Apparently, a team of Chinese representatives have been touring major US museums, speaking with curators & dept directors, and seeking out objects stolen from the Summer Palace. That these representatives are not themselves curators or museum professionals is a sign of what the real motives of this mission are – the Times reports that the group is composed of members of the media, and of the Summer Palace’s propaganda department.

Uneasy Engagement: China Hunts for Art Treasures in U.S. Museums, New York Times, 16 December 2009.

Wu Zuolai, a professor at the China Academy of Art, is quoted in the article, pointing out that “the obsession with Yuanmingyuan ignores the plunder of older sites that are more artistically significant.”

“Chinese history did not start with the Qing Dynasty,” he said. “This treasure hunting trip is just a political show. The media portray it as patriotic, but it’s just spreading hate.””

Ignoring the fact that, as James Watt, head of the Met’s Asian division says, most objects looted from the Summer Palace are now in the hands of private collectors in China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, the group focuses its attention on US museums.

How is this anything but a nationalistic project, aimed at promoting anti-imperialist & anti-American attitudes in order to bolster nationalistic fervor at home? The Times says it flat out: “…the quest, fueled by national pride, has been quixotic, provoking fear at institutions overseas but in the end amounting to little more than a public relations show aimed at audiences back home.”

The issues surrounding looting are complex, and I wouldn’t want to get into a whole discussion of all the issues right here; all told, I don’t think I can fully take one side or the other – the rights of museums in foreign countries vs the rights of home countries. Does the argument about having better facilities to better protect the artifacts (in a foreign country) count for anything? Liu Yang, a

researcher who was part of the delegation, seemed to admit as much, complaining that politics had upstaged scholarship. Even if he stumbled upon a palace relic, he said, he would be reluctant to take it back to an institution whose unheated exhibition space resembled little more than a military barracks. “To be honest, if you leave a thermos in our office, it gets broken,” he said. “Maybe it’s better these things stay where they are.”

Thankfully, the group hasn’t found any illicit artifacts at major Northeast US museums. Our museums and their collecting policies have been defended. The Chinese populace & government will never admit to their mission being deflated or defeated, and the American people, it would seem, will never see the museums as being vindicated, continuing to see them in a negative light as looters and storehouses of stolen objects. But, I think this ended about as well as it could have.

SINGAPORE AND HONG KONG’S COMPETING ART MARKET

Singapore’s art scene has grown rapidly since its 1989 government mandate to recognize the “importance of culture and the art.” Thriving to a point that, according to The Wall Street Journal, Hong Kong–Asia’s epicenter of art–is beginning to take its competitor seriously.

Hong Kong’s challenging art scene

Today’s numbers would suggest that Hong Kong has nothing to worry about for competition.  Hong Kong is currently the third-largest auction market in the world with both Christie’s and Sotheby’s in its territory, and has set aside close to US$3 billion in order to create a much needed world class arts and culture development known as West Kowloon Cultural District. The project, however, has been slow to start and left many frustrated.

“The Hong Kong government first hit upon the idea in 1998 of building an integrated arts and culture neighborhood on 40 hectares of reclaimed land in the West Kowloon district. After many fits and starts, planning for the project recently picked up some momentum…Nevertheless, even if it all goes as planned, the first phase won’t be open until 2016.”

One of the proposed models for the West Kowoon Cultural Centre

The West Kowloon project has been “frustrating and painful,” says Asia Art Archive’s Ms. Hsu, who is also on the advisory panel for the museum at the new West Kowloon development. “For the public it has looked like the government is stalling, but it gives me a lot of hope. The government is very concerned about getting it right.’”

Singapore makes its move

The time spent behind making Hong Kong’s “necessary cultural move” may eventually result in Singapore gaining ground in the market by the country’s pushing ahead with so many art-hub projects of their own.

“It [Singapore] invested more than US$1 billion in infrastructure, including several museums and a 4,000-seat complex of theaters, studios and concert halls called the Esplanade, which opened in 2002, and spiced up its arts programming with diversity and a regional flavor.”

The Esplanade, Singapore

The benefits of Singapore’s art initiatives are already apparent. According to Singapore’s National Arts Council “between 1997 and 2007, the ‘vibrancy’ of the local art scene, measured by the number of performances and exhibition days, quadruped to more than 26,000.”

However, Singapore is still missing a key ingredient to perhaps prosper further: a big art-auction market like Hong Kong’s.

“Some smaller art-auction houses hold sales in Singapore, but the big ones — Christie’s and Sotheby’s — have pulled out and moved their Southeast Asian art auctions to Hong Kong, the former British colony that is home to seven million people and became a Chinese territory in 1997.”

For a city, having the ingredients for a thriving art market creates a virtuous circle. The powerful marketing machines of the big auction houses, including public previews of coming sales, raises awareness and appreciation of art in the community. All this encourages local artists to create more art. And that momentum, in turn, contributes to the development of a city’s broader cultural scene, including music, theater and design.”

Singapore looks ahead

The relationship between big art-auction markets and a thriving art scene can be so entangled that it would appear difficult to navigate a new course in order to adequately compete. Singapore, it seems, is trying anyways.

“Undaunted, Singapore is diligently pushing ahead and has opened several museums and other arts venues while Hong Kong has dithered on the construction of West Kowloon. Christie’s also recently picked Singapore to be the site of a global fine-arts storage facility to open in a duty-free zone in January.”

Related Posts

• ARTSingapore 2009 Fair-new photography fair, high value sales and gallerists pick top fairs in Asia today- October 2009
• New auction houses with new strategies open in Singapore art market – October 2009
• Liquidity propels prices, Chinese Political Pop is back- Sothebys Contemporary Asian Art Auction 2009 Hong Kong- October 2009

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SKIN: BINGYI
at Contrasts Gallery, Shanghai

22nd November-22nd December, 2009

Vernissage: Sunday, 22nd November, 3-6pm
Contrasts Gallery, No. 181 Middle Jiangxi Road, G/F, Shanghai, China 200002

SHANGHAI – Contrasts Gallery is pleased to present SKIN: BINGYI, the artist’s first solo exhibition in Shanghai.

A provocative painter, Bingyi is best known for her strange, exotic imagery exposing the most sensitive aspects of human relationships.  SKIN best exemplifies the virtuoso nature of the artist’s oeuvre.  The exhibition design includes seven site-specific installations of paintings and sculptures, which Bingyi terms “seven environments.”  The spaces that she invokes range from classical salon to mortuary shrine; from cave to private bathroom.

To Bingyi, there are only two characters in the visual world that she has created: You and I. All of her experiments that play with the idea of “You and I” complicate our understanding of various relationships, between ourselves and the images, between man and woman, and between objects and images.  Bingyi paints sadness, pain, sentiment and joy, as well as every emotion possibly reflected by human interaction.  Yet, she is not satisfied with just portraying emotions: she also raises several questions about the time and space that contain them.

The centerpiece of the exhibition is a Salon that displays over forty paintings of various styles. The theme of the salon is “How Do You Remember Your Body?”  Bingyi carefully crafts images (content) and frames (presentation) from different eras and continents to present a critique of the temporal and spatial parameters that stabilize our mentality.  For example, the painting entitled “Lady in White, My Whistler” appears to evoke a Whistler painting with the same title. However, close examination of the painting will reveal that the frame and painting are antiques, which Bingyi later painted over.  And the audience will come to realize that the Whistler painting in reference does not actually exist.  Like the formalism of the Salon itself, Bingyi commentates on a fantastic historic style and a visual world.  Neither world exists in reality, but they somehow manage to develop a lingering impact on the psyche of our contemporary cultures.

Bingyi’s art is often confessional in terms of inspiration.  The strength of her expression lies precisely in this directness of her approach.  Bingyi’s titles, such as “I Sucked All the Blood Out of You, I Hurt Too” or “Looking at Me Through You,” just like her images, are equally literal, graphic and comical. The conceptualism in Bingyi’s painting happens when she confronts the tensions and turmoil in her own life. For example, “The Men that I Loved,” is a crystal resin sculpture that contains personal belongings of a number of men that she loved.  “The Square Footage of Your Skin” is a seemingly minimalist white painting, yet it is also the most straight-forward measurement of her touch.

The liveliest piece is “The Volume of My Heart.”  The sculptural installation is essentially an old bathtub containing the metal gallium in the volume of the artist’s heart.  When the water inside the bathtub is heated to a certain temperature, the gallium melts; otherwise, it returns to solidity.

SKIN, to Bingyi, is not only a description, a noun, or a title.  It is an organic experience that becomes marked by accidents, events, or interventions of other human beings.  Painting, as a medium, allows her to make images that turn one’s physical being into mental reminiscence.  The content of these paintings inevitably explores problems related to conflict, violence, intimacy and tension that permeate all human dynamics and personal experiences.  Bingyi argues that the notion of sensuality can be both physical and ideological, as she perceives such notions as a direct expression of the various problems introduced by the debates of modernity.

Since Bingyi’s first solo show in 2007, she has exhibited worldwide at various museums, galleries and biennials.  She has shown at the Caixa Forum in Madrid, Today Art Museum in Beijing, Max Protetch Gallery in New York, Erna Hecey Gallery in Belgium, The White Rabbit Collection in Sydney, the Chinese Architecture Biennial in Chongqing, and the Gwangju Biennial in Korea.

Bingyi holds a Ph. D. degree from Yale University.  She currently lives in Beijing and Buffalo, New York.

by: Randi M.

I enjoy looking at art. And there are some times when I don’t get the concept of the piece and this is definitely one of them. Liu Bolin is a Chinese artist that did the sculpture in the picture below. The piece is called, “Burning Obama Man.” It is supposed to represent the impact that President Obama has had on the world. I am not sure if that means Obama is burning because as in he is bringing the world down, or if he is “on fire” because he is doing a lot of great things.  I am thinking it is the latter, but I am not sure. Comment and let us know what you think.

Click image for source.

Source

ASIAN ART MARKET

Visitors enter a Sotheby's auction room in Hong Kong for a sale of modern and contemporary art on October 6, 2008.

For the first time ever, the total auction revenue from “contemporary art in Asia” is greater than the total of the United States artprice reports. The statistics are collected from a 12-month period spanning from July 2008 to June 2009. Asia generated €130 million versus the United States’ €123 million. China is the highest gainer out of this trend, having generated €95 million from contemporary art during the same period.  According to the report, this means China is continuing to “hold on to its third place global geographical art auction revenue ranking.”

The establishment of foreign auction houses such as Christie’s, Sotheby’s and Bonhams in Hong Kong, in combination with the financial strength of Hong Kong and Shanghai are to be accredited for China’s position. For those who are looking to begin collecting Asian art, this does not mean that the price of contemporary Chinese art is back up to its sky-high prices of a couple of years ago. Artprice’s report tell us that in the first half of 2008 the average price of contemporary works sold in China was $65,500, however, in the first half of 2009, this average dropped to $26,800.

Related posts:

• Liquidity propels prices, Chinese Political Pop is back- Sotheby’s Contemporary Asian Art Auction 2009 Hong Kong- October 2009
• Trends and opportunities in the contemporary photography market- October 2009
• Newslink round up Art Basel 2009- Indian, Japanese artists dominate coverage of Asians- June 2009

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ChinaLuxCultureBiz is now Jing Daily! Be sure and check us out at our new location.

Jing Daily compiles the best in Chinese luxury, culture, business, arts, and investment news from around the world

NEW YORK – November 5, 2009 – Jing Daily, the source for the most important and timely news about the business of luxury and culture in China, today announced the launch of its new website (http://www.jingdaily.com). With insight and commentary gathered from the Chinese- and English-language blogosphere and top news sources around the world, Jing Daily offers up-to-date information about crucial developments and current trends in China’s luxury, business, arts, and cultural markets.

With a middle class now roughly equivalent to the entire U.S. population (and growing), China’s consumer market is among the world’s largest. But for Westerners looking to do business there – or simply understand the contemporary culture – China can be a confusing, extremely fast-paced, and at times contentious place. Published in English and Chinese, Jing Daily cuts through the clutter to focus on the intersection of luxury and culture in China: the ins and outs of business development with an eye toward the upscale consumer market, as well as the business of culture – from auctions, museums, and contemporary art to performance, publishing, and public events.

Published through a strategic partnership with AW Asia, a New York-based arts organization working in the field of contemporary Chinese art, Jing Daily is compiled in New York City and Beijing and incorporates original content from reporters based in New York, Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong.

“China’s high-end and cultural markets are among the most dynamic and fast-changing in the world,” said Larry Warsh, publisher of AW Asia. “Jing Daily is a concise resource for individuals and companies whose interest in China extends beyond simple economics and encompasses contemporary Chinese culture in all its complexity.”

With original interviews, commentary, book reviews and videos, along with a proprietary “Media Roundup” gathering the latest China news worldwide, Jing Daily is designed for anyone looking to stay on top of luxury and culture in today’s China.

In Mandarin Chinese, jing means energy, essence, excellence and proficiency. That’s the principle by which Jing Daily compiles the most significant news and insights about China today.

I always have a difficult time remembering which prominent American scholar it was that advised the US government to spare Kyoto and Nara from bombing during World War II. And now and then, I am reminded, as I come across the name Langdon Warner again. What a debt is owed to him, the temples, machiya, sacred and artistic treasures, and so much else of these hearts of Japanese traditional culture, protected and preserved due to his efforts (though so much has been lost to modernization in the decades since…).

However, it would seem that he “rescued” a number of wall paintings from Dunhuang in the 1920s, which were later sold to the MFA. I had no idea this had occurred, and certainly don’t believe I had any idea that the MFA owned Dunhuang wall paintings. What incredible objects to own (I wonder what form and condition they’re in – solid blocks of painted stone?), and what a controversy I can imagine this has become. Was it controversial at the time? I wonder.

Strangely, I cannot seem to find the paintings in the MFA online database; perhaps they have since deaccessioned and repatriated them?

Auction Sales From July 1, 2008 To June 30, 2009 Send Zeng To The Top Of The List, As Chinese Artists Make Up 16 Of The Top 50 In The World

Zeng Fanzhi is one of the most interesting and top-grossing contemporary Chinese artists of the last 30 years

Artxun (Chinese) reports this week that Zeng Fanzhi — one of China’s top contemporary artists — has gained the title of “Number One” Chinese artist in terms of auction prices over the last year, leapfrogging longtime title-holder Zhang Xiaogang. While some of this may be down to the slower pace with which Zhang is producing new works, Zeng’s growing popularity within China and, ostensibly, among New Chinese Collectors, could have something to do with it. Zeng, who sprang to prominence in the 1990s mostly through his “Mask” series but has since begun experimenting with more abstract pieces, recently sold 5 of 6 pieces up for grabs at Sotheby’s autumn auction of contemporary Asian art in Hong Kong well above high estimates, indicating that his popularity among the primarily Mainland Chinese bidders remains strong.

The Artxun piece, rather than focusing only on Zeng’s auction prices, does an excellent job of looking into the artist himself and some of the personal projects he has undertaken, including the “Zeng Fanzhi Art Scholarship,” which awarded 10,000 yuan to a disabled university applicant in July of this year. From the article (translation by CLCB staff):

Compared to last year’s [Artprice] list, Chinese artists comprised 16 of the top 50 artists in the world, down from 18 the year before. Among Chinese artists, Zeng Fanzhi was the highest selling, surpassing Zhang Xiaogang by 1,010,000 yuan, becoming China’s most “expensive” artist of 2009. Zhang Xiaogang slipped from the top five this year down to #7. Chinese artists who made the top 50 list last year, namely Yin Chaoyang, Liu Wei, Fan Dehai, and Guo Hai weren’t strong enough to make the list this year, although Yan Peiming is expected to enter the top 50. Another interesting thing to look at is Chengdu’s growing power — aside from Zhang Xiaogang, Chengdu-based contemporary artist Zhou Chunya was ranked 17th in the world and #11 in China in 2008, and in 2009 rose 3 places in the world ranking to #14 while rising 6 places in China to #5 there. Another Chengdu artist, Luo Zhongli, ranked #38.

Art helping the disabled: Highest donation by Zeng Fanzhi, to the tune of 350,000 yuan

This year, 45-year-old Zeng Fanzhi is the illustrious representative of contemporary Chinese art. His “Mask” series sold at Christie’s auction for a surprising price of over 70,000,000 yuan, setting a new record for a Chinese contemporary artist. Zeng Fanzhi and [Artxun] actually have some common threads. Artxun and [contemporary Chinese artist Zhou Chunya]’s jointly created “Multicolor Fund” (“五彩基金”) donated some 350,000 RMB to establish the “Zeng Fanzhi Art Scholarship,” the largest single donation. At that time, Zeng Fanzhi expressed in an interview with Artxun journalists that he’s an artist, so he pays particularly close attention to charitable activities directed toward youths with dreams of becoming artists who were seriously injured in the Sichuan earthquake (of 2008). Said Zeng, “When I went through hard times myself, I received help from others, so since I now have the ability to help other people, I’m going to do everything I can to do so.” This July, Deng Yu, who was severely injured in the Sichuan earthquake, became the first recipient of the “Zeng Fanzhi Art Scholarship,” receiving a 10,000 yuan annual scholarship after completing his university exam.

 

“Bullish” News Gives Chinese Contemporary Art A Shot In The Arm

Some art organizations and galleries have closed [in the wake of the global economic crisis], causing many critics to think the contemporary art bubble’s time has come, but world famous art monitoring organization Artprice found after a survey that there is reason to be “bullish” about the developmental tendencies of the Chinese contemporary art market, and that the Chinese contemporary art market has unexpectedly risen to the third largest in the global ranking. Last night, a Chinese contemporary artist ranked in the top 20 — who declined to give his name — told a reporter that the economic downturn had a major influence on the whole world, not only China, saying, “The data from this survey is a real shot in the arm for the Chinese contemporary art market.”

 

Chengdu-based contemporary art critic Chen Moze said, “In terms of all of Asia, Chinese contemporary art is worthy of the title ‘Big Brother,’ because there are lots of Chinese artists, and the overall strength is great. Since domestic contemporary art became integrated internationally, and the market got on track, it’s easy to see how an exceptional artist like Zhang Xiaogang can build up global fame after 30 years. [To me] there’s nothing unusual about that.”

"Untitled" by Zeng Fanzhi

“Looking East” Exhibition Showcases China’s Up-And-Coming Artists, Reflecting The Generational Difference Between Young Artists And ’90s Superstars

Guo Wei's art reflects the rebelliousness and angst of China's so-called "post-80s Generation" (Image: Kansas City Star)

With regular news about China’s most famous artists selling works for hundreds of thousands of dollars, and in some cases well over a million dollars, over the past five years, it can be easy to forget that China’s art world is in a constant state of flux, with thousands of young artists coming out of art schools and vying for attention. Although artists like Yue Minjun and Zhang Xiaogang have quickly become major global art stars, China’s younger artists are little known outside of their home country (and, more often than not, are unknown there as well), so the news that Kansas City is mounting a relatively large-scale and far-ranging exhibition of works by young Chinese artists must give some of these art greenhorns some hope for their future prospects.

The “Looking East” group exhibition, held at the Byron C. Cohen Gallery for Contemporary Art, follows previous solo shows of Chinese artists Hong Chun Zhang, Chong Siew Ying and Deng Wushu at the gallery, and offers viewers a glimpse at many of China’s burgeoning young talents. From the Kansas City Star:

Three prints by Yang Qian seem shallow and self-indulgent compared with [Sheng Qi's politically-motivatd] oils. Yang wields tremendous skill to produce voyeuristic fantasies of spying on beautiful women through moist windowpanes or in foggy mirrors.

In the lower gallery, Feng Zhengjie offers three striking silkscreens of women. Unlike Yang’s bathers caught unaware, these women are explosive products of the collision between consumer culture and traditional Chinese culture.

“Chinese Portrait Series No. 53” presents a fiery redhead. Her windblown hair recalls product ads of the ’80s, and her porcelain, angular features resemble the commercial works of Patrick Nagel. Intriguingly, her eyes look in opposite directions, perhaps to express being divided by a “duplicity of ideology,” to borrow a phrase from the artist’s biography.

Three prints by Guo Wei cast defiant adolescents as protagonists of individualism in a country that favors the collective. Silkscreen editions of his acrylics on canvas, these brazenly graphic images display teenagers vying for attention with the energy of young, brassy MySpace users.

Two figures make their presence known in “Chambre Ave Nuage.” Against a gray background decorated with generic, fair-weather clouds, a boy in loose-fitting clothes opens his mouth wide as if to shout. A girl in a white wig and spaghetti-strap slip strikes a pose as if for a camera.

The images in this exhibit are visually arresting. They also offer a fascinating window onto how young Chinese artists view political and cultural developments in their country.

TNT Theater’s Tour Will Visit Tianjin, Shenzhen, Guangzhou, Beijing, Ningbo, Hangzhou And Xi’an

TNT's past staging of "Oliver Twist" was a big hit in Beijing

It seems that cultural exchanges between China and the rest of the world are becoming increasingly commonplace, with large-scale events like Carnegie Hall’s “Ancient Paths, Modern Voices” festivals in New York and Orange County, the ”Experience China in Israel” event in Tel Aviv giving foreign audiences a chance to see a cultural cross-section. Over the past few years in China, foreign cultural organizations and groups have made regular trips to the country to give Chinese audiences a chance to do the same. The most recent of these cultural exchanges, a staging of Shakespeare’s “Romeo and Juliet” performed by Britain’s TNT Theater, began its seven-city tour of China this week, and is set to perform the play throughout the country until November 29. From Xinhua:

Cui Yang, general manager of the Beijing-based Milky Way Arts and Communications Co., Ltd, the play’s importer, said the new version featured a cappella (singing without instrumental accompaniment) and live score which was specially commissioned for the play. 

 According to Cui, all the sound effects in the drama were created by human voices instead of being pre-recorded.

The TNT Theater, founded in 1980, has been distinguished for its simple stage decoration, strong British style and cross-gender performances. It has previously won the acclaim of Chinese audience with dramas such as Charles Dickens’ “Oliver Twist” and Shakespeare’s “Hamlet”.

In the run-up to next year’s Shanghai’s World Expo, and certainly in its aftermath, we should see a great deal more cultural exchange going on both inside and outside China, as more foreign audiences look to learn about China’s ancient and modern cultures, and Chinese audiences look to learn more about important global and historical trends.

Interest Of New Collectors, Government Support Growing As More Museums Mount Large-Scale Exhibitions Of Work By Top Artists

Wang Guangyi's work seems to be (finally) accepted and promoted by the Chinese government's cultural elites

 Recently, we translated a speech presented at the first-ever conference of Chinese collectors of contemporary Chinese art delivered in Beijing by influential art critic Li Xianting. In this speech, Li called on Chinese collectors to get busy buying, preserving and presenting top-quality works of contemporary Chinese art in order to ensure younger generations in the country will be able to view and understand their artistic heritage. Li called art collecting “a form of cultural creation,” the responsibility for which lies in the hands of the country’s new generation of art collectors. From Li’s speech:

We can’t expect the government to establish, from top to bottom, an art museum system in such a short amount of time, not least because the construction of the “hardware” is so difficult, but what’s harder is [assembling] the artwork itself, because up until now the collection in the government’s museum of contemporary art has been really poor, and not only because in the past three decades the important works of Chinese contemporary art have flowed overseas. Can the government spend the money to collect contemporary art? Aside from lack of funds, the hardest thing is that within a considerable amount of time, could the government possibly recognize the value of a contemporary art value system? 

Whether by coincidence or by design, a news item in China’s Global Times today announced a spate of high-profile museum exhibitions of two of China’s top contemporary artists, Zhang Xiaogang and Wang Guangyi. Although as recently as last month Li Xianting decried the Chinese government’s slow movement on arts education and investment in cultural capital, these two exhibitions seem to indicate that development is beginning in earnest. From the article:

While the recent inclusion of a selection of contemporary Chinese artworks in exhibitions held at state-run museums across the country has been considered by many as a sign that Chinese contemporary art has been officially embraced by the government, others in the art world are calling for more to be done to recognize the genre.

In the exhibition Standing Chinese, jointly held by Guangdong Provincial Department of Culture and Guangdong Art Museum, Political Pop artist Wang Guangyi’s representative installation Materialist is on display, surrounded by pieces praising the country’s achievements after the reform and opening-up policy.

 

…

Wang  Huangsheng, former director of Guangdong Art Museum and curator of the exhibition, said that the installation looks “in harmony” with the mainstream works.

A piece of Zhang Xiaogang’s Bloodline series is also on display as part of the grand exhibition Sixty Year’s of Fine Art in the New China, at the National Art Museum of China, seen as the national museum’s first embrace of the Political Pop artist.

…

Although highly acclaimed in the international art world, contemporary artists such as Wang and Zhang have seldom been recognized or exhibited by mainstream museums in China before and apart from small private museums devoting space to contemporary works, there is almost no serious collection process for the genre, explained Shi Dawei, deputy director of China Artists Association.

According to Shi, one of the main reasons that contemporary art is shunned by galleries is that the offcials hold “unclear” attitudes toward the art due to the works’ often ironic reflections on politics and problems associated with a rapidly developing economy.

“Why would the government spend money on contemporary art if they don’t even know its importance in Chinese art history?” Shi commented.

 Another reason for contemporary art’s absence in State-run museums is the organizational structure of such institutions, he said. Most museums are geared toward a set collecting process: antiques and traditional Chinese painting and calligraphy have been the main focuses of almost all large museums, with contemporary art usually marginalized.

However, Shi insisted that Chinese museums should pay more attention to contemporary work and not only focus on traditional Chinese or Western classics.

“It’s urgent to establish a serious collecting system for contemporary art, or it will be too late,” Shi said. “Public art museums should take contemporary art as one of their main focuses while collecting.”

…

“Without a sound collection of Chinese contemporary art, we will lose a real and fresh documentary on Chinese transformation during the past several decades, which will be a huge loss to the Chinese people,” commented Ma Fenghui, director of the newly founded Zhejiang Art Museum.

“Nowadays the Chinese government and individuals are trying all ways to enable cultural relics to ‘return home’ from overseas, but they are unaware that one day they might need even greater efforts to gather precious Chinese contemporary artworks spanning from the late 1970s to now,” Ma said. 

What will happen to the price of Chinese artwork as the Chinese government increasingly gets in the collecting game?

It will be interesting to watch the development of Chinese new collectors and the government, as both look to collect more “cultural creations” and beef up the collections of contemporary Chinese art at some of the country’s largest museums. Mounting exhibitions of Zhang Xiaogang and Wang Guangyi — two artists who, until very recently, would be considered too politically-charged to be shown at mainstream galleries, is a good sign that the government in China is starting to understand the importance of collection, presentation and, maybe most important of all, education about contemporary art. Because it’s no good “bringing relics home” from auctions abroad if no one in the country knows much about the art or doesn’t understand it.

Spending On Everything From Luxury Cars To Private Jets Shows Ultrarich Chinese Are Unleashing Their Inner Conspicuous Consumer

The exclusive club of "ultra-rich" in China are splurging amid the ongoing global economic doldrums

An interesting blog post today at the Wall Street Journal, where Robert Frank points out that the global economic downturn has turned a new spotlight onto a once-unlikely savior — the Chinese [ultrarich] consumer. While this group is exclusive to say the least, particularly in terms of the miniscule percentage of the Chinese population that can live up to this title, the staggering dropoff of the once mighty American, Japanese and even Russian luxury showoff has pushed the Chinese super-spender into the leading role.

Though Frank’s potential nicknames for this ultrarich group of big spenders — “Deng Xiaoblings,” for one — are a humorous take on the subject, the repercussions of an Eastward shift of conspicuous consumption and luxury shopping sprees could mean a great deal for established western luxury brands. Just as the increased buying power — and desire for diversification — seen among Chinese buyers of everything from gold to real estate to luxury cars to Chinese antiquities and contemporary arts has affected those markets and caused everyone from Bugatti to Sotheby’s to focus far more strongly on the China market than ever before, this China-bound luxury shift could very well change the nature and corporate strategies of the global luxury industry.

From the WSJ:

Purveyors of posh have a new mandate: Go East!

An updated forecast from Bain & Co. out this morning shows a stronger-than-expected rise in luxury sales for Asia–especially China. It said it expects luxury-goods sales in mainland China to jump 12% this year.

Meanwhile, the U.S. luxury business continues its downward slide. Bain said it expects U.S. sales of high-end clothing, accessories, tableware, cosmetics and jewelry will drop 16% this year. Sales in Japan are expected to fall 10%. Europe is expected to post an 8% decline.

The question is whether this is a temporary or more lasting phenomenon.

…

[T]he Chinese are discovering their inner conspicuous consumer. Sales of everything from private jets to watches and jade-inlaid Ferraris are soaring.

If the growth continues, we will need a new name for this new breed of Chinese spender, akin to the Blingsheviks of Russia.

CHINESE ANIMAL INSTALLATION ART REVIEW

Zhang Huan is known for his performance acts of physical and psychological endurance. This time, however, he left that act up to a couple of pigs.

Zhang Huan’s first show at White Cube

Zhang’s first exhibition Zhu Gangqiang at the White Cube Gallery in London (to October 3rd 2009) featured two live pigs in a make shift pigpen. The pig duo were intended by Zhang to stand in for a remarkable pig in China that survived for 49 days under debris after the 2008 Sichuan earthquake that killed more than 60,000 people.  Now known as the “Zhu Gangqiang” or “Cast-Iron Pig”, the rescued pig has subsequently achieved celebrity status in China for its miraculous tale of survival.  

Zhang’s exhibition was to pay homage to the remarkable Cast-Iron Pig; critics, however, found the exhibition wanting.  For some, the live pig production was far less impressive than Zhang’s portraits of human skulls and the Cast-Iron Pig that comprised the rest of the exhibition. Here is a selection of their reviews:

Zhang Huan, Zhu Gangqiang, 2009 (installation view) Two Oxford Sandy and Black gilts, straw, wood, plants, soil, DVD projection, DVD, plasma screen, sound and vinyl

Just a headline grabber

Mark Hudson, writing in The London Daily Telegraph, speaking on behalf of London audiences, declared that large-scale ‘playful’ exhibitions like Zhang’s are no longer inspiring to local audiences:  “We’ve grown so used to headline-grabbing fun-art installations,” he writes, “that Zhang’s pigs feel like just another addition to a list that includes Carsten Holler’s slides in Tate Modern and Antony Gormley’s plinth project in Trafalgar Square.”  

For Hudson, the highlight of the show was Zhang’s depictions of the rescued pig made out of burnt incense rather than the live pigs in the pigpen-utopia (where the pigs appear to have plenty of straw, a football and tire to play with, and exotic plants to eat).

The pig portraits demonstrate the most interesting aspect of Zhang’s work to the Western audience, which is, according to Hudson, his “ambivalence with which he blurs Eastern and Western traditions. The way he offsets strategies borrowed — apparently — from Western operator-artists such as Joseph Beuys and Jeff Koons with scarcely fathomable Oriental philosophy is refreshing in a contemporary art scene in which much has become painfully predictable.” 

Hudson concludes the review by cautioning Zhang not to fall into the trend of artists who have exhibited at the White Cube (such as artist Damien Hirst) and have since become “brand over content.”  According to Hudson, the current prices and high profile of Zhang’s exhibition demonstrates that he “may already be in danger of losing his value as a voice from elsewhere.”

Zhang Huan, Zhu Gangqiang, 2009- Ash on linen

The London Evening Standard’s Brian Sewell, however, disagrees: “I think him [Zhang Huan] a better, wiser and more contemplative artist than…these Western models.”

Tate Modern berated

Sewell’s review describes Zhang’s remarkable and prolific history of performance art works and details the symbolic force they have had on audiences.  He emphasizes Zhang’s mystical mastery of his work and goes so far as to berate the Tate Modern for not yet having acquired any of Zhang’s work for their permanent collection.

Unfortunately, the glowing description of Zhang’s oeuvre to date ends with his exhibition at the White Cube Gallery.  Sewell highlights the element of the exhibition that troubled most critics: the insincere relationship between the live pigs and their audience. “Visitors are invited to lean on the fence,” he writes, “and like Lord Emsworth in the PG Wodehouse novels and Jay Jopling’s father (once Minister of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food), admire these little Blandings beauties and contemplate. But contemplate what? The leap from the amusing comforts of the urban farm to the tragedy of Sichuan is far too great for me to see in it pathetic fallacy.”

Zhang Huan, Felicity no. 3, 2008- Ash on linen

For the London Times’ art critic, Waldemar Januszczak, it is a similar story of incongruity. He admits that Zhang’s live pigs were “lovely,” but continues that they were, in fact, “too lovely.”

Trite “Greenpeace story”?

After looking at the exhibition in its entirety, Januszczak found himself troubled by how trite and shallow the exhibition’s “contemporary Greenpeace story” seemed to be: “How dare this pampered modern artist, showing in the plushest gallery in the plushest corner of London’s Mayfair, toy so glibly with Buddhism and death, with human survival and the real meaning of the Sichuan earthquake? Even the accompanying video, in which Zhang retells the pig’s story, is so badly shot that it constitutes a disgrace.”

Human skulls better than live pigs

Zhang’s portraits of human skulls were more favourably received.  Januszczak described them as “just about haunting enough to survive their awful familiarity…Zhang’s skulls…are particularly bare and vulnerable.” This positive reaction to the portraits led Januszczak to conclude that Zhang “is a better artist than this show suggests.”

Links: Zhang Huan website

RM/KE

Related posts:

• Liquidity propels prices, Chinese Political Pop is back- Sotheby’s Contemporary Asian Art Auction 2009 Hong Kong – Oct 2009 – Many of Zhang Huan’s works failed to sell
• What inspires Zhang Huan and why he is taking a break from performance art – video – Feb 2009
• Zhang Huan’s first show in Russia – Moscow Times – Dec 2008
• Which Asian artists are in the Pompidou collection? – Dec 2008
• Zhang Huan’s spectacle at Pace Wildenstein gallery New York – June 2008

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Event Follows Other Recent Cultural Events And Partnerships In Germany And Belgium, And Upcoming Events In The United States

Following China’s National Day celebrations earlier this month, a wave of cultural events have taken place — or are slated to take place — around the world. From China’s position as guest of honor at the Frankfurt Book Fair to the many included works of Chinese contemporary art at the Europalia-China art festival in Brussels (co-curated by premier Chinese artist Ai Weiwei), the last few weeks have given Western audiences a good opportunity to get up close and personal with several aspects of contemporary Chinese artistic culture.

This week, Chinese culture heads to the Middle East, where the “Experience China in Israel” cultural exchange event kicked off this weekend at the Tel Aviv Opera House. The event will feature performances, film screenings and photo exhibitions, and follows similar “Experience” events held in the past in Russia, South Korea, Germany and the U.S. From Xinhua:

The event, jointly held by the State Council Information Office of China and Israeli Foreign Ministry, is dedicated to the 60th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China and the 17th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries.

Composed of a series of activities including performances, photo exhibitions, a film week and a symposium on China, Israel and the world economy, the event, which began earlier this week and will conclude at the end of this month, is expected to allow the Israelis to see Chinese culture and China’s development and achievements over the past 60 years and promote Sino-Israeli friendship.

…

Shortly after Peres’ speech, Wang Chen, Minister of the State Council Information Office of China, told the audience that since China and Israel established diplomatic relations in 1992, which turned over a new leaf in the bilateral ties, Sino-Israeli relations have been developing fast and sound, including in the field of culture.

 ”It is reported that more and more Israelis begin to admire the Chinese culture, start to learn Chinese, and want to learn more about the Chinese development,” said the senior Chinese official.

“Therefore, this great event ‘Experience China in Israel’ not only reflects the two governments’ concerted efforts in promoting China-Israel relations, but also reflects the two peoples’ earnest aspiration to increase understanding and deepen friendship,” he noted.

China’s cultural charm offensive continues later this month with Carnegie Hall’s “Ancient Paths, Modern Voices” festival in the U.S., slated to take place from the end of October to early November in New York, NY and Orange County, CA.

Festival Will Bring Together Performing And Visual Arts, Music, And Film

Several top contemporary Chinese artists like Yue Minjun will be featured during Carnegie Hall's Ancient Paths, Modern Voices" festival later this month

This month is shaping up to be pretty exciting for China-watchers in Orange County, California and New York City, as Carnegie Hall presents a new festival celebrating Chinese culture, “Ancient Paths, Modern Voices.” Scheduled for both cities are a number of performances by top Chinese musicians, film screenings, contemporary Chinese art exhibitions and more. The festivals will take place from October 11 to November 24 in Orange County and from October 21–November 10 in New York. From a release:

“The immemorial culture of China has made itself felt throughout the world for many centuries-but its influence today is arguably more widespread, and more directly present, than at any other time in history,” stated Dean Corey, President and Artistic Director of the Philharmonic Society of Orange County. “That is the source of the richness and excitement of Ancient Paths, Modern Voices. The festival presents extraordinary expressions of the most venerable Chinese artistic traditions, then brings them into the here and now. This is Chinese culture in all its variety, from the deepest roots to the greenest branches.”

In New York, a number of partner organizations across the city will take part in the three-week festival, contributing venues as well as experts in the field of Chinese performing arts:

The festival’s opening days are filled with an incredibly rich variety of traditional music from China. Carnegie Hall presentations include marionette music theater from the city of Quanzhou in southeast China, where this art form stretches back thousands of years, and two programs created by pipa virtuoso Wu Man. She’ll bring together many styles of Chinese music from different cultures and regions for her concerts, featuring some artists who have never before performed outside of China.

Traditional music is also woven into opening weekend events presented by festival partners, from a program pairing calligraphy and the qin (seven-string plucked zither) at the China Institute, to a traditional Chinese teahouse with musical performance at the Asia Society. Moving from ancient music to modern dance, Works & Process at the Guggenheim presents a program of discussion and performance with the Chinese-American choreographer Shen Wei.

To take advantage of the many China-focused contemporary art galleries and organizations in New York’s Chelsea neighborhood, Carnegie Hall’s festival has many events planned that are designed to give attendees a glimpse of China’s vibrant and global contemporary arts movement:

For the festival, Carnegie Hall has partnered with select New York art galleries for China In Chelsea and Beyond, an event celebrating Chinese contemporary visual arts and exhibiting work by some of today’s leading Chinese artists. Participating galleries are Arario Gallery, AW Asia, Chambers Fine Art, ChinaSquare, Goedhuis Contemporary, Max Protetch Gallery, and Stux Gallery, with featured artists including Yue Minjun, Qi Zhilong, Tan Dun, Sun Xun, and many more.

Also, beginning October 21, Carnegie Hall will present Harmonic Visions, an exhibition of contemporary Chinese photography in Zankel Hall, sponsored and curated by Chambers Fine Art. China boasts more than 5,000 years of history, the presence and influence of which can be felt in many aspects of its society and culture. The visual artists featured in this exhibition combine their experiences of living in contemporary China with the country’s rich and diverse traditions. Artists featured are: Hong Hao, Hong Lei, He Yunchang, Qiu Zhijie, Rong Rong, Weng Fen, Wang Tiande, Yin Xiuzhen, Song Dong, and Zhang Huan. The exhibit will be open to Zankel Hall concertgoers through December 31.

Other visual arts events, presented by festival partners, include a panel discussion, China Art(s) Today, on November 2 at the Asia Society, moderated by Asia Society Director Melissa Chiu and featuring avant-garde artist Wenda Gu and award-winning composer and artist Tan Dun; and Silk and Bamboo: Music and Art of China, an exhibition of Chinese instruments and art, presented by The Metropolitan Museum of Art through February 7, 2010. On October 18, the museum presents “Sunday at the Met—A Chinese Celebration,” an event related to the exhibition, featuring performance and discussion.

This festival will definitely be a great opportunity for people in Orange County and New York to see a cross-section of China’s exciting performing and visual arts, and with many of China’s top musicians and artists actually attending some of the events, attendees might even get the chance to meet a few. Carnegie Hall has really outdone themselves this year with this ambitious and unique bicoastal event, and if the lineups are any indication, they won’t fail to please.

A recent visit to the San Francisco Bay area was most enjoyable. It took a trip across the country from New York to SF to make me aware of how much detail we simply disregard as we walk through our lives.

It’s all there, right in front of our eyes, and when these images reach the main office, located somewhere behind your eyes, the head guy, the brain, simply says, “Nah, discard that, I’m not interested.”

Indeed. Well, you can’t argue, can you? He is the head guy. He tells you where to go, what to eat, and, he even will tell your male appendage to get hard when appropriate — although this organ has been known to make its own decisions anyway.

Since you can’t argue, you can do something, and that is, to simply pay attention. Take note of what you see. The head guy might toss it out later, but at least you got to savor it for the moment.

I’m not talking about counting the stitches on the seat back in front of you on the airplane, nor am I talking about memorizing the bar-code of your boarding pass. The brain correctly discards irrelevant details like those. But there is plenty to see in the world before our eyes.

From the people we pass on the street to the ornate details of the buildings we enter everyday, to the way food is arranged on the plate before being served to us is all part of what we see and discard.

A day in and around San Francisco’s Palace of Fine Arts really opened my eyes about noticing color, style, and shape — on what we wear, in the art we look at, and what is created by nature.

Really, there’s so much more to see if you just look carefully and deeply. This month I’ll show you some art featuring a series of paintings, of women, that just get better and better as you look deeper into the art rather than just looking at the surface image.

California Day-dreamin' by David Gallup

Let’s start at home with California Daydreamin’ . Can you see the paint on her toenails, or the birds in the air in the distance? David Gallup has become an up-and-coming artist in the ‘plein air’ style so popular with California painters. The companion piece below is called Pacific Summer.

Pacific Summer by David Gallup

Gallup goes for the details of the model in Song of the Sea. The model is gorgeous and you really see just how beautiful she is in this closeup. Keep in mind that this is not done with a camera. This detail is the artist’s gift to us.

Song of the Sea by David Gallup

Crossing the wide Pacific, we can look at some stunning portraiture from China. Jiang Guo Fang, who has graced our pages before, is back with a stunning image of a courtesan (below) from the days when an Emperor ruled China.

While the background is pointedly less detailed, look at the immense details given to the banquette, the pillow, and the design of her red blouse. Why settle for just one – we’ve got details galore. How about this one of a reclining beauty (below) from the artist’s Forbidden Series.

Jiang Guo Fang, who has long been a favorite of mine, has produced yet another excellent example of how an artist pays attention to detail. Look at the one below, another from his Forbidden Series.

The next image, called Armillary Sphere, is by Jia Lu, a wonderful artist. A Chinese woman from Beijing, she sailed with the Chinese Navy, she tried out for a professional basketball team, and has taught art at University level. She is now living in California.

The intricacies of the folds of the garment are just superbly crafted and this painting only hints at her passion for beauty and the power of the human figure.

Nostalgia by Liu Yuan-Shou

Closing out this month’s art are three works by Liu Yuan-Shou . I saw these in a gallery in the Lan Kwai Fong area of Hong Kong last October. I was impressed enough to actually make inquiries about them. Five digits in the prices were two more than I wanted to hear. I adore the white cheongsam that she is wearing, the positions she poses in, as well as the look on her face. These paintings are simply gorgeous; no doubt the model would be welcome to leave her shoes under my bed…

Season Of Peach Blossom by Liu Yuan-Shou

Lotus Screen by Liu Yuan-Shou

Beautiful images of beautiful women; kudos must go to the artists. Routinely, we will happily offer our praises to other stunning women whenever we have the good fortune to find them. Kindly spend some time at our website The Arts to begin many of your next journeys on the wings of your imagination and my words. Until next time.

Where has the time gone? Does it seem like twenty-seven years have gone by? Mark it down on your calenders to tell your children or your grandchildren, that on March 22nd, 1982, you stood in line to watch a famous and classic movie. Some of you may have been children then, and some of you may have been adults then.  But this film crossed all barriers of age, nationality, or race.

I’m talking about the classic Steven Spielberg movie, E T. The Extra Terrestrial. This delightful movie wasn’t the usual Spielbergian fare of heart-thumping excitement. No, this film was simply a heartwarming tale about family, friendship and trust, themes that should lure audiences back to the theaters, as people world over need to feel better given the events of today be they war or natural disasters. As the poster claims, this was a movie that touched the world.

E T was the extra-terrestrial accidentally left behind on Earth who was befriended by a young fatherless boy and his brother and sister. A series of events occur in the film, E T phones home and then goes home, and then, as we exit the theater, we feel very happy, and we feel emotionally enriched.

Misty Huanshan by Song Di

Who doesn’t want to feel happy and emotionally enriched?

Actually that is a rhetorical question as we all want to feel happy. Looking at gorgeous women is another kind of visual experience that makes me happy, and it certainly is enriching. But quite often I feel the same way about art. Check out Misty Huanshan by Song Di above

I recently watched a film from China entitled The Curse of the Golden Flower. Directed by Zhang Yimou, the movie was really a film about the intrigues, clandestine plans and machinations of the royal family. Set in the days of the Tang Dynasty in 10th Century, the film included illicit liaisons, mysterious assassins, sibling rivalry, as well as a slow and deadly poisoning – and all this was happening between just the royal family members. But these events played out against the breathtaking backdrop of thousand of chrysanthemum blossoms. Check out this image from the film:

As you can see, Yimou’s creation of the golden flowers is really a sight to see. I was inspired enough to seek out some art from China that may have inspired Yimou. My selections follow immediately.

This first one is called Scenery and the artist is Wu Zuoren. Except for the tall pagoda off on the distance, and the  misty valley preceding the mountains, it isn’t particularly Chinese. But I know I haven’t seen anything like it in art before.

Vivid Autumn by Ying Qiang Du

The Chinese adore landscape paintings. They need not be steeped in classic realism, nor must they be traditional. Landscapes, as a favorite genre, have been done in many different formats. The next two are by Ying  Qiang Du. First is A Vivid Autumn . Below is Fresh Rain of Clear Mountain. His works are primitive as well as bold; simple as well as elegant. Did you miss the man in the boat at the bottom of Fresh Rain?

Fresh Rain of the Clear Mountain by Ying Qiang Du

Golden Time by Ko Nam

Some of the works have more traditional elements, and others are much more like photos than paintings, they are so realistic. Ko Nam’s Golden Time (above) is impressionistic. You won’t find a field of flowers like that in real life, nor will you locate a home like that in the painting’s center.

Below is Mao-shan Liu’s New York in Autumn. This one is gorgeous, and while it approaches reality, it is still pure artistic imagination. Right down to the lady in the bright blue rain coat at the edge of the park’s tree in the painting’s foreground.

New York In Autum by Liu Mao-shan

Chrysanthemum by Zhao Fan Qi

Want more art to delight in and make you feel special? Above is Zhao Fan Qi’s spectacular Chrysanthemum. You look at this work of art and you can almost feel the luxurious flower petals between your fingers. But look at the next one called Rainy Lijiang Gloaming by Song Di (below). The massive mountain peaks soar skyward from the plains as the gentle River Li wends it way between them. Sublime.

Rainy Lijiang Gloaming by Song Di

We have three more grand works for you. Below, please check out Zhang Bu’s Autumn Melody. I love the way the artist has even captured the falling leaves in air on this canvas.

Autumn Melody by Zhang Bu

Our last two paintings aren’t landscapes. Instead they are supremely beautiful florals. We usually see flowers in bunches, but if you take the time to examine them closely, you will be impressed. Below is Fragrance Spreading by Zhongyau Zhou. The detail is electrifying.

Fragrance Spreading by Zhongyau Zhou

And our last painting is called Yellow Peony by Chuanan Zou. While this painting edges away from reality in the direction of expressionism, there’s no denying the masterful creativity despite the low number of brush strokes.

Yellow Peony by Chuanan Zhou

Make your lady happy to see you. If you can’t bring home a Masterpiece by a Chinese Artist, then at least bring a bouquet home tonight, and a blissful evening will follow. Thank you for stopping by The Arts.

Is it real or is it Memorex?

This was a famous ad campaign years ago in the pre-digital world. People recorded on Cassettes instead of using MP3 technology. The hook of the ad campaign was that a singer’s voice might hit such high tonal frequencies, that her natural voice or the recorded version on tape could each shatter fine stemware glasses. So when Ella FitzGerald crooned those high notes – and the glass broke – the tagline was – Is it real or is it Memorex.

Nowadays it is a whole different ball game. When it comes to what we see – be it movies, television, DVDs, or photographs, we’ve no guarantee whatsoever that what we see is the real article. Can you tell which of these is a photo of the real Hillary and which isn’t? Virtually anything we’ve seen in these visual mediums can or could be manipulated.

Except one.

And that would be paint on a canvas. Oh sure, more paint could be added after; something could be painted over, something else could be added in. But at the moment you see it hanging on the wall of the art gallery, or in a museum, or in someone’s home – you’re seeing something real. It may not be authentic – forgeries are not unknown in the art world – but at least you know that it hasn’t been digitally enhanced.

I’ve looked at various artists and different artistic genres over the years; and I still like Classic Realism the best. You know what that is don’t you? It’s the blending of paints on a canvas with near photo realism to at least the main parts of the painting. Today we’ll have a look at a husband and wife team from China. He’s Xie Qiu Wa, and her name is Dong Wen Jie. Their specialty? Portraits of stunning women.

Xie’s reputation has reached international levels. His method of detailed photo-realism in his paintings, while rooted in variations of 19th Century Chinese classics, has its uniqueness in the interplay of light and shadow. Look at this one called Evening Glance.

Notice the dual light sources: the left side of her face and her right arm and shoulder are well lit. The background has that painterly fall-back of lacking details. Yet the pattern of her dress is perfectly executed.

And this one called Sunset Thoughts; the model is lighted from the opposite side and indirectly from the front but slightly off to one side. Look how her face is partially lighted. Her beauty is enhanced by the warmth of the light.

Rose Garden is a profile and unlike the first two is outdoors. The model’s face is directly facing the light as she is slightly facing toward her right. The right shoulder and the trim of her dress conveys the same information. Notice the drop-pearl earring, and the flowered hair clasp. Just superb.

His wife Dong Wen Jie is also known in art circles as Angel. Her work is less concerned with lighting and has greater orientation toward details. Her subjects are often beautiful courtesans wearing period costumes. This is a bygone era of China and reflects the combination of both hope and darkness.

In Forest Sounds we can consider the exquisite detail of the model’s gown, the stones in the creek, as well as bridge planks which become the path up the hill.

In Turn of the Season, we see a similar dress, the same musical instrument, a better maintained bridge with greater detail of the bark of the railing.

Finally, this one is called Meandering Thoughts (above). The heavily brocaded red dresses have become a light and airy silken affair. The planks are still rough hewn, but note how the path up the hillside is overgrown and losing a battle to the local grasses and moss. These are marvelously realized concepts and truly a treat for the eyes.

Husband Xie also utilizes similar themes. Look at Lakeside at Dusk (below). Once again there’s a cheongsam dress, a river or stream with a rough hewn bridge spanning over the water. Notice the silk wrap she carries with its different hues. And the patterned nail placements holding the bridge together.

In Moonlight Flute (below), Xie makes the light source shimmer on the water. Check out the indirect light in her lap as well as how the light plays on the right side of her hair. When you notice these small details the paintings just get even more interesting.

Dong’s Westlake Note (above) incorporates many of her husband’s trademarks. The light plays on the water. Part of her face has the better lighting, and the background lacks detail. There’s a colorful ornament in her hair.

Okay the last two -

Xie’s masterpiece is Hidden Thoughts. The light source is behind the model and to the right. Her right cheek is highlighted. And the light makes the bright colors of the bedding seem warm and rich. I think this is just a gorgeous woman made even more beautiful because the artist deployed the light so well.

Our last one from Dong is Ponder. The model wears flowers in her hair; likely she awaits her lover. The red of her lipstick gloss on her lips is so rich and deep. And in a wonderful touch, Dong has given the model a velvet top with huge cuffs.

Here is a photo of Dong Wen Jie. She only has to pin up her air and she could be a model for her husband’s art. Her art is filled with elegance as well as modesty, and she is garnering fans in the west in ever increasing numbers.

Xie Qiu Wa is doing his best to help his wife as an artistic mentor. All the while his work maintains the play between light and shadow. He is steadfast in one regard. He refuses to have any of his painting reproduced in lithographs or giclee (pronounced zhee-CLAY) prints. His works are one of a kind and aren’t going to show up in a calendar that you can buy at Amazon.com

Visit a museum today, or follow the crowds and shop for some art this weekend, like the people in this marvelous painting by Min Ma. He calls it Saturday Afternoon.

And I’m going to call it a day. This is JustMeMike, and that’s a wrap!

“Godfather Of Chinese Contemporary Art” Advocates Collections Develop To Ensure Art Can Be Seen In China

"The Godfather of Chinese contemporary art," Li Xianting (Photo: ArtZine China)

At recent events like the Global Collecting Forum and the Songzhuang Art Festival’s Conference of Collectors of Chinese Contemporary Art, a major topic of discussion among Chinese scholars and art critics has been the need for Chinese collectors of contemporary art (and Chinese museums and galleries) to acquire more top-quality pieces while educating the public on the history, subject matter, figures and current state of Chinese contemporary art.

At the Songzhuang Festival, Chinese art critic Li Xianting — who has been called the “Godfather of Chinese Contemporary Art” — gave a speech in which he said collecting Chinese contemporary art is a form of “cultural creation” which requires the urgent attention of Chinese collectors. Since the breakout of Chinese contemporary art in the late 1970s and its development over the years, the majority of major works of art have been acquired by Western collectors, and although that is changing gradually as Chinese buyers amass their own collections, Li still sees disequilibrium in the global marketplace. By building collections of Chinese contemporary art now, and continuing to patronize Chinese artists in the same way the Medici family did in Renaissance-era Italy, Li feels that Chinese art can reach the Chinese people themselves by building a new form of aesthetic education while stemming the flow of artwork out of the country.

Artxun (Chinese) posted the entirety of Li’s speech today. Translation of excerpts by ChinaLuxCultureBiz team:

Collection is a kind of cultural creation, and in collecting contemporary art one must face value standards, but value standards in a progressing era are of a very uncertain ideological form, and collectors — through their behavior — have to confirm whether they’re actually qualified to become the builders of value standards in the era in which we live. Every major collector who made an important contribution to art history, such as the Renaissance-era Medici family or the Guggenheims, Ludwig II…the famous American and Italian Guggenheim museums, and Germany’s Ludwig Museum — named after these collectors — because of these people and places collecting artwork, some of these works of art have become critical elements of art history.

Value standards are like the core of a culture, the artistic values of the system. In humanities and arts that show a distinct and unique profile we can say an era’s culture can be considered basically mature. Song, Yuan, Ming, and Qing Dynasty scholarly culture, from their conceptions of elegance to their enjoyment of pen and ink, had complete sets of values. In the wake of last century’s “May Fourth Movement” (ed. note: 1919 student-led demonstrations held in Beijing to protest imperialism and the Chinese government’s weak response to the Treaty of Versailles), when the banner of national salvation and strengthening the country was held high, led by the teachings of Western Realism, the tradition of subversive art — particularly after 1949 — in the context of the Cold War, China re-isolated itself from the West, and within the socialist family, Mao Zedong and the Soviet models combined the line of unity and struggle, and the Maoist model — under the direct guidance of Mao Zedong, by way of Soviet socialist realism — adapted Chinese folk aesthetics into the revolutionary realist style. 

Since the late 1970s, China once again opened itself to the world, and the Maoist style has been subverted, but more than 30 years of artistic practice has yet to clearly outline Chinese art, or at least we still haven’t reached a consensus on it. The way I see it, there are three main clues to why that I think are quite clear: First, from the late 1970s to the mid-1990s, we have China’s modern era and contemporary art movement. Three decades, during which artists experimented with every Western art movement and school of thought in contemporary art. In general, the use of Western modern art in China as a source of reference has these approximate ranges: 1979-1984, Impressionism to Abstract Expressionism; 1985-1989, Dada, Surrealism, as well as Joseph Beuys and so forth; to the late 1980s and early 1990s, Pop art. Chinese art since the opening in the late 1970s all takes place in the context of globalization, not in the sense of opening up to the background, nor does it refer to other countries’ contemporary art in the same space of exchange, more like learning the last 100 years of Western modern art history. However, China’s imitation of modern Western art and drawing merely comes from the language level, and Chinese contemporary artists expressing their feelings about their existence are always closely related to China’s cultural, political and social development. 

Second, Realism…I haven’t done an in-depth study on this, but the difference lies in a single word; I want to plant the seeds of change. I want to say that realism can be contemporary art, regardless of the meaning of the word…In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Fang Lijun, Liu Xiaodong, Liu Wei, Song Yonghong and other artists experienced a lack of belief in society as a whole and emotional confusion, and put their everyday lives, boredom and nausea into their art, creating a new mode of realism.

Third, Chinese ink painting since the mid-1980s, as represented by the new scholarly paintings which abandoned notions of realist ink paintings from 1910 to the 1970s, bringing back the ancient Chinese scholarly painting traditions that had been looking for nourishment.  At the same time, some brush and ink artists have absorbed aspects of Western modern art, to develop a modern style of ink painting.

…

To say that art collection is a kind of cultural creation has another meaning; it refers to the art and the community — the relationship between the public and artistic education. When we go to any country’s art museums to see artwork, we practically always see packs of students from kindergarten up through middle school who’ve been taken there to enjoy ancient and modern masterpieces. Art appreciation is a lifelong form of education, from childhood onward, for people in modern wealthy societies, and in every kind of art gallery and museum system — as the social environment for mass education in a modern civilization — it practically always accompanies every person’s maturing experience. But, unfortunately, China does not have such a social environment…In China, there’s no real sense of art museums. The role of the national and local government museums is, at best, just to function as an exhibition space — to mixed success — let alone to serve the function of aesthetic education.

We can’t expect the government to establish, from top to bottom, an art museum system in such a short amount of time, not least because the construction of the “hardware” is so difficult, but what’s harder is [assembling] the artwork itself, because up until now the collection in the government’s museum of contemporary art has been really poor, and not only because in the past three decades the important works of Chinese contemporary art have flowed overseas. Can the government spend the money to collect contemporary art? Aside from lack of funds, the hardest thing is that within a considerable amount of time, could the government possibly recognize the value of a contemporary art value system? 

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Fortunately, in recent years collection of contemporary art by Chinese collectors has entered the agenda, so building the optimal relationship between Chinese contemporary art’s value standards and art collection is already imminent. Especially after experiencing the changes in the global art market following the shock of the global economic crisis, we deeply felt that we had a huge historical responsibility. We hope that through joint effort, through private collectors helping to keep important works of contemporary art inside the country and also through private channels, we can accomplish the gradual completion of cultural construction — that is to say, aside from the National Museum of Contemporary Art system’s matters — through private collections and the opening up of new channels, through the many diverse small galleries popping up everywhere taking the lead in building a connection between contemporary art and society, an artistic bridge between contemporary art and the general public. Through all of this, we hope they can set the stage for modern aesthetic education and cultural development in a Chinese-style way.

Forum Provides Opportunity For Western, Chinese Collectors, Curators And Artists Come Together To Discuss Future Of Art Collecting In China

Western and Chinese experts discussed a wide range of important issues in art collecting at the Global Collecting Forum in Beijing (Photo: CRI)

Although the last few years have seen the rapid rise of the New Chinese Collector of contemporary Chinese art, the relatively late arrival of Chinese collectors means that the vast majority of major works of contemporary Chinese art remain in the collections of Western art collectors (such as the former Swiss diplomat-turned-prolific collector Uli Sigg, who owns around 2,000 pieces) or Western art museums and galleries. Although buying trends are changing, as more Chinese collectors and curators start to bolster their collections and diversify the artwork they acquire, one of the unique challenges that art lovers in China must face is the dearth of contemporary Chinese artwork available for view in their local museums and galleries.

With these issues — the underdevelopment of Chinese art museums and the growing interest in private art collection in China — in mind, this weekend the Global Collecting Forum was held at Beijing’s Reignwood Theater. The forum brought together a number of prominent Western and Chinese art collectors, museum curators, gallery owners and artists, whose work was shown at an exhibition which included pieces by prominent Chinese artists like Cai Guoqiang, Xu Bing, Liu Xiaodong and Wang Guangyi. According to Cultural China:

[Chinese writer-filmmaker Sun Shuyun], who was a guest at last year’s ISD forum, has met some of the world’s best-known art collectors and museum directors there. But she was somehow left with the impression that many of these “leaders of art collecting actually knew very little about Chinese art.”

The situation is expected to improve as this year’s forum brings over 30 leading art experts from Europe, the United States and Russia to meet with their Asian counterparts in the Chinese capital. Those set to show up include Baroness Kennedy QC, a trustee of the British Museum; Alexandra Monroe, senior curator at the Guggenheim Museum; and Derek Gillman, director of the US-based Barnes Foundation, a top collector of Post-Impressionist paintings.

After the activity of recent weeks, when more events such as this were held during China’s celebratory “Golden Week” and during the Songzhuang Art Festival (where China’s first-ever conference of collectors of Chinese contemporary art took place), it is clear that new Chinese collectors (and curators) are motivated to gain more artistic literacy while also learning techniques for boosting public awareness and interest in Chinese contemporary art. From an analysis of the Global Collecting Forum on China.org:

“Major museums in China are still focused largely on modern art as opposed to contemporary… and their collections rely largely on donations from artists or their relations,” [Wang Huangsheng, director of the Art Museum of China Central Academy of Fine Arts] said recently at the Global Collecting Forum, which for the first time gathered the world’s top institutional and private collectors in Beijing. According to Wang, although some museums have agendas for contemporary art, a small budget and an incomplete art preservation system are two major obstacles for Chinese museums in acquiring contemporary art. Wang calls on Chinese art museums to expand their financial resources, and make long-term and systematic collecting agendas.

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Experts at the forum believe it’s the responsibility of art museums and institutions to help the general public understand contemporary art, and by cultivating a wider social interest, motivate the public to become collectors.

Uli Sigg, the Swiss collector of Chinese contemporary art, has said he will probably bring his collection back to China eventually (“In the end, it would make sense for the Chinese people to see their own art.”). Hopefully by then, Chinese museums and private collectors will be ready to include those artworks in their permanent collections.

“China Design Now,” an acclaimed exhibit displaying the contemporary art and culture of China, has arrived in Portland from the Victoria and Albert Museum.

I’m incredibly excited about this show, after hearing about it all summer! Portland Art Museum staff just put on a stunning China Design Now Gala (See pictures here on PORT!) The museum has also designed a community website for the exhibit where the public can post comments, read blog posts, view photos of Chinese artwork, and watch videos. I recommend taking a few minutes to scroll through it…click here to access the website!

I will definitely visit the exhibition up close and personal soon and will report back to you all when I do! If you live in the Pacific Northwest, don’t miss “China Design Now.”

Exhibition From London’s Victoria and Albert Museum Puts Contemporary Chinese Design Front And Center

"China Design Now" is an excellent introduction to the world of contemporary Chinese design and visual arts

Over the last 30 years — but mainly in the last 10 — Chinese contemporary design has roared to life, leading to unique and culturally resonant architecture and striking visual arts. Beginning this week, this vibrant design will be on full display at the Portland Art Museum’s “China Design Now” exhibition in Portland, Oregon, giving visitors a glimpse of China’s rapidly shifting design industries while providing them a good cross-section of the tectonic cultural shifts that have awakened that country’s creative energy in the 21st century.

From The Oregonian:

“China Design Now” will hurl visitors into the here and now of contemporary China, with all of its huge-scale cultural energy. The giant isn’t sleeping anymore. It’s wide awake and roaring. And “China Design Now” attempts to nail down the elusive contemporary moment of this restlessly moving target.

One of the intriguing things about the Victoria and Albert exhibition is that it takes art off its pedestal and puts it front and center in a sweeping story of economics, politics and social transformation. Its emphasis is on design, from Nike shoes to advertising images to the massive engineering projects that have transformed the country.

Today’s China would not be possible without Deng Xiaoping’s rise to power in 1977 and the pragmatic internationalism that he cautiously ushered in. That included the relaxation of strict government control over private lives and the encouragement of a modified form of capitalism: As always, and forcefully in contemporary China, the story of art is also the story of money.

The exhibition traces an isolated modern China’s first stabs at mimicking international approaches to advertising and design, the growth of a symbiotic relationship between state-sponsored and private design, and the tension between the desire to become truly international and the wish to forge an approach that is uniquely China’s.

“China Design Now” will run at the Portland Art Museum until January 17, 2010.

Bidders From Mainland China Dominate As Expectations Are Surpassed In Landmark Autumn Auction

Chinese contemporary artist Liu Ye's "Portrait of L" sold in Hong Kong for $209,000 over its high estimate

Over the last week, we’ve followed the Sotheby’s autumn auction in Hong Kong, which included sales of everything from fine wine to antiquities to contemporary Chinese and Asian art, noting that sales were well above estimates and sell-through rates were promising. Today, in a wrap-up of the sales, Le-Min Lim of Bloomberg illustrates how this series of auctions, led by Chinese rather than American buyers, represents a major shift in auction buying trends:

The total beat both the presale estimate of HK$950 million and last year’s auction, which raised HK$1.1 billion ($141.7 million at that time), half its forecast, three weeks after Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.’s September 2008 failure.

“The bidding was intense,” auctioneer Henry Howard-Sneyd said in an interview after the auction. The mood in the saleroom was “electric” when Emperor Qianlong’s throne came on the block yesterday, he said: “This shows when the right item comes along, the money is there — especially from China.”

Chinese collectors have come out in force over the last year, recognizing quality lots and quickly developing a sophisticated eye for collection-worthy wines and paintings. In terms of antiquities, an area in which Chinese collectors have more experience, however, they seemingly can’t be beat:

The strength of Chinese bidding at the antiques sale defies a decade-old trend of Western dominance at the priciest end of the market. As recently as June, Sotheby’s rival, Christie’s International, said Americans were its top clients in this category, followed by the Chinese and Hong Kongers. Of the 2,400 lots offered this week, 88 percent found buyers.

The Chinese also bought the priciest wines and oil paintings by masters and contemporary art. Over the weekend, a Chinese buyer paid a record $94,000 for a 6-liter bottle of Chateau Petrus 1982; another spent HK$7.3 million for a 1984 oil-and-color on paper by Li Keran at the auction of classical Chinese paintings; while a third spent HK$36.5 million on a mid- 1950s oil-on-board painting, “Lotus et Poissons Rouges” (“Lotus and Red Fish”) by deceased Chinese master Sanyu.

While this article claims contemporary art underperformed, I think the sell-through at the contemporary Asian art auction speaks for itself. If lumping together all of the pieces at the contemporary auction — which included Chinese, Japanese and Korean artists in one large sale — I would say the final tally is brought down significantly by the Japanese and Korean artists, who sell, on the whole, for significantly less than quality Chinese contemporary artists.

In terms of the Chinese artists up for grabs in the contemporary sale, selling rates were excellent, with 5 of the 6 Zeng Fanzhi paintings up for auction going for well above than their high estimates, Yue Minjun’s “Hats Series – Two Lovers” selling for $372,000 over its high estimate, and works by top Chinese artists like Liu Ye, Wang Guangyi, and Huang Yongping destroying pre-sale estimates.