The group exhibitions which are classified according to gender are being questioned in resent years. When we recall 90’s of the last century, we find that the period was the most active time for Chinese female arts. Female group exhibitions emerged one after another, forming a “landscape” of Chinese contemporary art in 1990s. In fact, this kind of art was simultaneous with the “New Generation” which was arisen after 1989. Both of them were experiencing a transformation from being concerned with outside world to focusing on themselves or surroundings and from thinking about social realities to examining their own existence. They both went into a sort of self-exploration which took their own experience as a resource and their gender identity as a starting point. However, it was in the new century that things had changed obviously. The collective characteristics and the factors of cultural conflict had been weakened largely. Most of female artists had given up the gender perspective or they tried to go beyond the gender identity and went into the level of humanity narrative. They expressed their disgust at the concept of “feminism” and didn’t want to be associated with the title or to even understand the value of feminist theories. They showed indifference to this patriarchal society which had remained the same. They felt they had no choice but to tolerate. They began to accept it rather than blindly criticize and resist it. They tried to surpass gender or the level of identity and individual experience. A kind of spiritual view expanding from their inner heart had been gradually revealed. Perhaps this kind of new artistic tendency is the artistic characteristics of the post-Feminism. In such kind of new context, why plan an exhibition of female artists and still classify artists according to their gender?    

It was from this feeling that I didn’t want to highlight the common characteristics of women artists although I have planed some exhibitions on the subject of female arts during the two years. It is difficult for women, a vulnerable group, to exceed men, but there might be powerful “individuals” formed in vulnerable group. Therefore, for every vulnerable group, mutual consciousness cannot be abandoned. A western feminist scholar said “although we didn’t change the world, we’ve changed ourselves.” It sounds a bit helpless, but there is no doubt that the powerfulness of individual is the signal for a group becoming powerful. If there are no strong individuals in a group, there is no possibility for the group to change its weak position. In this sense, it is meaningless to emphasize the common things of female arts. What really matters is that strong individuals should exist in the group.      

I named the exhibition as “Paint in Their Own Ways” for the reasons above. Although most the artists participating in the show live in Shang Yuan, they are very personal and independent. They have their own artistic views and artistic taste. They paint in their own ways and work hard on their own artistic ideals. This show is not only a witness to the arts of the artists as individuals but also to their existence as independent “humans”.  

Among these artists, there are three excellent female artists (Feng Jiali, Li Hong and Yuan Yaomin), who established a feminist group “Sairen Art Studio (SAS)” with another female artist Cui Youwen in 1998 during the exhibition “Century •Women”, explicitly showing their stands of feminism. It was a famous artistic event in the circle of contemporary art in 1990s. Ten years later, they are still committed to their own artistic ideal. This really is something worth celebrating.  

“Paint in Their Own Ways” is a sizeable group exhibition, but I’m here to emphasize a kind of “individual spirit” rather than “collective consciousness”, since the status and dignity of a group could be changed only when there are a number of strong, excellent and irreplaceable individuals. It has been proved by history. Linda once asked the question “why have there been no great women artists?” and pointed out the answer was rooted in the unequal education accepted by women in patriarchal society. However, today we should think about “why there should have been great women artists”. In the history of classical art and modern art, there were no “great women artists”, but there are more and more “great women artists” in the history of post-modern art. The achievements of women artists have drawn more people’s attention in China. Besides, there are more girls than boys in art school now. There is much reason to be hopeful about the future of female art. ———Jia Fangzhou