Floating Time

Floating Time: Chinese Prints, 1954–2002 brings together, for the first time, the University of Sydney Art Collection's 93 modern and contemporary Chinese prints.

One of only three major collections of twentieth-century Chinese prints in Australia, this substantial collection includes national-prize winning prints and works by internationally acclaimed artists, including Zhao Zongzao and Su Xinping.

The half-century represented here reveals not only the development of the powerful woodcut tradition under Mao, but also the rapid expansion of printmaking as artists embraced a broader set of themes and more experimental techniques. Such developments reflect the tumultuous periods in which these works were produced and offer a unique and intimate glimpse into the lives of these fifty artists—a vastly different perspective from the familiar forms of contemporary Chinese art seen in better-known international art circuits.

'This book presents readers with in-depth discussions on an array of fine modern Chinese prints in the University of Sydney Art Collection. The historical, social, and political contexts outlined by the authors offer fresh insight into this important collection.' Yin Cao, Curator, Chinese Art, Art Gallery of New South Wales