Allure of Matter

Material Art from China

Hung Wu, Cacchione Orianna, Mehring Christine, Smith Trevor

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 these ground-breaking material explorations, coining the term Material Art to describe works that place "matter" itself as the primary vehicle of investigation and expression. The book contains four ground-breaking essays, profiles of twenty-five artists, and corresponding color images.

About the Author

Wu Hung is the Harrie A. Vanderstappen Distinguished Service Professor, director for the Center for the Art of East Asia, and consulting curator at the Smart Museum of Art, all at the University of Chicago.

Orianna Cacchione is Curator of Global Contemporary Art at the Smart Museum.

Christine Mehring is Professor and Chair in the Department of Art History at the University of Chicago and Adjunct Curator at the Smart Museum.

Trevor Smith is the Curator of the Present Tense at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA.

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