The Struggle Through "Socialist Realism"
During the socialist regime, so-called "socialistrealism" was the official style sanctioned by theCommunist Party. Although an important part ofMongolian art, "socialist realism" had never been theonly style artists chose to work with. The bold start ofMongolian modernism was a notorious exhibition in1968 when the First Exhibition of Young Paintersopened in the Exhibition Hall of the Union of Mon-golian Artists (UMA). This exhibition started a newpage in the history of Mongolian art, but it alsocreated a scandal. The Mongolian Governmentimmediately closed the exhibition with the accusationthat it was the "art of capitalists". Both the participants and the Chairman of the UMA suffered strictpunishments from the Communist Party. Young artists who had studied in Eastern European coun-tries, notably in Czechoslovakia, were required toreside in Mongolia and prove their loyalty to theCommunist Party by painting socialist posters andportraits of socialist leaders.The exhibition in 1968 displayed abstract paint-ings by such artists as G. Sosai, P. Baldandorj, and O.Tsevegjav, which were truly bold both in subjectmatter and freedom of stylistic approach.There were many other paintings and sculptures in theshow which, although realistic in depiction, did notfollow strict and uniform "socialist realism". In thehistorical context of "realism" brought by the first generation of Mongolian artists from Moscow in the 1950s,the 1968 exhibition was a new phenomenon in both the intellectual and social life of the country. If political democracy started in Mongoliain 1990, freedom of thought, or "democracy" in art,commenced with this historical exhibition of 1968.During the pinnacle years of socialism, many artists produced works notable for their highly individualistic expression. Artists such as B.Chogsom and Ch. Bazarvaan, among others, were especially prolific in the 1960s-1970s and fostered the seeds of what can be seen as"Mongolian modernism". The emergence of graphic artists was a significant step in the development of Mongolian modern art with D. Amgalan as a leading figure. Along with the regular techniques of printmaking,the graphic artists all worked extensively in oil,producing pictures with a flat and decorative quality,abandoning the academic conventions of socialistrealism.Artists such as D. Amgalan, Ts. Enkhjin, Do.Bold, R. Duinkhorjav, and S. Tugs-Oyun played asignificant role in developing free depiction in thevogue of European modernism. In the autumn of1980, a solo show of Ts. Enkhjin's work opened atthe Exhibition Hall of the Union of Mongolian Artists. This display marked the unofficial end ofcensorship of art and was a first important step forboth the artists and the audience to comprehend thequalities and ideas of modern Western art shownexplicitly and blatantly in one place. Enkhjin'spaintings showed a style that was distinctly different his paintings were inescapably "modern".Years later, many artists would recollect that beingyoung at that time, they learnt new ways of expression and depiction through this particular show.
Mongolian Modernism
The democratic reforms, hastened in Mongolia in thelate 1980s-1990, brought to an end "socialist realism", prompting the artists to look towards the Westfor new modes of expression in the modern era. Asan echo of political turmoil in the late 1980s, whicheventually brought to an end the socialist regime inMongolia, the art association "Green Horse" wasestablished in 1989 to herald anti-realistic, antiacademic, purely "new" art. Highly influenced byWestern contemporary art, young artists of GreenHorse aimed at working exclusively in a non-repre-sentational (abstract) style of painting and concep-tual art, expressed through truly new-to-Mongoliamedia such as installations, Duchampian ready-mades, objet trouve, assemblages and performanceart. Green Horse was soon followed by other artsocieties with similar objectives, mainly to opposethe prevalence of the realist style in Mongolian art.These artists, calling themselves "Sita Art", "Sky",or simply the "Association of New Art", had numerous important exhibitions in the 1990s, such as ALucky Dashnyam Day (1993) and Surlug (1998).Some of these were joint projects with German andDutch artists. O. Dalkh-Ochir, G. Erdenebileg, B.Gansukh, and M. Khuyag-Ochir founded these anti-realist art societies and all are important artists whoplayed a major role in bringing conceptual art intoMongolia.Although Green Horse has now been inactive formany years, the ideas of conceptual art are rapidlydeveloping in Mongolia. In 2000, Mongolianartist S. Dagvadorj participated in the KwangjuBiennale of International Contemporary Art in Korea,winning a prize for his installation piece. S.Sarantsatsralt is another popular artist, who worksprimarily in conceptual art. Her most recent soloexhibition, Wrapped Thing, which opened inUlaanbaatar in June 2004, consisted mainly of installations and assemblage works. Through contemporaryWestern media, the artist aimed at expressing her ownposition, "messages" in her own words, on differentaspects of modern Mongol society and general humanlife. Her subject matter varies from family and couplerelationships to Mongolian ethics and abuses of foodin modern society.Despite the activities of the abovementionedartists, conceptual art is only a minor part of Mongolian art, practiced and truly understood by few artists.Precisely because Russia and Eastern Europe werefor Mongolia the sole window to the world for sevendecades, European modernism remains an influentialsource in Mongolian modern art, the artists persistently preferring to work in the styles of Europeanartists albeit using native motifs and depicting genuine Mongolian scenes.The last decade of the twentieth-century bloomedwith new experiments in non-representational art inMongolia. Do. Bold and Ch. Boldbaatar are the twoartists who played a major role in the development ofabstract art. The process of moving from the repre-sentational picture to a complete abstraction can bevisibly traced in the oeuvre of Do. Bold. His earlyworks, such as Morning, and Starry Existence, produced in the mid-late 1980s, show a blend of objective figures with abstract forms. At the beginning ofthe 1990s, Do. Bold turned to complete abstractionand hence continues to be a major abstract artist inMongolia.Ch. Boldbaatar's turn to abstract style was rapidand self-confident. Even in his early works,Boldbaatar showed a deliberate and mature stylesalient with non-objective forms. The color, rhythmsand tones, as well as compositional devices havechanged over time, testifying to his artistic search andexperimentation on the canvas without aiming for therepresentation of the visible world. Boldbaatar'sresearch interest in Mongolian petroglyphs andprehistoric rock art influenced his new abstractcompositions and new treatment of the canvas. Hisexhibition, was the most prodigiousshow of abstract art ever shown in Mongolia.The restless nomadic spirit creates a distinctlyMongolian feeling with an outstanding, intense colorspectrum, and an ever-persistent sense of motion andspace. Even in peaceful landscapes, portraits, nudesand still-lifes, vivid colors are boldly juxtaposedcreating the rhythmic dynamics in the piece. Consider, for instance, M. Erdenebayar's Portrait of aHorse (1999), an appealing idea in itself claiming torepresent the individuality of a horse. Horses shownen face or in profile, in full view or partially, vibratein his works with burning colors. Another artist tomention as a representative of new trends in Mongo-lian modern art is Ts. Enkhjargal, whose workbuzzes with dynamic motion created by whirls offorms and flaming tones of red and green. Theinstability of the transforming Mongol society, whichinevitably entails an anguished struggle for survival,is vividly depicted in numerous splendid works byEnkhjargal. He shows delicate, vulnerable peoplewandering through empty streets to essentiallynowhere; not grotesque and without distortion, hisidiosyncratic style, based on cold tones, serves as anexcellent means of revealing humanity's stunningfragility and the miserable absence of what weunderstand as social welfare.The "surreal" works of Ts. Munkhjin, on the otherhand, are fraught with a most dazzling juxtapositionof cold and warm tones, behooving one to wonderwhether it is a boundary of conceptualism or modernism that we encounter in his art. That is, althoughshowing some objective figures, Munkhjin challenges the viewer with the modernity of his representation, yet traps us in an alien, unknown ideology ofpictorial language. "It is a picture", he says, so all hisworks are simply named "paintings" and numberedaccordingly.The open spatiality of Mongolia inspired by thesteppe and the sky infinity of horizontal or verticalspace is a frequent theme in Mongolian modernart. Thus, Ts. Enkhjin's main objective is to capturethe dimensions of time and space in Mongoliasensed both historically and somatically. He succeeds in conveying the overwhelming scope ofMongolian open space and time through seeminglysimple forms and clearly structured composition.This sense of movement and space, however, isnot unique to the Mongols. We recall an instancewith the French artist Yves Klein, who in the 1950swanted (or better, needed) a horse to circle the globe.He, like the Mongols, desired physical, visual andmental movement. Klein needed "Blue Void",revealed in his numerous The Blue Monochromes, asthe manifestation of infinity and void in order tomentally extend himself. In other words, what meantstrength and energy for Klein for his survival as anartist, is also true for Mongolian artists. TheMongols, who live under the "Blue Void" in thephysical infinity and timelessness of Mongolianspace, extend their minds in colors and space, asMongolian modern artists, such as Enkhjin,express remarkably.The same ideas of void and infinity, albeit revealed through different styles, prevail in severalversions of Sh. Chimeddorj's Blue Mongolia expressed in purely geometric forms. Sh.Chimeddorj is an important artist in Mongolianmodern art, as he shows an elaborate, seamless blend of native motifs with European style. His works, such as Yellow Day of the Autumn or Ger of the Father,include elements of Mongolian traditional paintingstyle known as Mongol Zurag. This style is character-ized by flat colors and shapes, with little attentionpaid to depicting linear perspective. Chimeddorj isone of the first artists to transform the Mongol Zuraginto what can be described as "Mongolian modern-ism".This style of "Mongolian modernism", shapedunder the specific perceptual processes of nature bynomads, Mongolian history and nomadic sociability,in fact dates back to the time of strict censorshipduring the socialist regime.
Other Trends in Mongolian Modern Art
During the years of the socialist period, the majorityof the works were made in the style of realism. Suchsplendid works as Gers in Steppe, and Ensemble of Clouds by N. Tsultem, After the Work by G.Odon, landscapes by G. Tserendondog and Yo.Ulziikhutag are fine pieces of refined artistry and areconsidered the masterpieces of Mongolian art. Thereare many contemporary artists who have inherited thetradition of realism and preserved it as a significantpart of modern art.However, unlike the masters of traditional realismin Mongolia, whose art was derived specifically fromreality, contemporary "realist" works by Ch.Hurelbaatar and D. Erdenebileg, among others, showunreal, imaginary still-lifes or landscapes, which arecomposed and rendered exclusively in the manner ofFrench academism with dominant brown and darktones, strictly adhering to linear perspective andanatomic modeling of figures. The trend ismore inclined towards academism, bypassing thekernels of what is understood as "realism" in thehistory of Mongolian art.The Mongol Zurag has an important stronghold inmodern-day Mongolian art as well. Oppressed andabandoned during the socialist era, the Mongol Zurag style resurged and developed into a higher criteria ofimage making. The Mongol Zurag style, originated from petroglyphs and rock drawings, was used in theart of the steppe states, and later by the monk-artistsin Buddhist art. However, modern artists who chooseto work in the Mongol Zurag style aspire not only topreserve the traditional features of the Mongol Zurag,but also develop it with individual expression, andthus bring the tradition into a modern era.Due to the democratic changes, Mongolian artistsgained complete freedom to exhibit and market theirworks in any country in the world. Group exhibitions of Mongolian artists are regularly organized andfrequently shown in the Western galleries and museums, while individual artists travel extensivelyabroad to have their solo shows.Although the new situation has enriched Mongolian art with new genres and techniques, it has alsobrought serious obstacles for an artist's survival in anew capitalist market. Yet the majority of Mongolianartists live and work wholeheartedly devoted to theirart. Notions of forgery, connoisseurship, auctions, artdealers, curators and art management find their placein the contemporary art world in Mongolia, giving arta higher esteem and a broader acclaim. Although the socialist education system has long collapsed and nowadays the artists have less if any chance to study abroad, the nomadic spirit is always pushing and strugglingin a restless search for its bold and unique embodiment in the remarkable works by Mongolian artists.

Caucasus and Central Asia Newsletter
The Caucasus and Central Asia Program
at the University of California, Berkeley
Issue 7 Spring 2005