Poetry Goes No Further Than Language: A Historical Moment of Art Becoming Art traces the contemporary turn in Chinese art to the emergence of conceptualism of the late 1980s, especially around 1988 through the establishment of Beijing artist collective New Measurement Group (1988–95). During the 1980s, a period of intellectual awakening exposed artists across China to an expanded artistic and philosophical horizon. All the existing values and presumptions of the discipline of art became questionable; the narrative content of art carried less weight and the boundary of artistic medium was lifted. In the mid to late 1980s, some artists continued to respond to prevailing themes and visual styles, and they simultaneously questioned the foundations of art by pursuing distinct paths. Though appearing separate, they collectively moved towards a critical moment that signaled the formation of contemporary art in China.

At this historical moment, the shaping of new artistic language was driven by a renewal of artistic concepts, setting it apart from the advocacy of “purification of language” through a return to technique and style within art academies. The conceptual works that emerged during this period posed fundamental questions about art itself. Their contemplation of artistic language stemmed from such artistic concerns rather than an essentialist conception of art. This conceptual shift liberated art from existing systems of judgment, granting it the potential for autonomy amidst radical conceptual transformation in the society. Against the backdrop of accelerating globalization, the emergence of these conceptual works also enabled Chinese art to rapidly integrate into the global landscape of contemporary art. This conception anchors the genesis of contemporary art to the specific historical moment in the late 1980s, from the perspective of intellectual history. As such, it distinguishes itself from previous attempts to define the origins of Chinese contemporary art through a postcolonial lens, and from the ambiguity surrounding the periodization of the 1980s.

The exhibition presents New Measurement Group’s entire body of experimental works, alongside works by Shanghai-based artist Qian Weikang (active 1990–96) echoing the reverberations of New Measurement Group’s influence among a younger generation of conceptual artists. The destruction and loss of work by these artists has restricted awareness and understanding of their relevance to Chinese art history. Assembled through years of rigorous research, this project brings together archival material, collective projects and individual works, revealing the complex dynamics of this critical moment, where individual experimentation and broader social dynamics became mutually generative, signalling a decisive turn towards the contemporary.