Urban Aesthetics in China

This book examines selected visual artworks created since 2001 in response to the People's Republic of China's ever-changing urban space, framing the discussion of art making against the official ideology of the China Dream to analyse how artists and urban actors actively re-imagine China's past, present, and future cities.

Through critical analysis of artistic practices across Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and Chongqing, among others, this volume contributes to widening the explicit and implicit interpretations of the national dream for a strong, harmonious, green, and culturally rich China. It offers new readings of selected works by Chinese artists and China-based collectives, critically examining contemporary visual arts in China to demonstrate how artists offer supplementary alternatives to the official, dominant vision of the China Dream.

This book is written for scholars and students of contemporary Chinese art, visual culture, urban studies, and cultural geography. It appeals to researchers examining urbanisation, state ideology, and the relationship between art and politics in contemporary China.