Xu Bing

Born in Chongqing, China, in 1955, Xu Bing is considered one ofthe most important artists of his generation. Between 1977 and 1987, he studied andtaught at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing. He moved to the United Statesin 1990 and in 1999 received a MacArthur Fellowship, the celebrated "geniusgrant," in recognition of his "capacity to contribute importantly tosociety, particularly in printmaking and calligraphy." In 2008 Xu Bing was appointedvice president of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, and he now lives mostly inBeijing.

Many of Xu Bing's print and calligraphic works haveappeared on an unlikely but surprisingly receptive medium--the tobacco leaf. Acomprehensive overview of Xu Bing's tobacco projects, this volume includesreproductions of all the tobacco works, as well as several essays. Curator JohnRavenal discusses the new Virginia work, its relation to the other tobacco pieces, and its place in the context of global contemporary art. Guest authors Wu Hung, Lydia Liu and Edward Melillo address Xu Bing's work in the context of contemporaryChinese art and the history and culture of tobacco inVirginia.

Distributed for theVirginia Museum of Fine Arts