Paul Gladston is the Judith Neilson Professor of Chinese Contemporary Art at the University of New South Wales, Sydney. His publications include Contemporary Chinese Art: A Critical History (2014) and Contemporary Chinese Art, Aesthetic Modernity and Zhang Peili: Towards a Critical Contemporaneity (2019). He was an advisor to the internationally acclaimed exhibition Art of Change: New Directions from China (Hayward Gallery, 2012).Contact: UNSW|Arts, Design and Architecture, UNSW Sydney, Paddington Campus, Cnr Oxford St & Greens Rd, Paddington, NSW 2021, Australia.

'The extreme precision of the questions and the research for the details – aiming to avoid any ambiguity and to clarify all the unclear points of the story – make the essay an advisable read first of all for the experts and students, then for the contemporary art enthusiasts. '

• Introduction China’s Post-Maoist ‘Avant-garde’ in Context: Modern and Contemporary Art in China, 1911–2011 The Stars – The Northern Art Group – The Pond Association – Xiamen Dada The Stars (Xingxing) Conversations with Members of The Stars – Yan Li – Qu Leilei The Northern Art Group (Beifang yishu qunti) Conversations with Members of the Northern Art Group – Wang Guangyi – Shu Qun – Ka Sang The Pond Association (Chi she) Conversations with Members of the Pond Association – Zhang Peili – Wang Qiang – Song Ling Xiamen Dada (Xiamen Dada) A Conversation with Members of Xiamen Dada – Huang Yongping, Yu Xiaogang, Lin Jiahua and Jiao Yaoming