Opening time：4pm, May16, 2013
Duration: 2013.05.04 -- 2013.05.19
Location: 2nd floor exhibition hall of building 2

      Along with the development of Chinese contemporary art, AAC has been hold for consecutive seven years; which, as could be easily identified when looking back on the past six selections, has brought positive significances and far-reaching impacts in the course of the development of Chinese contemporary art. The organizing committee decided to hold this Invitational Exhibition inviting all previous award-winning artists simultaneously with the Awards Party of the 7th AAC, to verify the results of previous selections from an academic point of view.
　　As the list of previous award-winning artists being sorted out, we were delightful to see that most successful artists active in the contemporary era were on the list and so were the young artists who have been recognized recently. Thus the theme of "Those Leading Contemporary Art Practices A Juried" arose spontaneously. Without the persistent efforts of these artists, the contemporary art in China would not have made such great progress and remarkable achievements.
      The theme of the 7th AAC will be "Tradition activation, Self-release and Integration into the International Circles", which is not only an objective description of the status but also a forward-looking expectation for the contemporary art. Chinese contemporary art needs not only powerful supports from individual artists but also its own voice in the international art circles. The course of art history has reminded us repeatedly that the creation and development of arts had always been attributed to the practice of individual artists. When referring to the poetry of the Tang Dynasty, the names like Li Bai, Du Fu, and Bai Juyi would immediately jump into out minds, which is simply because that the achievements in the poetry by these creative individuals represented those of the poetry in the Tang Dynasty; in which sense, it was the very crowning achievements of these individuals that highlight achievements of people in those days. This rule also applies today. The Nobel Prize for Literature won by Mo Yan marked the achievements of not only Mo Yan himself but also the contemporary Chinese literature, where the level of contemporary Chinese literature and its international status has been elevated by the creative individuals such as Mo Yan. As Ang Lee held the Oscar Statuette, it implied an exciting fact that the Chinese film directors had claimed their reputations in international circles. When there came the enjoyable news that Mr. Wang Shu won the Pritzker Architecture Prize of 2012, we realized that it has been the first highest honor in the international architecture industry achieved by Chinese architects for nearly half a century, and significance of which of course belonged not only to Mr. Wang Shu himself. Since last year, Chinese artists have frequently been invited to participate in international exhibition activities, where Mr. Cai Guoqiang won the Lifetime Achievement Award for Painting of the Praemium Imperiale, which has been honored as the "Nobel Prize in Art Circles", who has been the first artist of Chinese nationality being granted such award. This achievement, of course, was more than the personal achievement of Mr. Cai Guoqiang, as it also marked achievement of Chinese contemporary art in international circles. In which sense, the importance lies not in groups but in the invincible individuals of such group. The powerful individuals symbolize the powerful groups. No group will be able to change their weak positions without the emergence of the individuals of indomitable spirits. Therefore, it is obvious that the theme "Self-release and Integration into International Circles" is intended to emphasize the "Spirit of Individuals". The artists participating in this exhibition also prove that only the first-class individuals, outstanding individuals and irreplaceable individuals may bring dignity to our group and enhance the international status of Chinese contemporary art. Only when a group has been provided with powerful individuals, may it be recognized as a powerful group. Therefore, we need to improve and release ourselves as we activate the tradition, to earn our eligibilities so as to enter and integrate into the international circles and to establish our standings and dignity in the international circles.

Jia Fangzhou

FANG Lijun,LIU Xiaodong,XU Weixin,ZHOU Chunya,WEI Jia,WANG Guangle,LU Hao,ZENG Fanzhi,CUI Xiuwen,FU Yu,CHEN Wei,WANG Dongling,ZHANG Yu,SUI Jianguo,QIU Zhijie,SONG Dong,ZHAN Wang,XU Bing,Unmask,XU Zhen,SHI Jinsong