Theme: Alternative Aesthetics of Western Art - Contemporary Art

Time: November 8, 2025 (Saturday) from 3pm to 5pm

Address: Academic Lecture Hall, 2nd Floor, Guanshan Yue Art Museum

Lecture format: Offline live lecture, WeChat video account

Wang Ruiyun

Graduated from the Fine Arts Department of Nanjing Normal University in 1982, and entered the China Academy of Art in Beijing to specialize in Western art history in the same year. Obtained a master's degree in 1985. In 1988, he went to the United States for further studies and continued to study Western art history at the Art History Department of Case Western Reserve University in Ohio, obtaining a master's degree. He then settled in the United States and has been committed to the research of Western contemporary art. At the same time, he works as a researcher at the China Academy of Art as a researcher at the Institute of Fine Arts. The most influential translated work is "Interview with Duchamp". His monographs include "Thirty Thousand Years of Western Art", "The Biography of Du Shang", "Sixteen Lectures on the Aesthetics of Contemporary Western Art", "A Brief History of American Art", etc. Served as the keynote speaker for the program "Thirty Thousand Years of Western Art" titled "Watching Ideals". He also holds the status of a writer and has published collections of novels such as "Dr. Gordon" and essays such as "American ukiyo-e". His novels have won awards.

Modern art is mainly characterized by deformation and abstraction, which can now be appreciated by ordinary audiences. However, contemporary art has too many and complex patterns, and it no longer expresses beauty, which creates obstacles for many people to appreciate. This situation involves a profound shift in aesthetic values in Western art. This lecture will strive to explain clearly how the aesthetic value of Western art has transformed and what kind of aesthetics it has re established. By understanding this fundamental issue, it is possible to comprehend and appreciate contemporary art.