The Stars Exhibition 40th Anniversary

T H E S TA R S E X H I B I T I O N 40TH ANNIVERSARY HUANG RUI | MA DESHENG | WANG KEPING L I U HE U NG S H I N G

星 星

1979年「星星畫會」與《星星美展》 －中國當代藝術的先聲

藉中國藝術史上最重要的事件之一－1979年《星星美展》40週年之際，我們集合了 黃銳、王克平和馬德升的早期作品連同著名攝影師劉香成的影像紀錄和其他相關紀錄 文獻 。「星星畫會」開闢了中國藝術自由之道路，對後來藝術家帶來重大影響 。10 號贊善里畫廊引導觀眾重遊這段中國當代藝術初期的歷史。

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1979 The Stars Art Group and The Stars Exhibition The Beginnings of Chinese Contemporary Art

On the occasion of the 40th Anniversary of China’s historically important art event, the 1979 Stars Exhibition, the early works of Huang Rui, Wang Keping and Ma Desheng as well as photo documentation by acclaimed photographer 
Liu Heung Shing are assembled with archival materials that chronicle the journey through the transformative movement of contemporary art of China. The Stars inspired generations of artists that followed, carving the path of artistic freedom in China. 10 Chancery Lane Gallery presents a historical journey of the early years of Chinese Contemporary Art.

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Sept 27, the scene of the first day of the exhibition. Photograph by Li Xiaobin.

星 星

《星星美展》－中國文化藝術的轉折點

中華人民共和國成立30週年之際，一個非學院派的先鋒藝術家群體決定給人民群眾 獻上一份禮物－1979年9月27日，他們在中國美術館外公園的柵欄上，未經允許公開 舉辦了一場藝術展覽。起初他們申請在館內舉行卻遭拒絕。這個藝術家群體正是「星 星畫會」，而「星星」比喻了藝術家像在無盡黑夜裡的獨立發光體。參展的作品有一 些使用了西方藝術的表現手段，也有的藝術家以自己的方式表達反叛的精神，這在當 時是被禁止的，這些作品旨在挑戰當局和當下的規範化審美，並掙脫官方藝術的桎梏 。3萬名觀眾到場參觀了展覽。即便一些藝術官員前來參觀支持，並與藝術家友好交 流，展覽還是在舉辦了兩天後便被警方取締。展品被撤下之後，藝術家們迅速在「民 主牆」張貼告示以表反抗，隨後發生了大規模的示威遊行。經過多番交涉，他們終於 通過正規途徑爭取到辦展機會：首個官方認可的《星星美展》於次年11月在北海公園 舉行。《星星美展》展出了23位非官方藝術家的163件作品，是中國當代藝術史上的 一座里程碑。

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The Stars Exhibition, A Turning Point for Art in China

As a gift to the Chinese people and on the occasion of the 30th Anniversary of the People’s Republic of China, an art exhibition took place on September 27, 1979 when a group of avant-garde and non-academy trained Chinese artists staged an unpermitted exhibition on the railings of the National Art Museum of China after being denied an official exhibition space. The group is called The Stars Art Group (Xing Xing 星星), named because they saw themselves as points of light in the endless black. Some of the artworks were composed of formerly banned Western styles, while others were expressing rebellious thoughts in their own artistic expression, in order to challenge both aesthetic convention and political authority and free themselves from the shackles of official art. 30,000 people attended the exhibition. The exhibition was closed by the police after just two days, even though the art establishment officials visited the Stars Exhibition and were conversing with the artists. When the works were removed they posted a notice on the Democracy Wall in protest and a mass rally ensued. After discussions, in November, the group was granted a space to exhibit and held their first formal exhibition: The Stars Art Exhibition (Xing Xing Meizhan (星星美展), at Beihai Park, Beijing. The exhibition included 163 works by 23 nonprofessional artists. The Stars Art exhibition was a milestone in China’s contemporary art.

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(From left to right) Ma Desheng, Wang Keping and Huang Rui,1983. Courtesy of Huang Rui.

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星 星

「星星畫會」

「星星畫會」是中國當代藝術先鋒，由黃銳發起并與馬德升聯手創辦，活躍於70年代 末、80年代初。「星星」的成員大都不是美術學院出身但自學成才，他們通過藝術作品 和公眾運動高舉個體主義與表達自由的旗幟。作品以自身經歷與社會問題為主題，明顯有 別於社會主義寫實主義風格的官方藝術。1979年「星星畫會」公然藐視規章制度，在北 京把參展作品掛在中國美術館外公園的柵欄上，舉辦了一場非官方藝術展覽，並創造了歷 史。展覽很快便受到警方阻撓，藝術家們隨即發起了一場歷史性的示威遊行。這是後文革 時期中國政治局面開始緩和的初期，追求文化解放的人都聚集到了這場遊行當中。遊行取 得了勝利，展覽得以重新開放。次年，第二屆《星星美展》在中國美術館舉行。到了80 年代中期，「星星」逐漸停止活躍，許多成員業已移居國外，但他們仍是推動中國當代藝 術轉型的重要人物，並啟發了後世藝術家。「星星畫會」的領軍人物是黃銳、馬德升、 王克平、曲磊磊和巖力，其他主要成員包括艾未未、薄雲（李永存）、李爽、毛栗子、邵 飛、王魯炎、楊益平、鐘阿城、張宏圖、張偉 、趙剛和朱金石。 當時的「星星畫會」藝術家正值風華正茂，做藝術創作帶有反叛精神。這群前衛藝術家領 先在後毛澤東時代提倡藝術表達自由，為當時藝術創作備受管制的局面帶來巨大衝擊。當 時的中國正處於轉型邊緣，而他們的藝術作品走在了時代的前面 。

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T HE STA R S A RT GR O U P

Initiated by Huang Rui and cofounded by Ma Desheng, the Stars Art Group (Xing Xing 星星) 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. The group’s members made history in 1979 when they defied government regulation and mounted an unofficial exhibition on the railings of the National Art Museum in Beijing. When officials closed the exhibition, the group staged a historic protest that became a rallying point for cultural openness in the early years of China’s post–Cultural Revolution political thaw. Triumphant, they succeeded in reopening the exhibition. The group went on to stage a second public exhibition in the National Art Museum of China a year later. Although their activities tapered off in the mid 1980s, when many members emigrated abroad they remain pivotal in China’s contemporary art transformation and the inspiration to the artists that followed. The group’s main leaders were Huang Rui, Ma Desheng, Wang Keping, Qu Lei Lei, and Yan Li. Members included Ai Weiwei, Bo Yun, Li Shuang, Mao Lizi, Shao Fei, Wang Luyan, Yang Yiping, Zhong Acheng(Ah Cheng), Zhang Hongtu, Zhang Wei, Zhao Gang and Zhu Jinshi.

The artworks of The Stars Art Group were born from the defiance of their youth.

These avant-garde artists challenged the status quo to initiate free artistic expression in the post-Mao era. Their works were a voice of the future within a China that was on the verge of transformation.

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14 1979, the preface to the First Stars Art Exhibition. Courtesy of Huang Rui, 1980.

Sept,

前言

Manifesto of the Stars Exhibition

我們，二十三名藝術探索者，把勞動的些微收

We, twenty-three art explorers, place some fruits

穫擺在這裡。

of our labor here.

世界給探索者提供了無限的可能。

The world leaves unlimited possibilities for explorers.

我們用自己的眼睛認識世界，用自己的畫筆和

We have used our own eyes to know the world,

雕刀參預世界。我們的畫裡有各自的表情，我

and our own brushes and awls to participate in it.

們的表情訴說各自的理想。

Our paintings contain all sorts of expressions, and these expressions speak to our own individual ideals.

歲月向我們迎來，沒有什麼神奇的預示指導我

The years come at us; there are no mysterious

們的行動。這正是生活對我們提出的挑戰。我

indications guiding our action. This is precisely

們不能把時間從這裡割斷，過去的陰影和未來

the challenge that life has raised to us. We cannot

的光明交疊在一起，構成我們今天多重的生活

remove the element of temporality; the shadow

狀況。堅定地活下去，並且記住每一個教訓，

of the past and the glow of the future are folded

這是我們的責任。

together, forming the various living conditions of today. Resolving to live on and remembering each lesson learned; this is our responsibility.

我們熱愛腳下的土地。土地哺育了我們。我

We love the ground beneath our feet. The ground

們無法用語言表達對土地的感激。值此建國三

has nurtured us, we have no words to express our

十週年之際，我們把收穫奉還－給土地，給人

passion for the ground. Seizing this moment of the

民。這使我們更加接近。我們充滿了信心。

30th anniversary of the nation’s founding, we give our harvest back to the land, and to the people.

This brings us closer. We are full of confidence.

(By Huang Rui, September 27, 1979.

（黃銳書，1979年9月27日）

Translated from Chinese by Philip Tinari)

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Huang Rui and his work before the exhibition, 1980. Courtesy of Huang Rui.

HUANG RUI 黃銳

“It is extremely difficult to gain artistic freedom, and the Stars had the courage to pay the price for it. The Stars were not there to prove that the road to success was by practicing their art. They were just free spirits, which have gone hand in hand with their success.”

「獲得藝術自由極為不易，星星為此付出了勇氣和代價。星星並不證 明藝術踐行的成功之路，只賦有一種如影隨形的自由精神。」

星 星

Huang Rui in his studio, 1981.

Photograph by Chen Fan.

A group photo in Huang Rui’s courtyard, from left: Wang Keping, Ma Desheng, Yan Li, Qu Leilei, and Huang Rui, 1980.

Photograph by Joan Cohen.

黃銳（1952年生於中國北京） 1978年底，《法國十九世紀農村風景繪畫展》在中國美術館開幕。「我覺得在我的前半生， 沒有哪個展覽對我的影響可以與之相比較。」黃銳說。受塞尚的筆法和梵高的色彩深深觸 動，黃銳即創作了新系列畫作，風格介於具象和抽象之間，徹底背離了當時盛行的蘇聯現實 主義畫法，他闡述道：「我以前一直厭惡的蘇聯畫法，從這一天真正解脫了。繪畫是以畫筆 直接向畫布的投入，而不是向調色板妥協的結果。」《琴聲訴》是黃銳最重要的作品之一， 是1979年《星星美展》的展品。這幅作品並不是一幅簡單的肖像，而是刻畫了一個飽含情 感的情景。從《琴聲訴》中亦能看出黃銳那時已開始對「空間」的概念感興趣，這也成為了 他之後的創作中一個重要的主題。對於《琴聲訴》里對「空間」概念的使用，黃銳如是說： 「我也是力圖有一個畫面的中心，同時開放這個中心。繪畫不是在畫面的界限裡面可以壓縮 或是可以結束的。從《無限的空間》到《琴聲訴》，我都是這麼處理畫面的。有一些固定的 線條我讓它走向畫面的外沿。你可以看到《琴聲訴》裡面對於背後環境的處理，人體結構還 有他們所持的吉他琴都是衝破這畫面之外的。我想這是一個很好的方式。對於畫面的佈局有 一層格外的破壞性的感受。我當時是想使畫的中心和外界一體，而這個外界是與畫面之外的 外界聯繫著的。《琴聲訴》這幅畫裡，我主要是想表現當時的一個場景，它應有一個集中的 形象，特別是一個人是面對觀眾的，其他的人物組合在一種動作裡邊，這個動作部分我把它 分解成一些色塊。這些色塊的處理，從《無限的空間》開始到這張畫是一個過渡性的實驗， 也是一個向深度發展的實驗。我想把色塊調動起來成為一種音樂性，當然這張畫的主題也是 含有音樂要求的。在這張畫裡我開始佈置少數的顏色成為一些不和諧的因素，這些不和諧因 素是來穿插一個大色塊的組織。比如說《琴聲訴》主要是紅色的背景，我用了粉紅色、深紅 色、赭石紅色、朱紅色和深赭色，這些不同的紅色與藍色、白色穿插在一起形成一種新的結 構感。這種結構感同樣是開放形態的。」

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Huang Rui (b. 1952, Beijing, China) At the end of 1978, the exhibition Nineteenth Century French Rural Landscape Painting opened at the National Art Museum of China. Huang Rui states, “No other exhibition in the first half of my life influenced me as much as that one.” Stirred by the techniques of the brushstrokes of Cézanne and the colours of Van Gogh, he created his new series of paintings both figurative and abstract moving away from Soviet Realism, “I had always detested Soviet painting methods, and from that day onward I could truly leave them behind. Painting is putting brush directly to canvas, and not the results of mixing colors on the palette” The Guitar’s Story is one of his most important paintings and was exhibited in the Stars Exhibition of 1979. Rather than being a portrait of people it addressed a situation encapsulating the feeling.

Guitar’s Story shows as well the beginnings of Huang Rui’s investigation into ‘space,’ which still today is an important subject of his works. In The Guitar’s Story, Huang Rui describes his use of space by saying, “I also attempted to give my paintings a center, and then open up this center. Paintings cannot be condensed or terminated within the boundaries of the canvas, which is reflected in Infinite Space and The Guitar’s Story. There were some fixed lines that I extended to the outside edge of the picture. In The Guitar’s Story, you can see the background environment, the structures of the figures and the guitars break through the edges of the image and leave the painting. I think that this created an interesting effect. There is a layer of especially destructive emotion behind the composition of the picture. I wanted to make the center and the margins into an integrated whole, and the margins of the painting are linked to the space outside the painting. In the work The Guitar’s Story, I wanted a concentrated image, featuring one person facing the viewer and the others linked by a gesture. I separated this gesture into several blocks of color. From Infinite Space to this painting, the use of these color blocks was an experiment with filtering and developing depth. I wanted these color blocks to move and become musical, and of course the work’s content required a musical style. In this painting I turned a few colors into disharmonious elements that organize the larger blocks of color. For example, in The Guitar’s Story, the background is primarily red, but I inserted blue and white between the different reds, such as pink, scarlet, ochre, and cinnabar, to create a new sense of structure and an open form.”

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The Guitar’s Story / 琴聲訴 1979 Oil on canvas 86 x 96 cm

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Man Reading / 看書的人 1980 Oil on canvas 62 x 52 cm

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Portrait of a Girl 1982 Oil on Canvas 70 x 45 cm

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Courtyard Abstraction No.2 1983 Oil on canvas 88 x 95 cm

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Dream No.3 1983 Oil on Canvas 118 x 89 cm

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星 星

MA DESHENG 馬德升

“Every member from the Stars is fighting freely on their own path, we haven’t lost our original intention for 40 years and this is the spirit of the Stars.”

「每一位星星成員都在自己的軌道上自由的拼 搏，40年不忘初衷，這就是星星的精神。」

Ma Desheng in his studio, 1982. Photograph by Li Xiaobin.

星 星

馬德升（1952年生於中國北京，現居於法國） 馬德升有著永不妥協的精神。從他早期「星星」時期直到今天，對於他的觀點和他所熱 愛的事情他始終有著不屈的信念。1979年至1981年間，正值青年的馬德升創作了一系列 頗具感染力的木刻版畫，表達了對普通人民的悲憫之心的同時顯示出其刻畫人類境況的能 力。我們從他樸實的表現主義木刻版畫中感受到了痛苦、衝突和喜悅。馬德升闡述道：「 黑與白最能夠表達我們的生活。他們的色彩是紅色、明亮閃耀的。我們更喜歡黑色和灰 色。」馬德升在文革期間對農民和工人的觀察，加深他對基本人權不平等的關切。1979 年談到「星星」的使命時，他說道：「主要是把感情流露出來。包括兩種意思：第一、藝 術家要介入生活，如果藝術家離開了他所處的這個時代，他的藝術就是乾腐的乏味的，死 亡的藝術，無生命的，只有當藝術和人民的呼籲牢牢結合在一起，才是有生命的，而且是 隨著歷史的發展越來越起作用；還有一點，在形式上要有所突破，有新的東西誕生……我 們大部分作品反映了我們這些倖存的，或者知道自己活著的價值這樣的意義。用藝術把這 個時代記錄下來，而且要旗幟鮮明。」

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Ma Desheng (b. 1952, Beijing, China, lives in France) The Spirit of Ma Desheng is uncompromising. From his early days of the Stars Exhibition until today, his views and passions are unyielding. His powerful series of woodblock prints made in his youth between 1979-1981 show his empathy for the simple man and the power he has for expressing the human condition. We feel the pain, the strife, the joy in his stark expressionistic woodblock prints. “Black and white best expressed what we were living. Their color was red, bright and shiny. We preferred black and gray,” says Ma. Ma’s observations of peasants and workers during the Cultural Revolution increased his concern about the injustices that exist.

He is quoted in 1979 about the mission of the Stars, “It was about getting our feelings out. There were two main points: artists should get involved. If an artist turns away from his time, his art will taste like dried tofu. It will be dead. Art can only be alive if it is tightly connected with the calls from the people. If it is, it will become more and more useful with the progress of history. The second point was that there should be a breakthrough in form, something should come alive…Most of our work reflect the meaning of having survived, or to know the value of living, of being alive. We record, we take notice of our time through our works. And you have to make your standpoint clear.”

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Untitled (Picasso) 1981 Woodblock print Image size: 34.6 x 22.2 cm Paper size: 68.5 x 60 cm

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Black is The King of Hues Black is the king of hues and white is the queen of colours. Black and white face each other in sharp contrast, like day and night in complementary rotation in the kaleidoscopic world and on an infinite journey. There is white in black, and black in white; black imbibes all tones and hues, and white spews emotions and desires. This was the most artistic and philosophical black-and-white picture that I saw when I was a child - the tai chi diagram. Its mysterious force from black-and-white opened my mind for the creation of my woodblock prints.

I love pure white, but I am more passionate about pure black. Large patches of black and white are the dominant colours of my prints, grey is merely a transition between black and white, and between emotions. Inside a large patch of black: two blackand-white kittens dreaming a human’s sweet dream; a tiny key hole attempting to break up the darkness just before dawn; a face descending into the black, awaiting the a caress of the spring breeze; bitterly dried eye and a silent mouth hanging on a withered branch; a huge Buddha lying on his side and holding worldly conflicts at bay to bring peace; a person squatting, holding his head as he discerns the tastes of heaven and hell; a child at the bottom of the well, sad but not pitiful. On top of a large patch of white: stone figures piling together, looking toward the mildewed horizon; a white hand trying to cover the glare of freedom; two deserted eyes, lost among countless rooftops; a person kneeling in the sun, screaming into the light. I am an ordinary person and naturally love the lives of the simple folks: the old woman counting her sparkling clean coins; the cleaning person numbly rolling cigarette ends; farmers at their daily work, tilting the land on which grandpa’s body has become one with the good earth. Of course, the reflection of the time has also been engraved: the same masks were popular, only on different streets; artful fairies revolved within a six square meters; expressive hand reached out from numerous houses toward the pitched-black sky; dancing damsels performed with the big Buddha’s chest as their backdrop, and in those years, the real Buddha had already gone underground, leaving a measly few statues of Buddha-like mortals overlooking the living world; the grand palace gates opened a crack, and from then on…

- Ma Desheng

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黑乃色之王 黑乃色之王，白則彩之後。黑白分明相對，朝夕旋轉相互，大千世界，道無極。黑中有白， 白中有黑，黑吞五顏六色，白吐七情六慾，這便是我兒時看到的最具美學、哲學的黑白畫— 太極圖。它的黑白神秘之力啟蒙了我的木刻版畫的創作。 我喜愛大白，更熱衷大黑。大塊的黑白是我版畫的主色，灰只是黑白，情感的過渡色。在大 塊的黑色之中：兩隻黑白小貓在做著人類的美夢；一個小小的鑰匙孔企圖打開黎明前的黑 暗；垂進黑色裡的臉龐等待著春風的撫摸；在乾枯的樹枝上掛著一隻發澀的眼睛和一張沈默 的嘴；巨大的臥佛息事寧人，一個抱頭蹲坐的人分辨著天堂與地獄的味道；井底之「娃」只 是可悲但並不可憐。在大塊的白色之上：石頭人堆積在一起望著發了鰴的地平線；一隻白手 企圖捂住自由的目光；無數的屋頂上丟失了兩隻被遺棄的眼睛；一個人跪在陽光裡向著光明 吶喊。我是個小人物自然熱愛著「小人物」的生活：老奶奶數著乾淨得發抖的硬幣；清潔工 麻木地捲著煙末；在爺爺的身體上日復一日的耕種著。當然還刻下了那個時期的倒影：同樣 面具的臉譜流行在不同的街道上；藝術的精靈在六平方米裡打轉；表達各種情感的手從無數 座房屋裡伸向漆黑的夜空；舞女在大佛的胸前起舞，那年頭真佛都已轉入地下，就那麼幾尊 人佛俯瞰著眾生； 宏大的宮門打開了一條縫，從此……

- 馬德升

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Untitled (Hands with Eyes) 1981 Woodblock print Image size: 24.6 x 32.1 cm Paper size: 69 x 66 cm

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Old Woman 1980 Woodblock print Image size: 45.5 x 26.8 cm Paper size: 72 x 68.5 cm

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Untitled (Two Couples) 1980 Woodblock print Image size: 27.9 x 40 cm Paper size: 57 x 70 cm

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Untitled 18 (Rest), 1979, Woodblock print, Image size: 11 x 31 cm, Paper size: 68.5 x 66 cm 《息》－ 馬德升 「他默默地來到人世，又默默地離去，然而他卻給土地留下千萬滴汗水。 每年我都到農村去，看到農民們至今還從事極笨重、原始的體力勞動，而物質和文 化生活比起城裡來又那麼差，但他們總是毫無怨言，默默無聞地干活。可是回到城 裡，情況完全不一樣了，有些幹部口口聲聲說我們國家窮，要勒緊褲腰帶，而他們 自己從來就不勒緊，許多人沒有房子住，而有些幹部卻大興土木。」 摘錄於栗憲庭文章《關於星星美展》，刊登於《美術》1980年第3期。

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Rest by Ma Desheng “He came into the world in silence, and departs again in silence, having left behind millions of drops of sweat on the earth.

Every year when I went back to the countryside, I would watch the peasants doing their mindless and primitive physical labor. I realized how poor they were in material and cultural terms, compared with the people in the cities. Yet they never complained and went about their work in silence. Then I went back to the city and saw how different things actually were. Some Party cadres were always ranting on about how poor China was, and how everyone had to tighten their belts, but they did nothing of this kind. Even as thousands of people had no place to call home, they were busy building luxury flats for themselves.”

Excerpt from “About the Stars Art Exhibition” by Li Xianting, Meishu, vol. 3, 1980.

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Untitled 1980 Woodblock print Image size: 25 x 45.5 cm Paper size: 68.5 x 68.5 cm

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Untitled 1979 Woodblock print Image size: 37 x 27.5 cm Paper size: 69 x 65 cm

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Wang Keping and his sculptures, Idol (left) and Silence (right), in his studio in Beijing, 1979. Courtesy of Wang Keping.

WANG KEPING 王克平

“Stars 40 years, Stars are forever Stars. Whether day or night, black sky or white nights, the Stars always shine in the sky. They can be very far but they always emit their own light.”

「星星40年，星星永遠是星星，不管白天黑夜還是 白夜黑天，星星依然在天空閃爍，也許還是那麼遙 遠，可是他們發出自己的光。」

星 星

王克平（1949年生於中國，1984年移居法國） 1979年，23位藝術家做出一個危險的創舉－將自己的作品掛在博物館外的柵欄上舉辦露 天展覽，他們的自由與反叛的藝術品與美術館內的官方藝術公然對抗。當時《紐約時報》 北京分社的社長包德甫（Fox Butterfield）在其報道里寫到王克平的雕刻《沉默》：「王 克平的雕塑帶有不加掩飾的政治色彩，風格往往怪誕，出盡了風頭。許多青年站在他的雕 塑前，在筆記簿上振筆臨摹其奇特的造型……入口處的架子上放著一個原始扭曲的腦袋， 題名為《沉默》。一隻眼是瞎的，切成幾何圖案，『這樣他只能看到一面。』王克平如是 說。另外，用來呼吸的鼻子卻沒有鼻孔，嘴巴則堵了個圓塞。他的好些作品都有這個意 象。」王克平當時30歲，他的雕塑生涯剛剛起步。《沉默》是他最初的雕刻，也是他最 重要的作品之一。在中國當代藝術史，無數篇有關《星星美展》的學術文章都將《沉默》 重點評論，作為一個標誌性作品，高度呈現了《星星美展》在藝術史上的地位。1980年 第二屆《星星美展》得以在中國美術館內舉行，王克平展出了他另一件驚人的木雕《偶 像》－把偉大領袖毛主席做成了佛頭的模樣。

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Wang Keping (b. 1949, China, lives in France since 1984) When in 1979, 23 artists hung their works on the gates of the museum in a bold display of individual bravura, New York Times journalist, Fox Butterfield, wrote for the front page article about “Silence”, a sculpture by Wang Keping, “It is Mr. Wang’s brazenly political, often grotesque sculptures that stole the show. A visitor could see a number of young Chinese standing beside them, tracing their distorted shapes in copy books…At the entrance was a primitive head, titled ‘The Silent One.’ One of its eyes is blinded, slashed in a geometrical pattern, ‘so he gets only a one-sided view,’ Mr. Wang remarked. The nose has no nostrils with which to smell, and the mouth is plugged up, a fantasy that recurs in a number of pieces.” Wang Keping was 30 years old at the time and his career as a sculptor was just beginning. “Silence” as it is known now, is one of his most important sculptures and one of his first. It has been referred to in endless historical accounts about the Stars Exhibition in numerous academic texts on the history of Chinese Contemporary Art. And remains an iconic artwork summarizing the historical significance of the exhibition. In the second Stars Exhibition, held inside the National Art Museum of China in 1980, his other sensational sculpture Idol was exhibited. The Buddha-like image resembles the great helmsman, Chairman Mao.

By Fox Butterfield, New York Times, October 15, 1979, Pg. 1

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Silence / 沉默 from an original wooden sculpture, 1979 Edition of 8 + 4 AP Bronze, Fonderie Candide H 46.5 x 25 x 24.5 cm

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Idol / 偶像 from an original wooden sculpture, 1978 Edition of 8 + 4 AP Bronze, Fonderie Candide H 56 x 28 x 14 cm

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LIU HEUNG SHING 劉香成 In the course of multiple assignments across Asia and the US across the shifting geopolitical landscape that marked the last decades of the 20th century, Liu Heung Shing photographed two of its seminal historic events. First, the rise of China through the upheaval of its economic reforms; second, the collapse of the Soviet Union under the stewardship of Mikhail Gorbachev.

For these achievements, Liu was recognised by the Associated Press as Best Photographer in 1989 and 1991. His coverage of these events has also been awarded Photo of the Year by the University of Missouri, for his coverage of the Tiananmen Turmoil in 1989. In 1992, he shared with his colleagues in Moscow, a Pulitzer Prize for Spot News Photography for documenting the collapse of the Soviet Union. For this, he further received the Overseas Press Club award in 1992. Liu’s photographs of China are widely recognised by the Chinese public as capturing an era of change that is unique in preserving native Chinese sensibilities and an independent point of view. 亞洲和美國變換多端的地緣政治格局是20世紀最後幾十年的一大特徵，肩負著多重使命的劉 香成拍攝了這一時期兩個具有開創性的歷史事件－中國在經濟改革後的崛起、米哈伊爾·戈 爾巴喬夫領導下的蘇聯土崩瓦解。 因為這些傑出成就，劉香成在1989和1991年間兩度被美聯社評為「年度最佳攝影師」。他 在1989對天安門事件的報導被密蘇里大學授予了「年度最佳圖片獎」。 1992年，因對蘇聯 解體的傑出報導，他與莫斯科的同事共同獲得了「普利策現場新聞攝影獎」，同年他還因此 榮獲了美國海外出版俱樂部獎。劉香成關於中國的攝影作品記錄了中國變革中的時代精神， 得到了國內公眾的廣泛認可。它們不僅展現了一個近乎於土生土長的中國人的感知能力，也 保留了攝影師的獨立思考。 2004年，他被《巴黎攝影》評為「世界攝影界最有影響100人」之一。

(Previous page) Artists and intellectuals march towards City Hall in central Beijing to demand freedom for art. They are led here by members of the Stars Painting Group, including Wang Keping, Ma Desheng and Huang Rui. Beijing, 1979.

1979 Photography Image size: W 120 cm

Artist Ma Desheng at his home studio. Beijing, 1978.

1978 Photography Paper size: 60 x 50 cm

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Chinese sculptor artist Wang Keping. Beijing, 1978.

1978 Photography Paper size: 60 x 50 cm

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(Left) Artists and intellectuals march towards City Hall in central Beijing to demand freedom for art. They are led here by members of the Stars Painting Group, which included Wang Keping, Ma Desheng and Huang Rui. Beijing, 1979.

1979 Photography Paper size: 50 x 60 cm (Right) An aspiring artist, Yin Guangzhong shows work on the street near Democracy Wall in Xidan. Beijing, 1979.

1979 Photography Paper size: 60 x 50 cm

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A young man is seen at work hand-printing Today magazine, the ďŹ rst independent publication of new poetry and literature in the post-Mao era, founded by leading poet Bei Dao in 1978. The magazine was produced through nine issues before being closed down in 1980. Beijing, 1979.

1979 Photography Paper size: 50 x 60 cm

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Artist Ma Desheng at his home studio. 1978.

1978 Photography Paper size: 50 x 60 cm

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(Previous page) Ma Desheng, Chinese artist and leader of the Stars Painting Group, makes a passionate call for freedom for art. Beijing, 1979.

1979 Photography Paper size: 50 x 60 cm

Wang Keping, a former Red Guard and, here, co-leader of the Stars Painting Group — the first widely-known independent group of artists to come to public attention in the post-Mao period — heads a demonstration to call for artistic freedom, in the wake of the forced closure of the group’s first exhibition outside the China Art Gallery in the heart of the capital. Beijing, 1979.

1979 Photography Paper size: 60 x 50 cm

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At “Democracy Wall,” as crowds cluster in the background to read the latest grievances posted on the wall, the man squatting in the foreground keeps his focus on the official newspaper, the People’s Daily. Beijing, 1979.

1979 Photography Paper size: 60 x 50 cm

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Chinese poet Mang Ke, at a poetry reading in Yuanmingyuan. Beijing, 1979.

1979 Photography Paper size: 50 x 60 cm

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Group portrait for participants gathered together in the Purple Bamboo Park for a poetry reading. Beijing, 1979.

1979 Photography Paper size: 50 x 60 cm

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ALL WORKS OF ART COPYRIGHT © HUANG RUI, LIU HEUNG SHING, MA DESHENG, WANG KEPING 10 Chancery Lane Gallery Designed by Rachel Man Tung Ching This booklet is published on the occasion of ART BASEL 2019 KABINETT, THE STARS EXHIBITION 40TH ANNIVERSARY at 10 Chancery Lane Gallery, Hong Kong from March 28 to 31, 2019.

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording or any other information storage and retrieval system, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Printed in Hong Kong, 2019