said in an interview with New Younger magazine. 

Cai's artworks from the Method of Descent exhibition also shows his understanding of the different possibilities for his sculptures.

The curator of the exhibition Bao Dong sees the concept of changes in dimension as similar to what was described in science fiction writer Liu Cixin's novel Trinity, where physical dimensions are reduced in the war between highly developed cosmic civilizations.

Wang Yifei, the manager of Linda Gallery in Beijing, said at the press conference for Cai's exhibition that young artists today face multiple challenges.

There are already a large number of different styles created by the older generations, thus young artists must find their own language and means of expression.

Zhan Wang, a professor at CAFA, told the Global Times that different generations of artists have differing styles.

"For my generation born in the 1950s and 1960s, rebellion is important because our parents' generation were very conservative and we needed to break the law to seize freedom. Young people today face a less complicated social situation, this allows them to focus on specific issues. It is also easier for them to adapt to the changing environment than us," said Zhan.   

Aware of the restraints



The attitude of the 1980s generation in China has often been called into question because of the environment they grew up in.

Being the only child in the family and with huge economic development taking place, their lives were much easier than previous generations.

Art critic Zhu Qi sees the 1980s generation as having "a self but no personality."

In an interview with 99ys.com, a comprehensive art website, he stated that there can be two things missing from the 1980s generation of artists:  political consciousness and literary appreciation.

He said many artists think they are in an era with no political control or propaganda, but those things still exist in areas like consumption and advertising.

"If the 1980s generation can't realize that those things might manipulate their lifestyle and ideologies, they will lose the inner power in their art," said Zhu.

In the 1990s, many famous Chinese artists like Fang Lijun had already gained international recognition in their 30s. Many have started to question if the 1980s generation, now also in their 30s, will achieve the same level of success.

However Zhan is wary of international success and finds that Chinese media often pays particular attention to those who are able to hold exhibitions in international galleries.

"They need to be very careful," Zhan said, adding that the success of an artist does not rely on international recognition. On the contrary, he thinks it has more distractions than benefits for the artist.

Bao said that in the 1980s, some Chinese artists who went abroad were accepted by the international art world as being part of a group or movement, whereas in the 1990s, Chinese artists were recognized more by different international trends they followed.

"That phenomenon continued until 2005 or 2006 but has now finished. Young Chinese artists are no longer thought of as being part of a group. They are recognized as individuals," said Bao.