世界艺术市场大幅度缩水 专家:市场在变严肃(2009-10-12 14:47:53)标签：艺术市场 世界艺术 收藏家 艺术基金会 张皓铭 中国 先锋艺术家联盟 文化 分类：艺术新闻评论
作者： 路艳霞 2009-10-12 08:59:42 来源 ：《北京日报》
在一天的闭门会议后，首度在京举办的2009年全球艺术品收藏论坛昨天首次推出公共论坛。来自全球收藏界的顶级人物齐聚一堂把脉中国当代艺术市场，专家认为中国当代艺术过于强调市场行为，中国当代艺术市场尚处于不成熟的阶段。在剖析遭受金融风暴重创的世界艺术市场时，专家们认为艺术市场正在变得严肃、认真。
美国古根海姆博物馆高级策展人亚莉珊德拉·芒罗女士说，过去的5年来，中国当代艺术市场有了急剧增长，被更多的人关注、认识，“中国当代艺术具有很强的创造性，呈现出积极的、值得肯定的方面。”
芒罗女士说，正是因为中国当代艺术市场急剧膨胀，人们对艺术的判断往往以市场价值为主，而对艺术的审美性和批判性认识不足。“大家习惯于从市场价值和拍卖价格来看作品，当代艺术整个系统完全是市场化的，这对艺术创作有很多负面的影响。一旦遇到经济危机，艺术品就会面临大幅度缩水的局面。”
据悉，中国当代艺术在这次金融风暴中大约缩水三四成，但实际上，国外艺术市场遭受的重创更甚。卢森伯格艺术基金会主席达尼埃拉·卢森伯格女士透露，世界一些知名艺术机构的艺术品成交量缩水高达70%，有的甚至达到了100%。
对此，收藏界人士分享了不同的观点。荷中艺术基金会总裁、私人收藏家桑德斯说：“有很多收藏家都是追着价格走，我一直坚持从艺术品中找到自己的情感和精神所得，一直用自己的独特的方式来坚持自我，而不为市场左右。”德国沃尔克·迪尔画廊创始人沃尔克·迪尔说：“投机商消失了，真正的收藏家回来了，他们重新审视艺术收藏和展览，艺术市场这种全新的动态其实是很严肃、很认真的。”
与会专家也注意到，尽管中国当代艺术市场还不成熟，但是已经培育出一批当代艺术收藏家。私人收藏家张皓铭说，他目前已经收藏有包括中国当代艺术在内的800件艺术品。“我8年前开始收藏，当时当代艺术市场并未形成，在拍卖会上偶尔听说当代艺术家创造的拍卖纪录一般是二三十万元。”张皓铭说，他最开始是从投资角度介入收藏领域的，但是逐渐开始关注艺术本身，随后他将其 750平方米的私人建筑改建成了1700平方米的家居式美术馆，这家别致的美术馆这几年不断迎来国内外观众。
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Friday, October 16, 2009
麦当劳开进卢浮宫 法国人很郁闷(2009-10-12 14:41:35)标签：卢浮宫 麦当劳 商廊 法国人 文化霸权 先锋艺术家联盟 文化 分类：艺术新闻评论
2009-10-12 10:19:24 来源 ：《信息时报》
快餐业巨头美国麦当劳快餐公司说，定于今年11月在法国卢浮宫开店。卢浮宫方面已证实这一说法,称同意麦当劳公司开设一家“品质优良”的连锁店与卢浮宫“形象相符”。但同时表示，“麦当劳餐厅所在的卡鲁塞尔商廊是私人经营场所，与博物馆无任何关联”。
为庆祝麦当劳进军法国30周年，这家美国快餐连锁品牌店将在卢浮宫入口前的卡鲁塞勒商廊开设一家分店，也是在法国的第1142家分店。这个商廊原本应该开设一些艺术精品店，定位与卢浮宫的艺术氛围相吻合。但开设麦当劳快餐店引发很多人的不满，在他们看来麦当劳代表的是美国消费文化，此举是对艺术的入侵。
麦当劳“进驻”消息在法国民众中引发争议，不少人认为,麦当劳会破坏卢浮宫的艺术氛围。
管理方“只需说一个词就可避免炸薯条气味飘过《蒙娜·丽莎》(画像)的鼻子”。——法国民众
麦当劳已在法国走过三十载，已在其境内开设1100多家分店，使法国成为麦当劳在美国以外的最大市场，而香榭丽舍大街上的麦当劳店更是其全球营业额最高的店。多年来，虽然所代表的美式快餐文化颇受诟病，但凭借成功的法国化经营策略，麦当劳还是逐渐得到当地民众的认可。
法国民众可以接受法国化的麦当劳，但难以接受麦当劳代表的美国文化。麦当劳进驻卢浮宫引发争议，表面上看是人们担心会破坏卢浮宫的艺术氛围，但法国人对美国文化由来已久的抵触情绪，恐怕才是更深层的原因所在。
随着世界经济一体化，麦当劳跟可口可乐、好莱坞电影一样，已成为美国流行文化的象征。一些人认为它们是美国文化输出的手段，甚至是美国文化霸权的象征。不少法国人将麦当劳视为全球化的“特洛伊木马”，认为麦当劳食品在侵略本民族的美食文化，而麦当劳食品及其消费模式背后的美国文化，则正对本民族文化进行霸权侵略。
为保护本国文化不受美国文化霸权侵略，法国提出“文化例外”，而美食和艺术无疑是法国“文化例外”的象征。现在让《蒙娜丽莎》终日与“麦当劳叔叔”为伍，对法国人来说无疑是对艺术的亵渎。
2009-10-12 10:19:24 来源 ：《信息时报》
快餐业巨头美国麦当劳快餐公司说，定于今年11月在法国卢浮宫开店。卢浮宫方面已证实这一说法,称同意麦当劳公司开设一家“品质优良”的连锁店与卢浮宫“形象相符”。但同时表示，“麦当劳餐厅所在的卡鲁塞尔商廊是私人经营场所，与博物馆无任何关联”。
为庆祝麦当劳进军法国30周年，这家美国快餐连锁品牌店将在卢浮宫入口前的卡鲁塞勒商廊开设一家分店，也是在法国的第1142家分店。这个商廊原本应该开设一些艺术精品店，定位与卢浮宫的艺术氛围相吻合。但开设麦当劳快餐店引发很多人的不满，在他们看来麦当劳代表的是美国消费文化，此举是对艺术的入侵。
麦当劳“进驻”消息在法国民众中引发争议，不少人认为,麦当劳会破坏卢浮宫的艺术氛围。
管理方“只需说一个词就可避免炸薯条气味飘过《蒙娜·丽莎》(画像)的鼻子”。——法国民众
麦当劳已在法国走过三十载，已在其境内开设1100多家分店，使法国成为麦当劳在美国以外的最大市场，而香榭丽舍大街上的麦当劳店更是其全球营业额最高的店。多年来，虽然所代表的美式快餐文化颇受诟病，但凭借成功的法国化经营策略，麦当劳还是逐渐得到当地民众的认可。
法国民众可以接受法国化的麦当劳，但难以接受麦当劳代表的美国文化。麦当劳进驻卢浮宫引发争议，表面上看是人们担心会破坏卢浮宫的艺术氛围，但法国人对美国文化由来已久的抵触情绪，恐怕才是更深层的原因所在。
随着世界经济一体化，麦当劳跟可口可乐、好莱坞电影一样，已成为美国流行文化的象征。一些人认为它们是美国文化输出的手段，甚至是美国文化霸权的象征。不少法国人将麦当劳视为全球化的“特洛伊木马”，认为麦当劳食品在侵略本民族的美食文化，而麦当劳食品及其消费模式背后的美国文化，则正对本民族文化进行霸权侵略。
为保护本国文化不受美国文化霸权侵略，法国提出“文化例外”，而美食和艺术无疑是法国“文化例外”的象征。现在让《蒙娜丽莎》终日与“麦当劳叔叔”为伍，对法国人来说无疑是对艺术的亵渎。
荷兰举办史上最大型凡·高书信展(2009-10-12 14:44:37)标签：书信 信件 美术馆 艺术家 凡·高 荷兰 先锋艺术家联盟 文化 分类：艺术展览
2009-10-12 10:14:33 来源 ：《东方早报》
阿姆斯特丹一家美术馆的整整四层楼面、6册共计2164页的宏伟巨著、免费的iPhone体验，以及一个网站上数以千计的图片——这一切是15年的成果，也是一项特别的计划——向一位生活当中彻底的失败者致敬。这位失败者便是文森特·凡·高。
凡·高的信件常常图文并茂
凡·高1888年10月2日从阿尔写给提奥的信里附有《星夜》的草图
向更广泛的观众开放
在凡·高37岁那年，他走入了前几天刚画过的法国田间，把子弹射入了自己的胸膛。“这是一个关于不切实际的承诺的浪漫故事，”凡·高美术馆馆长Axel Ruger说，“也许是艺术史上最伟大的故事之一。”
10月9日起，在凡·高美术馆的努力下，全世界将首次亲眼见到艺术家留存下来的每幅油画和素描——甚至得以更深入地了解到这些作品是如何创作出来的。此次展览展出了120封信件及数百幅油画和素描。展览的副题是“艺术家有话说”。然而，凡·高不只在诉说，他沉醉于自己的迷思中。在信中，他常显得悲惨、惊恐、自怨自艾，但更多时候，他饶舌、沉思、聪明，乃至兴奋。他情绪化，但不像好莱坞所描绘的那样是个疯子，语无伦次、暴风骤雨般向画布上涂抹浓墨重彩。
该展览将信件聚在一起，把生动的勾勒图、素描草图和最终完成的油画并置。这些真品脆弱易损，展览结束后将被精心放回原处，只有学者预约，才会偶尔展露真容。
但凡·高美术馆深知，这些作品应永久向更广泛的观众开放。展览开幕的同时，六卷本的《凡·高书信》以荷兰文、法文和英文一起发行，其中囊括了819封艺术家手写的书信——其中大部分是给其弟弟、挚友和资助者提奥的——以及83封写给凡·高的信件。同时还配有凡·高的作品，他在信中涉及的每件印刷品、油画和素描，他所遇见和提到的每位艺术家，他引用(或引错)的图书、诗句和圣经段落，全部都将得到呈现。
与展览同时推出的还有一个网站(www.vangoghletters.org)，读者可以在网站上浏览每封信件的副本。
颜料，油墨，还是血迹?
展览开幕后，一张肮脏、折皱的纸片前总是排着长队，这封信是艺术家在生命的最后时刻草就的。信纸上有六个污点，观众们通过朦胧的灯光，凝视着昏暗的展柜。在网站上，这封信的副本可以被放大，但依然无法解答那个阴魂不散又无法回避的问题：颜料，油墨，还是——血迹?
这封最后的书信以“谢谢你善良的来信和附带的50法郎”开头，却再也没有机会完成。在提奥所称的“可怕的那天”，凡·高带着致命伤，蹒跚地回到栖居的小旅店。其后，这封信在艺术家的尸体上被发现。
而在阿尔时期，他画下著名的《星夜》前不久，在一封写给弟弟的信中，他写道：“我们可以搭乘死亡抵达星星，正如我们搭乘火车抵达塔拉斯孔或鲁昂。”
当博物馆的职员开始信件整理工作时，他们以为要不了五年，结果整理工作持续了15年。其中最艰难的工作是追溯这位热衷于宗教的艺术家经常引用的——有时候是引错的——圣经经文。尽管Axel Ruger对于整个计划的专业性非常骄傲，但他似乎更对成果登录iPhone暗暗兴奋。“任何人，在世界上任何地方，都可以在口袋里装满这些信件，”他说，微笑着，“太酷了。”
2009-10-12 10:14:33 来源 ：《东方早报》
阿姆斯特丹一家美术馆的整整四层楼面、6册共计2164页的宏伟巨著、免费的iPhone体验，以及一个网站上数以千计的图片——这一切是15年的成果，也是一项特别的计划——向一位生活当中彻底的失败者致敬。这位失败者便是文森特·凡·高。
凡·高的信件常常图文并茂
凡·高1888年10月2日从阿尔写给提奥的信里附有《星夜》的草图
向更广泛的观众开放
在凡·高37岁那年，他走入了前几天刚画过的法国田间，把子弹射入了自己的胸膛。“这是一个关于不切实际的承诺的浪漫故事，”凡·高美术馆馆长Axel Ruger说，“也许是艺术史上最伟大的故事之一。”
10月9日起，在凡·高美术馆的努力下，全世界将首次亲眼见到艺术家留存下来的每幅油画和素描——甚至得以更深入地了解到这些作品是如何创作出来的。此次展览展出了120封信件及数百幅油画和素描。展览的副题是“艺术家有话说”。然而，凡·高不只在诉说，他沉醉于自己的迷思中。在信中，他常显得悲惨、惊恐、自怨自艾，但更多时候，他饶舌、沉思、聪明，乃至兴奋。他情绪化，但不像好莱坞所描绘的那样是个疯子，语无伦次、暴风骤雨般向画布上涂抹浓墨重彩。
该展览将信件聚在一起，把生动的勾勒图、素描草图和最终完成的油画并置。这些真品脆弱易损，展览结束后将被精心放回原处，只有学者预约，才会偶尔展露真容。
但凡·高美术馆深知，这些作品应永久向更广泛的观众开放。展览开幕的同时，六卷本的《凡·高书信》以荷兰文、法文和英文一起发行，其中囊括了819封艺术家手写的书信——其中大部分是给其弟弟、挚友和资助者提奥的——以及83封写给凡·高的信件。同时还配有凡·高的作品，他在信中涉及的每件印刷品、油画和素描，他所遇见和提到的每位艺术家，他引用(或引错)的图书、诗句和圣经段落，全部都将得到呈现。
与展览同时推出的还有一个网站(www.vangoghletters.org)，读者可以在网站上浏览每封信件的副本。
颜料，油墨，还是血迹?
展览开幕后，一张肮脏、折皱的纸片前总是排着长队，这封信是艺术家在生命的最后时刻草就的。信纸上有六个污点，观众们通过朦胧的灯光，凝视着昏暗的展柜。在网站上，这封信的副本可以被放大，但依然无法解答那个阴魂不散又无法回避的问题：颜料，油墨，还是——血迹?
这封最后的书信以“谢谢你善良的来信和附带的50法郎”开头，却再也没有机会完成。在提奥所称的“可怕的那天”，凡·高带着致命伤，蹒跚地回到栖居的小旅店。其后，这封信在艺术家的尸体上被发现。
而在阿尔时期，他画下著名的《星夜》前不久，在一封写给弟弟的信中，他写道：“我们可以搭乘死亡抵达星星，正如我们搭乘火车抵达塔拉斯孔或鲁昂。”
当博物馆的职员开始信件整理工作时，他们以为要不了五年，结果整理工作持续了15年。其中最艰难的工作是追溯这位热衷于宗教的艺术家经常引用的——有时候是引错的——圣经经文。尽管Axel Ruger对于整个计划的专业性非常骄傲，但他似乎更对成果登录iPhone暗暗兴奋。“任何人，在世界上任何地方，都可以在口袋里装满这些信件，”他说，微笑着，“太酷了。”
栗宪庭—中国前卫艺术的教父
2005-07-08 13:57:41 来源 ： 中国美术家
不知道大家对样宪庭了解多少。以下是我几年前采访过栗本人的文章。敬请大家参阅。
栗宪庭：中国前卫的教父
1989年2月，北京举行中国现代艺术大展，我与周蝶慧女士参观了这次激动人心的大展，并记住一个名字：栗宪庭。大约都是邯郸人吧，在以后的日子里，国内外各种艺术大展中，我都注意到是否有他做艺术主持与批评，理由很简单，因为有他的参与就能表明这次展览的档次与是否具有现代性。
国内美评家不少，可始终关注着当代艺术并进行批评与研究的，栗先生却是唯一的，中国前卫艺术集中在国际艺坛上频频露脸，引起了国际新闻媒体广泛注意：美国《时代》周刊、《纽约时报》、英国BBC电视台、德国第二电视、香港无线电视以及日本、意大利等国对中国前卫艺术和栗本人进行热情报道。
今年3月27日，电话采访了这位文化名人。
荒：栗老师，王朔的小说，方力钧的绘画，崔健的摇滚音乐在国内外引起很大的反响，他们这种文人痞子给倾向是否该下课了呢。
栗：确实是有一种失落，但不是下课而是转型，当代艺术最大的特点就是流行性与商业性，93年之后，美术界出现很多描绘庸俗文化的画面，这是一种反讽，王朔的小说都的反理想、反英雄主义的，而崔健的早期音乐还没完全放弃理想主义，还有一丝英雄主义的悲剧意识在里面。
荒：上海的余秋雨教授写了一本《文化苦族》的书，实质上是文人在商业潮冲击下的一种，我将知识分子分为二种：一种是研究“物“的科技知识分子，在市场经济条件下，他们生存是不成问题的；另外一种研究“人“的人文知识分子，生存环境日益恶化，尤其是搞纯艺术的人，你能谈您的看法吗？
栗：中国和西方都存在这样的问题，歌星、影星比一流的画家收入要高得多，但是你如果把艺术作为生存方式的话，也就无所谓了。艺术品与艺术市场是两个概念，在六、七十年代西方出现了一些比较成功的艺术家，由于平面转向行为和物体化，他们的作品没法买，所以依然很穷。
荒：传统知识分子讲究“修、齐、治、平“即修身、齐家、治国、平天下，而现在知识分子只剩下修身、齐家，而治国平天下的抱负再也没有了呢？知识分子是否还能承担起人类“精神牧师“的功能呢？
栗：传统上的知识分子读书的目的就是当官，这明显带有功利主义色彩。现在是分离，以便更好地做学问，你可以做很好的哲学家与思想家嘛，还是有一部分知识分子并没放弃对人的拯救与关注。
93年意大利威尼斯双年展有五十多个国家和地区参展，中国的16位艺术家首次入展，其意义不亚于中国运动员首次入围奥运会，作为国际第二大展，他们邀请了中国唯一的评委－－栗宪庭先生，这次参展，确定了他国际美术批评家的形象，他不仅仅是批评家，还是一个很好的艺术主持。他是一座中国当代艺术与国际舞台对话的“桥“。
（栗宪庭小传：邯郸峰峰人，毕业于中央美术学院，后任《美术》杂志编辑，原中国美术报编辑部主任，现为中国艺术研究院美术研究所研究员）
2005-07-08 13:57:41 来源 ： 中国美术家
不知道大家对样宪庭了解多少。以下是我几年前采访过栗本人的文章。敬请大家参阅。
栗宪庭：中国前卫的教父
1989年2月，北京举行中国现代艺术大展，我与周蝶慧女士参观了这次激动人心的大展，并记住一个名字：栗宪庭。大约都是邯郸人吧，在以后的日子里，国内外各种艺术大展中，我都注意到是否有他做艺术主持与批评，理由很简单，因为有他的参与就能表明这次展览的档次与是否具有现代性。
国内美评家不少，可始终关注着当代艺术并进行批评与研究的，栗先生却是唯一的，中国前卫艺术集中在国际艺坛上频频露脸，引起了国际新闻媒体广泛注意：美国《时代》周刊、《纽约时报》、英国BBC电视台、德国第二电视、香港无线电视以及日本、意大利等国对中国前卫艺术和栗本人进行热情报道。
今年3月27日，电话采访了这位文化名人。
荒：栗老师，王朔的小说，方力钧的绘画，崔健的摇滚音乐在国内外引起很大的反响，他们这种文人痞子给倾向是否该下课了呢。
栗：确实是有一种失落，但不是下课而是转型，当代艺术最大的特点就是流行性与商业性，93年之后，美术界出现很多描绘庸俗文化的画面，这是一种反讽，王朔的小说都的反理想、反英雄主义的，而崔健的早期音乐还没完全放弃理想主义，还有一丝英雄主义的悲剧意识在里面。
荒：上海的余秋雨教授写了一本《文化苦族》的书，实质上是文人在商业潮冲击下的一种，我将知识分子分为二种：一种是研究“物“的科技知识分子，在市场经济条件下，他们生存是不成问题的；另外一种研究“人“的人文知识分子，生存环境日益恶化，尤其是搞纯艺术的人，你能谈您的看法吗？
栗：中国和西方都存在这样的问题，歌星、影星比一流的画家收入要高得多，但是你如果把艺术作为生存方式的话，也就无所谓了。艺术品与艺术市场是两个概念，在六、七十年代西方出现了一些比较成功的艺术家，由于平面转向行为和物体化，他们的作品没法买，所以依然很穷。
荒：传统知识分子讲究“修、齐、治、平“即修身、齐家、治国、平天下，而现在知识分子只剩下修身、齐家，而治国平天下的抱负再也没有了呢？知识分子是否还能承担起人类“精神牧师“的功能呢？
栗：传统上的知识分子读书的目的就是当官，这明显带有功利主义色彩。现在是分离，以便更好地做学问，你可以做很好的哲学家与思想家嘛，还是有一部分知识分子并没放弃对人的拯救与关注。
93年意大利威尼斯双年展有五十多个国家和地区参展，中国的16位艺术家首次入展，其意义不亚于中国运动员首次入围奥运会，作为国际第二大展，他们邀请了中国唯一的评委－－栗宪庭先生，这次参展，确定了他国际美术批评家的形象，他不仅仅是批评家，还是一个很好的艺术主持。他是一座中国当代艺术与国际舞台对话的“桥“。
（栗宪庭小传：邯郸峰峰人，毕业于中央美术学院，后任《美术》杂志编辑，原中国美术报编辑部主任，现为中国艺术研究院美术研究所研究员）
Thursday, October 15, 2009
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Chinese Art Coming To a Museum Near You
April 4, 2009 · 8 Comments
More Museums Expected to Follow the Lead of the Getty, MOMA, Tate, Pompidou etc.
Yesterday, I talked about the Getty Museum in Los Angeles acquiring photos by Chinese artists Wang Qingsong and Hai Bo, and described how the leap from gallery or personal collection to museum solidifies an artists’ or a country’s artwork, giving it validation and ensuring longevity. Since then, I’ve been keeping an eye out for articles on this topic, and I’m finding that the story has been picked up pretty widely, with each outlet throwing in a little more detail.
Georgina Adam has a piece today in the Financial Times about the Getty’s acquisition, making the case that this is a major step forward for Chinese art, and a real validation of the quality of China’s contemporary artists:
Chinese contemporary art is little represented in US museums, but a significant step was taken last year when the Museum of Modern Art in New York acquired 28 photographs by 11 contemporary Chinese artists. They included work by Ai Weiwei, Rong Rong and Huang Yan, and were bought from the US collector and publisher Larry Warsh.
Now Warsh, whose 700-strong holding also includes painting and sculpture, has sold nine works by two Chinese photographers to the Getty Museum in California.
It is the Getty’s first big acquisition in this field. The works are by Wang Qingsong and Hai Bo, and include Hai Bo’s “I am Chairman Mao’s Red Guard” (2000), showing the same person now and when she was a young militant, and Wang Qingsong’s dolled-up “New Women” (2000, pictured). “The Getty has one of the largest collections of photography in the world, and it is important for it to add Chinese contemporary photography to its holdings,” says Warsh.
“It is the start of a new era for the museum, and with the large Asian-American community in California, the acquisition also enables [the museum] to connect with this audience.”
By all indications, the Getty’s choice to add these artists to its extensive photography collection should be followed by other museums. As the quote in the FT piece suggests, the acquisition of these works is showing signs that a global trend is beginning to take root — in an important, but still relatively quiet, scale. As Art Radar Asia points out, the Getty follows
the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, and the Brooklyn Museum, as well as global institutions such as the Tate and the Pompidou Center [in acquiring major works of contemporary Chinese art].
Zhang Xiaogang, Amnesia and Memory, 2003
Additionally, I have read about further acquisitions in important venues like the Sackler in DC, the Seattle Art Museum, and Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. What really sets these recent purchases apart (and makes them noteworthy to me — hence I write about them twice in two days) is the depth of these purchases. Museums are interested in the Yue Minjuns and Zhang Xiaogangs, naturally, since they are the superstars of Chinese art, but I’m fascinated by the Getty’s choice of Wang Qingsong and Hai Bo — famous artists, certainly, but more importantly, serious artists. Wang Guangyi’s paintings are beloved by collectors for their humor and seamless satire of both consumerism and communism, and the smiling faces of Yue Minjun are either sinister or life-affirming, depending on your mood and viewpoint. But, as RedBox Review illustrates, the photography of Wang Qingsong and Hai Bo touch on much deeper (and in Hai’s case, rawer) issues to the Chinese themselves:
Works [by Hai and Wang] provide modern interpretations of Chinese history. Hai Bo’s photographs recreate the portraits of pictures taken during the Cultural Revolution, while Wang Qingsong’s humorously reinterprets the lavish scenes of traditional Chinese scroll paintings.
Many non-Chinese art lovers may marvel at the vivid color and impressive staging of Wang’s photos or Hai’s touching “before-and-after” style, but the underlying messages and deeper cultural resonance in both artists’ work — the devolution of China from the world’s center of culture and imperial splendor into consumeristic squalor, blindly following the lead of foreign/western countries; and Hai’s juxtaposition of the fervent, often violent, aggressively nationalistic Red Guard and youth of the Cultural Revolution with their present-day appearance, the sharp lines of their smiling, black-and-white faces replaced by sagging jawlines and eyes which have seen their country turned upside down and the idealistic actions of their youth relegated by the government to a footnote, an “experiment” in modern Chinese history.
Cai Guo-Qiang, I Want to Believe, 2008
The important point I’m trying to make, in a long-winded way, is that the work of the artists that have recently been acquired by major museums throughout the west in many ways buck the trend of the broadly-appealing Chinese artwork that has been a major focus in recent years. It looks like museums are warming up to contemporary Chinese artists who are not content with simply painting Mao wearing a bikini and reaching out to the marketing machine. Installations like the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s “Cai Guo-Qiang on the Roof: Transparent Monument” and the Guggenheim’s major retrospective of the same artist last year show that conceptual Chinese art is as legitimate as that from any other major art-producing country.
Put simply, museums, collectors, and galleries are getting more engaged with these artists’ work. I cannot state enough how huge of a development I believe this is. And I feel that as Chinese artists see that their work is taken seriously overseas, the effort and imagination that they put into their work will duly increase, keeping quality consistent (or rising) and ensuring that contemporary Chinese art is never again dismissed as a “fad.”
Chinese Art Coming To a Museum Near You
April 4, 2009 · 8 Comments
More Museums Expected to Follow the Lead of the Getty, MOMA, Tate, Pompidou etc.
Yesterday, I talked about the Getty Museum in Los Angeles acquiring photos by Chinese artists Wang Qingsong and Hai Bo, and described how the leap from gallery or personal collection to museum solidifies an artists’ or a country’s artwork, giving it validation and ensuring longevity. Since then, I’ve been keeping an eye out for articles on this topic, and I’m finding that the story has been picked up pretty widely, with each outlet throwing in a little more detail.
Georgina Adam has a piece today in the Financial Times about the Getty’s acquisition, making the case that this is a major step forward for Chinese art, and a real validation of the quality of China’s contemporary artists:
Chinese contemporary art is little represented in US museums, but a significant step was taken last year when the Museum of Modern Art in New York acquired 28 photographs by 11 contemporary Chinese artists. They included work by Ai Weiwei, Rong Rong and Huang Yan, and were bought from the US collector and publisher Larry Warsh.
Now Warsh, whose 700-strong holding also includes painting and sculpture, has sold nine works by two Chinese photographers to the Getty Museum in California.
It is the Getty’s first big acquisition in this field. The works are by Wang Qingsong and Hai Bo, and include Hai Bo’s “I am Chairman Mao’s Red Guard” (2000), showing the same person now and when she was a young militant, and Wang Qingsong’s dolled-up “New Women” (2000, pictured). “The Getty has one of the largest collections of photography in the world, and it is important for it to add Chinese contemporary photography to its holdings,” says Warsh.
“It is the start of a new era for the museum, and with the large Asian-American community in California, the acquisition also enables [the museum] to connect with this audience.”
By all indications, the Getty’s choice to add these artists to its extensive photography collection should be followed by other museums. As the quote in the FT piece suggests, the acquisition of these works is showing signs that a global trend is beginning to take root — in an important, but still relatively quiet, scale. As Art Radar Asia points out, the Getty follows
the Museum of Contemporary Art in Los Angeles, and the Brooklyn Museum, as well as global institutions such as the Tate and the Pompidou Center [in acquiring major works of contemporary Chinese art].
Zhang Xiaogang, Amnesia and Memory, 2003
Additionally, I have read about further acquisitions in important venues like the Sackler in DC, the Seattle Art Museum, and Museum of Contemporary Art in Chicago. What really sets these recent purchases apart (and makes them noteworthy to me — hence I write about them twice in two days) is the depth of these purchases. Museums are interested in the Yue Minjuns and Zhang Xiaogangs, naturally, since they are the superstars of Chinese art, but I’m fascinated by the Getty’s choice of Wang Qingsong and Hai Bo — famous artists, certainly, but more importantly, serious artists. Wang Guangyi’s paintings are beloved by collectors for their humor and seamless satire of both consumerism and communism, and the smiling faces of Yue Minjun are either sinister or life-affirming, depending on your mood and viewpoint. But, as RedBox Review illustrates, the photography of Wang Qingsong and Hai Bo touch on much deeper (and in Hai’s case, rawer) issues to the Chinese themselves:
Works [by Hai and Wang] provide modern interpretations of Chinese history. Hai Bo’s photographs recreate the portraits of pictures taken during the Cultural Revolution, while Wang Qingsong’s humorously reinterprets the lavish scenes of traditional Chinese scroll paintings.
Many non-Chinese art lovers may marvel at the vivid color and impressive staging of Wang’s photos or Hai’s touching “before-and-after” style, but the underlying messages and deeper cultural resonance in both artists’ work — the devolution of China from the world’s center of culture and imperial splendor into consumeristic squalor, blindly following the lead of foreign/western countries; and Hai’s juxtaposition of the fervent, often violent, aggressively nationalistic Red Guard and youth of the Cultural Revolution with their present-day appearance, the sharp lines of their smiling, black-and-white faces replaced by sagging jawlines and eyes which have seen their country turned upside down and the idealistic actions of their youth relegated by the government to a footnote, an “experiment” in modern Chinese history.
Cai Guo-Qiang, I Want to Believe, 2008
The important point I’m trying to make, in a long-winded way, is that the work of the artists that have recently been acquired by major museums throughout the west in many ways buck the trend of the broadly-appealing Chinese artwork that has been a major focus in recent years. It looks like museums are warming up to contemporary Chinese artists who are not content with simply painting Mao wearing a bikini and reaching out to the marketing machine. Installations like the Metropolitan Museum of Art’s “Cai Guo-Qiang on the Roof: Transparent Monument” and the Guggenheim’s major retrospective of the same artist last year show that conceptual Chinese art is as legitimate as that from any other major art-producing country.
Put simply, museums, collectors, and galleries are getting more engaged with these artists’ work. I cannot state enough how huge of a development I believe this is. And I feel that as Chinese artists see that their work is taken seriously overseas, the effort and imagination that they put into their work will duly increase, keeping quality consistent (or rising) and ensuring that contemporary Chinese art is never again dismissed as a “fad.”
White Rabbit Contemporary Chinese Art Collection Is One Of Australia’s Largest, Eagerly Anticipated Privately Funded Art Museums
Graphic © White Rabbit Contemporary Chinese Art Collection
We have written recently on privately-funded contemporary Chinese art museums, which have sprung up everywhere from Beijing to Singapore and elsewhere. Recently, Australia’s White Rabbit Contemporary Chinese art collection has opened to the public, giving art fans the opportunity to view more than 400 works by 160 artists, and significantly bolstering Sydney’s Chinese art infrastructure. The collection, which focuses specifically on works created since 2000, and as The Australian points out, takes up “2000sqm of space, reportedly developed at a cost of about $10 million, on four levels. The publicity material describes it, with some justification, as one of the most significant collections of contemporary Chinese art anywhere in the world.”
Ashleigh Wilson, writing for The Australian, notes that the White Rabbit collection — one of several privately-funded art museums to have opened in Australia in the last few years — gives Australians interested in Chinese art an excellent venue to learn more about the country’s artists and evolving artistic trends. With the growing contingent of large-scale domestic Chinese collectors in China growing year-by-year, I would forecast that it is only a matter of time before privately-funded museums like White Rabbit begin to pop up in mainland China as well.
Edmund Capon, director of the Art Gallery of NSW and a specialist in the art of China, says the collection is a significant addition to the cultural infrastructure of Sydney. He says the works capture some of the essence of contemporary China, where tensions remain between maintaining social order alongside a “degree of liberty” for citizens.
“Everything here, however dramatic, different, energetic or global it might be, has some subtle nuance, some subtle stamp, that says: ‘Made in China,”‘ Capon says. “There is this subtle battle between freedom and authority. It’s absolutely an indelible part of contemporary Chinese life and I think it’s manifested in the works here.”
The collection was founded by Judith Neilson, who has made repeated trips to China to source work withZhiyuan’s help. Neilson is the wife of Kerr Neilson, founder of Platinum Asset Management, whose fortune was valued in this year’s BRW Executive Rich List at $1.6billion, three places behind another businessman turned art investor, Kerry Stokes.
But while Stokes takes an active interest in his collection, Kerr Neilson seems to prefer a more hands-off approach. Developing, maintaining and building the collection falls to Judith Neilson and daughter Paris, who manages it.
At a preview of the gallery yesterday, Judith Neilson was reluctant to talk about the work, nominating her daughter instead. But she did say, when pressed, that she wanted the museum to be be accessible to all and that she hoped to show a different side to contemporary Chinese art to the public.
“I was wanting to show Australian and international viewers how different the art was to what they had expected,” she says.
Zhiyuan, who moved from China to Sydney after the Tiananmen Square uprising in 1989 before returning to Beijing eight years ago, says contemporary Chinese artists are embracing outside influences like never before. He says the White Rabbit collection has the potential to expand Western knowledge of the Chinese scene. “Judith said she wanted to make a connection with Australia and she wants to take the collection to the world.”
Paris Neilson appears flustered as people come and go, dealing with last-minute preparations before the collection opens to the public next Thursday. She says the works tell the “evolving story of China”, but insists they should not be seen as definitive. (The name, her mother says later, was “just a little flash that happened”.) “It’s things that we really respond to, that make an impact,” she says of the selection process. “Some of the works are really bold and in your face, but other pieces are incredibly delicate and fragile. We have such an eclectic mix of work, it’s really just about what we respond to.”
White Rabbit is one of only a handful of large privately funded, non-commercial museums in the country, an exclusive set that will include, from next year, David Walsh’s Museum of Old and New Art in Tasmania. By their nature, private museums operate differently from state-funded institutions, often reflecting their owner’s tastes.
Paris Neilson is at pains, though, to point out that her family’s collection is far from being a fanciful exercise. “It’s not like we’re doing this on a whim at all. This is a serious gallery and the quality of work here is fantastic and a very high standard, but we’re different from a public gallery,” she says. “But I think we just add to the scene. We’re just another cultural space that the public have access to. We’re not trying to fill in gaps, we’re not trying to be exhaustive. We can sort of do our own thing in a way.”
She has accompanied her mother and Zhiyuan on several trips to China and says the country’s art has shifted in recent years from the overtly political to the personal.
“When (Chinese art) started to take off in the 80s and 90s, it was a lot more about Mao and the Cultural Revolution and politics, and now the issues are really universal. Whether it’s love or hate, or consumerism, or degradation of the environment, there are a lot more of the issues that apply to everyone.”
Asked to point out a favourite, Paris Neilson suggests one artist in particular, Bingyi, whose painting Six Accounts of a Floating Life hangs in the collection. Bingyi, 34, divides her time between Beijing and Buffalo, New York, and White Rabbit has brought her to Australia for the first time. She says her painting — a colourful narrative of love, tragedy and imagination, based on an 18th-century memoir and told over five panels — has experienced a similar journey, being completed in the US, transported to China, then taken by the Neilsons to Sydney. Wandering through the exhibition space, Bingyi says the collection has given her a new perspective on Chinese art. “I never thought I would see anything like this,” she says. “It’s completely refreshing here.”
Graphic © White Rabbit Contemporary Chinese Art Collection
We have written recently on privately-funded contemporary Chinese art museums, which have sprung up everywhere from Beijing to Singapore and elsewhere. Recently, Australia’s White Rabbit Contemporary Chinese art collection has opened to the public, giving art fans the opportunity to view more than 400 works by 160 artists, and significantly bolstering Sydney’s Chinese art infrastructure. The collection, which focuses specifically on works created since 2000, and as The Australian points out, takes up “2000sqm of space, reportedly developed at a cost of about $10 million, on four levels. The publicity material describes it, with some justification, as one of the most significant collections of contemporary Chinese art anywhere in the world.”
Ashleigh Wilson, writing for The Australian, notes that the White Rabbit collection — one of several privately-funded art museums to have opened in Australia in the last few years — gives Australians interested in Chinese art an excellent venue to learn more about the country’s artists and evolving artistic trends. With the growing contingent of large-scale domestic Chinese collectors in China growing year-by-year, I would forecast that it is only a matter of time before privately-funded museums like White Rabbit begin to pop up in mainland China as well.
Edmund Capon, director of the Art Gallery of NSW and a specialist in the art of China, says the collection is a significant addition to the cultural infrastructure of Sydney. He says the works capture some of the essence of contemporary China, where tensions remain between maintaining social order alongside a “degree of liberty” for citizens.
“Everything here, however dramatic, different, energetic or global it might be, has some subtle nuance, some subtle stamp, that says: ‘Made in China,”‘ Capon says. “There is this subtle battle between freedom and authority. It’s absolutely an indelible part of contemporary Chinese life and I think it’s manifested in the works here.”
The collection was founded by Judith Neilson, who has made repeated trips to China to source work withZhiyuan’s help. Neilson is the wife of Kerr Neilson, founder of Platinum Asset Management, whose fortune was valued in this year’s BRW Executive Rich List at $1.6billion, three places behind another businessman turned art investor, Kerry Stokes.
But while Stokes takes an active interest in his collection, Kerr Neilson seems to prefer a more hands-off approach. Developing, maintaining and building the collection falls to Judith Neilson and daughter Paris, who manages it.
At a preview of the gallery yesterday, Judith Neilson was reluctant to talk about the work, nominating her daughter instead. But she did say, when pressed, that she wanted the museum to be be accessible to all and that she hoped to show a different side to contemporary Chinese art to the public.
“I was wanting to show Australian and international viewers how different the art was to what they had expected,” she says.
Zhiyuan, who moved from China to Sydney after the Tiananmen Square uprising in 1989 before returning to Beijing eight years ago, says contemporary Chinese artists are embracing outside influences like never before. He says the White Rabbit collection has the potential to expand Western knowledge of the Chinese scene. “Judith said she wanted to make a connection with Australia and she wants to take the collection to the world.”
Paris Neilson appears flustered as people come and go, dealing with last-minute preparations before the collection opens to the public next Thursday. She says the works tell the “evolving story of China”, but insists they should not be seen as definitive. (The name, her mother says later, was “just a little flash that happened”.) “It’s things that we really respond to, that make an impact,” she says of the selection process. “Some of the works are really bold and in your face, but other pieces are incredibly delicate and fragile. We have such an eclectic mix of work, it’s really just about what we respond to.”
White Rabbit is one of only a handful of large privately funded, non-commercial museums in the country, an exclusive set that will include, from next year, David Walsh’s Museum of Old and New Art in Tasmania. By their nature, private museums operate differently from state-funded institutions, often reflecting their owner’s tastes.
Paris Neilson is at pains, though, to point out that her family’s collection is far from being a fanciful exercise. “It’s not like we’re doing this on a whim at all. This is a serious gallery and the quality of work here is fantastic and a very high standard, but we’re different from a public gallery,” she says. “But I think we just add to the scene. We’re just another cultural space that the public have access to. We’re not trying to fill in gaps, we’re not trying to be exhaustive. We can sort of do our own thing in a way.”
She has accompanied her mother and Zhiyuan on several trips to China and says the country’s art has shifted in recent years from the overtly political to the personal.
“When (Chinese art) started to take off in the 80s and 90s, it was a lot more about Mao and the Cultural Revolution and politics, and now the issues are really universal. Whether it’s love or hate, or consumerism, or degradation of the environment, there are a lot more of the issues that apply to everyone.”
Asked to point out a favourite, Paris Neilson suggests one artist in particular, Bingyi, whose painting Six Accounts of a Floating Life hangs in the collection. Bingyi, 34, divides her time between Beijing and Buffalo, New York, and White Rabbit has brought her to Australia for the first time. She says her painting — a colourful narrative of love, tragedy and imagination, based on an 18th-century memoir and told over five panels — has experienced a similar journey, being completed in the US, transported to China, then taken by the Neilsons to Sydney. Wandering through the exhibition space, Bingyi says the collection has given her a new perspective on Chinese art. “I never thought I would see anything like this,” she says. “It’s completely refreshing here.”
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Art, And Lots of It, In Collector’s Chinese Contemporary Art “Maosoleum”
July 21, 2009 · 1 Comment
Singaporean Collector Opens His Doors To Give China Society A Glimpse Of His Massive Collection
Dr. Woffles Wu has amassed one of Asia's most extensive collections of contemporary Chinese art
With signs that the global art market, particularly the Chinese and emerging art market, is beginning to turn around, following stronger-than-expected auction results and growing signs that the Chinese yuan’s increasing internationalization will pay off for collectors in the long term, more collectors of contemporary Chinese artwork are being profiled by art publications and newspapers around the world. Taiwan’s Straits Times recently profiled one such collector, a plastic surgeon in Singapore whose collection is among the region’s largest.
Dr. Woffles Wu, a renaissance man of sorts, who makes his living in plastic surgery but dabbles in film production and art collecting, has spent the last two years building his own personal Chinese contemporary art “Maosoleum,” comprising nearly 500 pieces. This week, he opened his doors to Singapore’s China Society, a private club of primarily English-educated professionals, to give Chinese art aficionados the opportunity to catch a glimpse of his impressive collection. With interest in Chinese art rising among collectors such as Dr. Wu in the Asia-Pacific region, it will be interesting to see if private museums like his, or larger publicly-funded additions to museums, will become commonplace for exhibiting contemporary Chinese art.
The Straits Times profiles Dr. Wu’s impressive, 12,000 sq.ft warehouse of Chinese art:
PLASTIC surgeon Woffles Wu has collected so many Chinese art pieces that he could not move around in his house in Thomson without knocking into one of them.
So, two years ago, he decided it was time to set up a museum dedicated to contemporary Chinese art. He named it the Museum of Contemporary Chinese Art in Singapore, or The ‘Maosoleum’ because of its many Mao-related pieces.
…
[Wu] estimated that at least half of his collection of about 500 pieces is now displayed in the 12,000 sq ft warehouse space in Kaki Bukit Road. He spent nearly two years painstakingly setting up the museum. The art work ranges from paintings and digital media to large, electronically operated installations created by Chinese artists.
Freelance art consultant Ng Ping Ping said: ‘I have a lot of respect for Dr Wu. This is a very impressive private collection and it’s overwhelming to see a Singaporean so passionate about art.’
Dr Wu said he started collecting contemporary Chinese art as a 12-year-old when his mother joined the China Club in Hong Kong. It was at the club that he saw his first contemporary Chinese art piece, which sparked his love for the art.
He is more fascinated with contemporary Chinese art than Western art because he feels that the latter is ‘a little jaded, with no story to tell because its culture is well-formed’. He declined to say how much he has spent on his collection but said the museum cost him more than $100,000 to set up.
He previously approached the Singapore Art Museum to donate some paintings but decided later to have his own museum as he wanted to have better control over the selection and preservation of the paintings.
Art, And Lots of It, In Collector’s Chinese Contemporary Art “Maosoleum”
July 21, 2009 · 1 Comment
Singaporean Collector Opens His Doors To Give China Society A Glimpse Of His Massive Collection
Dr. Woffles Wu has amassed one of Asia's most extensive collections of contemporary Chinese art
With signs that the global art market, particularly the Chinese and emerging art market, is beginning to turn around, following stronger-than-expected auction results and growing signs that the Chinese yuan’s increasing internationalization will pay off for collectors in the long term, more collectors of contemporary Chinese artwork are being profiled by art publications and newspapers around the world. Taiwan’s Straits Times recently profiled one such collector, a plastic surgeon in Singapore whose collection is among the region’s largest.
Dr. Woffles Wu, a renaissance man of sorts, who makes his living in plastic surgery but dabbles in film production and art collecting, has spent the last two years building his own personal Chinese contemporary art “Maosoleum,” comprising nearly 500 pieces. This week, he opened his doors to Singapore’s China Society, a private club of primarily English-educated professionals, to give Chinese art aficionados the opportunity to catch a glimpse of his impressive collection. With interest in Chinese art rising among collectors such as Dr. Wu in the Asia-Pacific region, it will be interesting to see if private museums like his, or larger publicly-funded additions to museums, will become commonplace for exhibiting contemporary Chinese art.
The Straits Times profiles Dr. Wu’s impressive, 12,000 sq.ft warehouse of Chinese art:
PLASTIC surgeon Woffles Wu has collected so many Chinese art pieces that he could not move around in his house in Thomson without knocking into one of them.
So, two years ago, he decided it was time to set up a museum dedicated to contemporary Chinese art. He named it the Museum of Contemporary Chinese Art in Singapore, or The ‘Maosoleum’ because of its many Mao-related pieces.
…
[Wu] estimated that at least half of his collection of about 500 pieces is now displayed in the 12,000 sq ft warehouse space in Kaki Bukit Road. He spent nearly two years painstakingly setting up the museum. The art work ranges from paintings and digital media to large, electronically operated installations created by Chinese artists.
Freelance art consultant Ng Ping Ping said: ‘I have a lot of respect for Dr Wu. This is a very impressive private collection and it’s overwhelming to see a Singaporean so passionate about art.’
Dr Wu said he started collecting contemporary Chinese art as a 12-year-old when his mother joined the China Club in Hong Kong. It was at the club that he saw his first contemporary Chinese art piece, which sparked his love for the art.
He is more fascinated with contemporary Chinese art than Western art because he feels that the latter is ‘a little jaded, with no story to tell because its culture is well-formed’. He declined to say how much he has spent on his collection but said the museum cost him more than $100,000 to set up.
He previously approached the Singapore Art Museum to donate some paintings but decided later to have his own museum as he wanted to have better control over the selection and preservation of the paintings.
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