Rita GENTILE
BA in Comparative Studies – University of Naples "L'Orientale"
MA in Languages and Cultures of Asia and Africa – University of Naples "L'Orientale"
PgDip in Arts and Culture Management – Rome Business School
PhD in Chinese Studies – The Chinese University of Hong Kong (ongoing)
My proposed research employs a dual framework of cultural sociology and economics to analyze how China’s Post-80s (balinghou 八零后) and Post-90s (jiulinghou 九零后) artists are redefining the core mechanisms of art production, distribution, valuation, and consumption in China. Tracing their rise to fame since 2010—the year China cemented its status as a leading global art market—the project examines their transformative impact on both the Chinese art industry and the global art scene.
This redefinition is not driven by artists alone but is facilitated by a transnational network of market-oriented and non-profit institutions. Employing a mixed-method approach—including quantitative analysis of auction records, network mapping of exhibitions, analysis of the geographical distribution of artworks, and discourse analysis—my project investigates how auction houses, blue-chip galleries, museums, cultural foundations, and influential collectors in China and beyond orchestrate this process of artistic consecration.
Central to my thesis is the claim that these generations—the first to have come of age in Post-Reform, globally integrated China—leverage the tensions between local tradition, global market trends, and state cultural policy not merely navigating them as constraints but actively employing them as the raw material for generating new artistic and symbolic value.
With this study, my goal is to provide a lens for understanding China’s transition from an economic powerhouse to an active shaper of global cultural meaning, broadening critical debates on globalization, generational change, and the interplay of economic and cultural capital in China’s burgeoning creative industry.