Art historian Gao Minglu spoke Wednesday night in the Design Building as part of the College of Art and Design’s Distinguished Lecture Series.Minglu is the head of fine arts at Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts in China and a research professor at the department of history of art and architecture at the University of Pittsburgh.Minglu’s lecture was titled “Avant-Garde Space in Contemporary Chinese Art.” He discussed the difference between avant-garde art in the West that died out in the ’70s and avant-garde art that has recently flourished in China.He said avant-garde activities, including apartment art and responding to urbanization, began to emerge in China between 1985-86.People used their own homes as art in the late ’70s, Minglu said. They painted the walls and used things in their home to create art pieces.”Artists used domestic materials to create art,” Minglu said.Shortly after, people began using their surroundings to create art. China holds 2/3 of the world’s cement and scaffolding, Minglu said. People painted on walls and used cityscapes as the background of photographs to convey a message to their audience. Minglu used a photograph of a woman applying makeup in a landfill to give his audience a better understanding of how urbanization played a role in avant-garde Chinese art.Michelle Wong, assistant professor of Asian art history, said attendance at the lectures tends to fluctuate. About 30 people attended the lecture.”The Asian studies community tends to be a very small community,” she said.Minglu said he doesn’t believe the amount of people in the audience reflects the enthusiasm of art history or Asian studies students.”Sometimes the size is not important,” Minglu said. “It is most important to have some idea or concept of what is going on.”Minglu said he’s given many lectures in the past and enjoys speaking to people about his studies.He said he was impressed by the questions audience members asked him after the lecture. Art history and geography professors asked about art in specific areas of the country and the involvement of women in the different movements. “They were very interesting,” Minglu said about the questions. “Everyone seems to be well informed.”–Contact Rachel Warren at [email protected]