TheStars Art Group or simply "The Stars" (Xīngxīng 星星) was a Chineseavant-garde group of non-professional artists in the late 1970s and early 1980s (the exact interval usually given as 1979 to 1983). It was founded byMa Desheng andHuang Rui and includedWang Keping (王克平),Qu Leilei,Ah Cheng,Ai Weiwei, andLi Shuang as the only female member. A historically significant exhibition, now called theStar Art Exhibition, took place in late 1979 inBeihai Park,Beijing, outside theChina Art Gallery.[1][2][3] After the exhibition was closed by officials, the group staged a protest for cultural openness. They succeeded in reopening the exhibition.[4] The exhibition took place between 23 November and 2 December, in which around 200,000 people attended the event.[4] The group organized another exhibition the next year.[4] Around and after 1983, the group disbanded, partly due to their members going into exile under political pressure, especially theAnti-Spiritual Pollution Campaign of 1983.[5]
The Stars Art Group was a foundational movement of the contemporary Chinese avant-garde active in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Mostly self-trained, the Stars championedindividualism andfreedom of expression both in their work and public activities. Taking personal experience and social issues as their subject matter, they pointedly diverged from state-sanctionedSocialist Realism. The group's member artists also included affiliatesZhang Hongtu and Zhang Wei,[6] Yan Li, Yang Yiping,Qu Leilei, Mao Lizi, Bo Yun, Zhong Ahcheng, Shao Fei,[7] and Ma Desheng.[8]
Because of her radical movement in art and politics, and her relationship with a French diplomat, Emmanuel Bellefroid, Li Shuang was arrested by the government and received a two-year sentence.[9] This led to a political tension between China and France at the time. Later an agreement was made between two countries and Li was released. This incident abolished the banned interracial marriage in China.
