Building on the Art and Materiality Symposium held on the occasion of the Smart Museum's exhibition The Allure of Matter, this publication considers the important but often overlooked role materials have played in the history of Chinese art and inclu...

From the 1980s, many Chinese artists have experimented with a range of unconventional materials. Their works–in plastic, paper, silk, ash, and tobacco–form a major trend in Chinese art. "The Allure of Matter" offers the first serious consideration of...