The Stars Art Group or simply "The Stars" (Xīngxīng 星星) was a Chinese avant-garde group of non-professional artists in the late 1970s and early 1980s (the exact interval usually given as 1979 to 1983). It was founded by

Ma Desheng Ma Desheng, born 1952 in Beijing, is a Chinese artist and one of the founding members of the Stars Group. After being arrested for his role in arranging the group's first exhibition and repressions against "liberal thinkers", the artist relocated ...

and

Huang Rui Huang Rui (born 1952) is a Chinese artist known for his social and cultural criticism. Life and work Huang Rui was born in Beijing in 1952. During the Cultural Revolution, he was sent at the age of 16 to Inner Mongolia where he worked as a farm ...

and included Wang Keping (王克平),

Qu Leilei Qu Leilei (曲磊磊, born 1951)Yung Chang. (1996Preface to ''A Visual Diary'' reproduced at redfern-gallery.com. Retrieved 19 March 2008. is a contemporary Chinese artist currently based in the UK. Qu grew up in China during the Cultural Revolu ...

Ah Cheng Zhong Acheng (; born 1949), often known by his pseudonym Ah Cheng, is a Chinese author and screenwriter. In 1979, together with He Dong, Ma Desheng, Wang Keping, Huang Rui, Li Shuang, Qu Leilei and Ai Weiwei, Ah Cheng founded the Stars Group (Xin ...

Ai Weiwei Ai Weiwei (, ; born 28 August 1957) is a Chinese contemporary artist, documentarian, and activist. Ai grew up in the far northwest of China, where he lived under harsh conditions due to his father's exile. As an activist, he has been openly c ...

, and

Li Shuang (artist) Li Shuang (李爽, born 1957 in Beijing), is a contemporary Chinese artist. Li Shuang's works testify to her painful personal and artistic journey. She grew up in Beijing during the Cultural Revolution within a family of intellectuals. Her ear ...

as the only female member. A historically significant exhibition, now called the

Star Art Exhibition The Star(s) Art Exhibition (Xīngxīng měizhǎn 星星美展) took place on September 27, 1979 when The Stars Art Group (Xīngxīng 星星)), a group of avant-garde and self-taught (not trained in the Academy) Chinese artists, staged an unpermitted ...

, took place in late 1979 in

Beihai Park Beihai Park () is a public park and former imperial garden located in the northwestern part of the Imperial City, Beijing. First built in the 11th century, it is among the largest of all Chinese gardens and contains numerous historicall ...

Beijing } Beijing ( ; ; ), alternatively romanized as Peking ( ), is the capital of the People's Republic of China. It is the center of power and development of the country. Beijing is the world's most populous national capital city, with over 21 ...

, outside the

China Art Gallery The National Art Museum of China (NAMOC, ) is located at 1 Wusi Ave, Dongcheng District, Beijing, People's Republic of China. It is one of the largest art museums in China, and is funded by the Ministry of Culture. The construction of the museu ...

. After the exhibition was closed by officials, the group staged a protest for cultural openness. They succeeded in reopening the exhibition. The exhibition took place between 23 November and 2 December, in which around 200,000 people attended the event. The group organized another exhibition the next year. Around and after 1983, the group disbanded, partly due to their members going into exile under political pressure, especially the

Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign The Anti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign () was a political campaign spearheaded by conservative factions within the Chinese Communist Party that lasted from October 1983 to December 1983. In general, its advocates wanted to curb Western-inspired ...

of 1983. The Stars Art Group 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 Socialist realism is a style of idealized realistic art that was developed in the Soviet Union and was the official style in that country between 1932 and 1988, as well as in other socialist countries after World War II. Socialist realism is ch ...

. The group's member artists also included affiliates

Zhang Hongtu Zhang Hongtu (Simplified Chinese: 张宏图; Traditional Chinese: 張宏圖; Wade-Giles: Chang Hung-t'u; Pinyin: Zhāng Hóngtú) (born 1943) is a Chinese people, Chinese artist based in New York City. Zhang was born in Pingliang. He works in ...

and Zhang Wei, Yan Li, Yang Yiping,

, Mao Lizi, Bo Yun, Zhong Ahcheng, Shao Fei, and Ma Desheng.

References

{{reflist Chinese contemporary art Chinese artist groups and collectives

See also

References