Modern Chinese Art: A New Generation is the second of two exhibitions produced by Asia House, London, from the paintings in the collection of Khoan and Michael Sullivan. The first exhibition, Beginnings, showed the more traditional of the paintings in this unusual collection, which took shape as the Sullivans travelled in Asia, made numerous friends amongst artists and were presented with paintings or bought the works directly from the artists. Sullivan has always said he never set out to create a collection.

A New Generation includes what Sullivan considers more experimental, rebellious works of the avant-garde movement. Although the Sullivans' collection is not comprehensive or structured, per se, some of the best-known 20th century Chinese artists are represented here. These include Xu Bing, Cai Guoqian, Yue Minjun, Wang Huaiqing, Ju Ming and Qu Leilei. As the introductory blurb to the exhibition describes it, this generation emerged after the Beijing Spring of 1979-81, a phase of political unrest that fuelled a wave of creative energy in the Chinese art world and provoked diverse responses from the young and politically aware. Many of their works expose a clamorous call for attention fuelled by new freedoms, as the doors to the West were suddenly opened.

The exhibition points to the debates raging in the artistic community during this period. Major discussions revolved around such topics as the question of Chinese traditional painting versus western painting, on calligraphy which becomes a powerful tool of dissidence, and on the nature of abstraction and landscape.

One key piece is Xu Bing's famous 'Book from Heaven', created with immense labour over a period of several years. This is a text in which thousands of imaginary characters printed by hand was displayed as an installation in Beijing and made into a book in traditional form; an exercise in the futility of human endeavour of monumental and heroic dimension. “It is,” says Sullivan, “one of the most remarkable achievements in contemporary Chinese art."