Odyssey of Culture

The author has worked as a critic of Chinese contemporary art for three decades, and has taught art theory and art history at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, China, and Kenyon College, Ohio, USA, consecutively.

• Chapter 1 Introduction.- Chapter 2 Genesis of the Issue of Culture: the Cultural Fever and Avant-Garde in the 1980s.- Chapter 2.1 Cultural Fever and the Hermeneutics School.- Chapter 2.2 The Natural Ally of the Hermeneutics School – China’s Avant-Garde in the 1980s.- Chapter 3 The Discovery of the Centrality of Culture in Art: Wenda Gu.- Chapter 3.1 Family and Education – Art Heritage.- Chapter 3.2 Initiative – the Critique of Culture.- Chapter 3.3 Development – Analysis of Culture.- Chapter 3.4 Reinforcement – Synthesis of Culture.- Chapter 4 Conclusion.- Bibliography.- Appendix A: Chronology of Wenda Gu.- Appendix B: Wenda Gu, “The Divine Comedy of Our Times”.- Supplement A: “Forest of Stone Steles” –Translation within and between Cultures (Nov.2005).- Supplement B: Interview with Wenda Gu (July 2007).- Afterword.