Art News and Articles: FAR® Columnist
Art in China Today
A Growing Force to be Reckoned With
by Lihua Zhao
However you define “art”, the culture or the society in which the art is created is often a key influencing factor. Chinese contemporary art is understandably reflective of the Chinese culture and the trends of Chinese society. Traditionally, Chinese artists have stressed morality and the ideal condition, and have had a very high artistic conscience. Chinese art may not reflect joy and exuberance, but it has always been strong on providing beauty for the viewer’s eye.
The contemporary Chinese artist, however, is often not concerned about joy and exuberance, nor about the viewer’s eye but is trying to stimulate and challenge the senses and sensibilities of the viewer. Even though it departs greatly from traditional Chinese art, the effect is still a positive one on Chinese life and society, challenging and reflecting and continuing to provide social comment.
China today has caught up very rapidly with the rest of the world in terms of the prices that the well-known and successful artists command for their work. As recently as 2004, when the prices commanded by contemporary Chinese artists were not comparable to the West, some people predicted that Chinese contemporary artwork would gradually enter a high price range. At the end of September 2006 in the Su Fubi auction, Zhang Xiaogang’s "Blood Relationship: Comrade 120" was sold for nearly US$97.92 million, setting the record for the highest sale price recorded. It is amazing how rapidly the 2004 prediction has come true. In two years the Chinese art market has transformed itself.
"In more recent years contemporary Chinese artists have become increasingly represented in the New York galleries."
Chinese Contemporary Art
Today’s trends in art in China are away from the traditional Chinese and towards the contemporary American and Western styles, as evidenced by artists such as Guoqiang Cai, Bing Xu, Zhang Huan and others. Contemporary Chinese art media include ink and wash, oil, sculpture, installment art, concept art and behavioral art (these last two have become more prominent in art in China since the mid ‘80s). The best known exponent of avant-garde concept and behavioral art is Zhang Huan who led the artistic revolution against oppression in China. (Born in 1965 in China, Zhang Huan is now based in the USA.)
The whole gamut of artistic expression, materials, technique and approach have broken away from traditional or classical Chinese art, leaving academic circles trying to catch up.
In more recent years contemporary Chinese artists have become increasingly represented in the New York galleries.
At the same time the Chinese art market is changing. If you look at the art market as a food chain, this chain has gradually grown from just artist, gallery and collector to now include the auction house, exhibitions and large international expositions, corporate collecting and a variety of organizations. Each organization involved is playing a vital role in the art market “food chain.”
Artists
Since 2005, four contemporary Chinese artists have consistently broken the 1 million CNY range (about $125,000) for their work: Wang Guangyi, Zhang Xiaogang, Fang Lijun and Lu Minjun. Because their work repeatedly breaks the million CNY record in the domestic and foreign auction markets they have become known as the contemporary art “F4.”
In March 2006, at the Chinese contemporary art exhibition held in New York Su Fubi spring auction, Zhang Xiaogang's work became famous overnight when one of his oil paintings sold for 809.7 million CNY (over $100 million).
The contemporary oil painting market has broken all records in China. In Hong Kong, Jia Shide, the spring auction, Wang Guangyi's work has broken individual price records for an individual piece when his painting sold for 4,163,680 CNY ($527,000). In 2005, Zeng Fanzhi, Yang Shaobin, Liu Ye, Yin Chaoyang, and others also sold pieces for over 1 million CNY.
The work of Xu Bing, Cai Guoqiang and other avant-garde Chinese artists is rapidly increasing in value.
Wu Guanzhong is a master of both Eastern and Western style. Born in 1919 in Jiangsu Yixing, his earliest pictures draw from rivers and lakes of the Jiangnan region for their theme, the pictures full of poetic sentiment. He pays particular attention to the combination of points, lines and surfaces in his work. Wu Guanzhong said, "My painting expresses the best of Western art in Chinese painting. It is most important to me to use the exact points and lines integrated into the whole surface structure to create the perfect painting." In more recent years his painting has changed in the direction of heavier texture in his works of China’s Loess Plateau, creating a new style. Wu was awarded the highest medal of honor in France as one of the most influential painters of his time. http://wuguanzhong.yishujia.com/
Mr. Zhao Wuji is one of the most esteemed and valued living artists in the world today. Born in Beiping in china in 1921, at the age of 20, Zhao Wuji went to France. In his 58 years of painting in France Zhao Wuji’s fertile imagination combined China’s artistic tradition with the expressive force of Western art and he produced a great wealth of original oil paintings. Mr. Zhao has created a large volume of work which has become highly collectible. A US art dealer has signed a contract with Zhao Wuji for all of his new work and has already bought 600 earlier pieces which is about half of his total output. There is also a Taiwanese collector who avidly collects his pieces. In addition to his oil paintings and ink and wash, Zhao Wuji enjoys painting on copper and on stone, both very difficult media.
Zhao Wuji obtained innumerable awards in France. In December 2002 Zhao became the second painter of Chinese descent, after Zhu Dequn, to be elected a lifetime member of the French Academy. French President, Chirac, holds Mr. Zhao's work in high esteem and he has also been honored by French Prime Minister, Dominique de Villepin.
Galleries
In the last few years there has been an explosion of galleries in China, coincident with very active market conditions which have been helped by an increase in art auctions which have raised demand. Beijing now has more than 50 official art galleries, Shanghai over 30. Government figures of 5,000 galleries in China include picture shops, not just real galleries. In addition to a rapid growth in numbers of galleries, gallery management has become increasingly standardized, and business has been booming. On the surface, it appears that the auctions have spearheaded the entire growth of the art market, but in fact there are many contributing factors. The economic development of the country as a whole has resulted in many people looking to the art market for investment. But contemporary art and especially oil painting have adapted to modern taste and requirements, thus gaining wider acceptance and demand.
The gallery is the most important link in the art chain, acting as a bridge between the art buyer and the artist. The good galleries take their role as representatives for the artist very seriously and provide valuable support in terms of promotion, display and publication of the artists’ work. They also act as consultants to artists and collectors and develop relationships with the media and the critics.
With China’s economic development and the approaching Olympic Games in China, many excellent foreign galleries have been attracted to Beijing.
Here are five the most famous galleries in Beijing.
Red Gate Gallery (http://www.redgategallery.com/). Since 1991 the Red Gate Gallery has shown the work of outstanding Chinese contemporary artists. It currently represents 22 artists including oil/acrylic painters, sculptors, performance artists, photographers, installation artists and traditional Chinese painters.
Huangbitang Gallery. (http://www.chinabluegallery.com/) This gallery has been representing young, upcoming artists since the 1980s and acts as a bridge between the contemporary Chinese artist and foreign collectors. Currently representing 10 outstanding young artists including Mao Yan, Xia Junna, Zhang Jian. At the same time is has collections of well known contemporary artists including Chen Yifei, Liu Xiaodong, Chao Ge and the work of older generation artists, Guan Liang, Wu Guanzhong.
SOKA Contemporary Space: (http://www.soka-art.com), The Taiwanese SOKA International Art Company set up its branch in Beijing in 2001, the first branch to open in mainland China. It is now rated as Beijing’s wealthiest gallery. SOKA Shanghai also recently started doing business and is in its third year.
Kechuangmingjiayiyuan (The Creation) Gallery (http://www.creationgallery.com.cn/)
This gallery was founded in 1996 by painter Li Xiaoke to promote high standards of esthetic consciousness in the contemporary art of Eastern cultures. The gallery strives to promote Chinese artists through its solo exhibitions and also introduces the work of artists from France, Germany, Australia, Japan, Russia and so on. This gallery specialized in modern Eastern art.
Zijinxuan (L.A. Galeery) (http://www.la-gallery-beijing.com/) Lothar Albrecht, who founded the L.A. Gallery in Frankfurt , and Mr. Wei Wei and Mr. Pan Xiulong of Beijing established the L.A. Gallery in Beijing as a cultural joint venture with an emphasis on bringing new international trends to the Beijing public while at the same time providing a platform for young Chinese artists to expand into the international art scene.
Shanghai's art market has recently aroused increased domestic and international interest. The city’s top 10 galleries:
XiangGeNa Gallery
Huashi Gallery
Yibo Gallery
Yian Gallery
Haishangshan Gallery
Donghaitang Gallery
Daya Gallery
Jigu Gallery
BIZART gallery
Dongdaminchuangku Gallery
Exposition
Art expositions started to appear in the Asian and Pacific area around the end of 1980s and the beginning of ‘90s. One after another we saw the Australian modern art exposition (ACAF) in Melbourne, Australia, the Japanese Tokyo international modern art exposition (NICAF), Seoul, South Korea international art exposition (KIAF), Singapore international art exposition and so on. The art exposition has taken on an increasingly important role in the process of marketing modern art.
The first Chinese art exposition was held in 1993. Next in 1996 Guangzhou started to hold art expos and in 1997 Shanghai joined in. During the mid 90's many big Chinese cities began holding art expositions one after another.
Since 2004 after only two years of successful operation, the Chinese International Gallery Exposition (CIGE), thanks in part to its stringent vetting system and high level gallery participation, has become the most influential art exposition in Asia.
On 22-26 April, 2004 the first Chinese international gallery exposition was held in Beijing. A total of 69 galleries from Asia, Europe and America participated. Close to 100 domestic and international media agencies competed to report on the expo and dozens of specialized arts media and professional associations attended. The expo attracted nearly 3 million visitors and the turnover from the expo was in the tens of millions of dollars.
This first expo was a major milestone and signaled a quantitative leap in the Chinese art market. On May 2-5, 2005 the second CIGE expo was held and it was considerably bigger and it has continued to grow.
Wang Yihan, now Executive Director of the Zhongyibo Culture Dissemination Company, has acted as artistic advisor, organizer and public relations in charge for the CIGE expo. Wang Yihan has stated that, as a result of the CIGE Expo, China has moved up into the same league as Basel, Madrid, Chicago and other major international art fairs and expos, including matching the best that can be offered by Japan, South Korea and other Asian countries. She has been a key figure in selecting the contemporary Chinese artists who are featured in the CIGE Expo and is a powerful figure in the representation and support of today’s contemporary art scene.
Chinese Art Auctions
China has a professional auctions association which includes a specialized art and cultural artifacts group with 27 member enterprises. These member organizations form the backbone of the country’s art and artifacts auction market. This art auction industry has grown enormously in recent years. In 2005 there were over 161 art auction houses in mainland China.
The gross revenues of art auctions in China were 3 billion CNY ($380 million) in 2003, doubled to 6 billion CNY in 2004 and more than doubled again to 13 billion CNY ($1.65 billion) in 2005.
The auction houses work with the galleries and both aspects of the art “food chain” are growing in parallel. The galleries work to represent their artists and get the highest price they can for their work and then the auction houses also work to gain a higher price for the artwork. All this helps raise the sale price of art.
Beijing currently has some 44 auction companies which is double what it had in 2004. In 2005 at least 137 small or large art auctions were held. Also 298 special sales events were held which means, really, that there is at least an auction per day in Beijing. Collectors can buy art in the galleries and the expositions but there are also the new outlets: eBay and Taobao (China’s equivalent of eBay).
Art Education In China Today
Art is an important part of education in China today. The state run school system has 712 dedicated Art colleges covering 28 provinces and municipalities. The heaviest concentration is in Beijing, Shanghai and Shandong along the coast. Art education includes different branches of design (clothes, interior design, industrial design and so on). Cooperation with Singapore, Japan, France and other countries results in high level professional training and undergraduate courses. Art education is taken quite seriously by the Chinese.
Summary
For centuries Chinese art was an important part of the world art scene. It may have gone through dark ages in the not too distant past, but now contemporary Chinese art is once again taking an increasingly important role in the international art arena and its artists, galleries, expositions and auctions are becoming more and more significant in the overall global art market.
While the US and Europe may still be more prominent, the rate of growth of the Chinese art scene is extremely healthy and the art “food chain” in China may be working much better for the individual artist than its equivalent in the West.
Watch out art world!
— Lihua Zhao | February 01, 2007
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