798 District Blog

LONDON.- Iniva presents new work by two contemporary Chinese artists at Rivington Place, with the European premiere of a film by Lu Chunsheng who showed in the Serpentine Gallery’s exhibition of contemporary Chinese art at Battersea Power Station. This is also the first solo exhibition in Europe, “Make Believe…”, by emerging artist Jia Aili. Both artists reflect on industrial progress, social corrosion and the individual’s struggle in the machine age.

Lu Chunsheng’s film, “The first man who bought a juicer bought it not for drinking juice”, mixes documentary and fantasy to theatrical effect. The characters in the film are both human and mechanical, and represent the consequences of the globalised era in their repetition of senseless acts. Orson Welles’ fictional account of an alien invasion in “The War of the Worlds” which was mistaken for a real news item, is the impetus for the film. It illustrates the influence of technology, mass media and the power of fear.

The two protagonists in the film are a reaper machine, used for harvesting grain, which is given Frankenstein-like characteristics, and a mechanic who cares for and repairs it. The film casts a relationship between man and machine in which humanity is denigrated to serve an alien species born from its own hands.

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Pablo Picasso, “Picador”. 1959. Linoleum cut, Composition: 20 13/16 x 25 3/16 inches David S. Orentreich Fund. ©2010, Estate of Pablo Picasso / Artists Rights Society (ARS), New York.

The Museum of Modern Art will present “Picasso: Themes and Variations”, an exhibition exploring Pablo Picasso’s creative process through the medium of printmaking, from March 28 to September 6, 2010. It features approximately 100 works from the Museum’s superlative collection of the artist’s prints. The exhibition is organized by Deborah Wye, The Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Chief Curator of Prints and Illustrated Books, The Museum of Modern Art.

Pablo Picasso’s insatiable curiosity and tireless urge to create art often led him to mediums beyond painting. He fully explored sculpture and drawing, as well as printmaking and ceramics. This exhibition looks at Picasso’s engagement with printmaking over the course of his long career, and the ways it fostered his creativity by encouraging a thematic approach to his subjects and by allowing for constant experimentation.

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NEW YORK, NY.- Sotheby’s Asia week sales concluded this week realizing the combined total of $22,574,864, well over pre sale expectations (combined est. $10.6/15 million). The top selling lot of the week was Two Mynas on a Rock, a 1692 masterpiece by Bada Shanren which sold for $3 million – many multiples of the pre-sale estimate and a new record for a Classical Chinese Painting sold at Sotheby’s in the US – in the Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art sale. Bada Shanren, Two Mynas on a Rock, sold for $2,994,500 (est. $400/600,000) Manjit Bawa, Untitled, Sold for $602,500 (est. $200/300,000) There were also several exceptional prices in the Indian and South East Asian Art sale where a record was set for a painting at auction by Manjit Bawa when Untitled sold for $602,500 – double the pre-sale high estimate (est. $200/300,000). Further highlights included an Untitled work by MF Husain which fetched $1,058,500, over five times the high estimate (est. $150/200,000). Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art Discussing the Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art sale, Dr. Caroline Schulten, Head of the Chinese Works of Art Department at Sotheby’s New York, said “We are delighted with the result of the spring sale. The price of nearly $3 million for Bada Shanren’s Two Mynas on a Rock is a reflection of the compelling beauty of the painting. We are thrilled to have achieved such a stunning price for this masterful depiction of two birds that has not appeared on the market for over 25 years. Jades, ceramics and furniture also performed well with particularly strong prices for fresh to the market works priced conservatively.”

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Dutch artist Peter Klashorst is preparing for a painting exhibition to be held in Cambodia’s notorious Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum next month. The opening of the exhibition will coincide with the museum’s reopening after renovations, with support from Unesco. He talks with ‘Outlook’ about his work and hope of pursuing his latest art scheme.

How and why did you get involved in this project?

I visited the Tuol Sleng Genocide Museum in Phnom Penh and took pictures with my mobile phone. The whole atmosphere moved me. That same day I flew back to Bangkok with those faces still in my memory. That evening I painted their portraits. I was intrigued by this time in history and wanted to do an exhibition regarding this topic, so eventually I got in contact with Unesco, which is renovating part of the museum. They were very interested in the idea of art being part of the project. Joining Unesco to our team also makes it easier for us to look for external funding for the project.

Will you paint more in Phnom Penh?

Yes, I am now in Phnom Penh. At the moment, I am experimenting with different methods of painting, different canvases. … I have visited the killing fields a few times and the museum to take further pictures and sketches.

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NEW YORK, NY.- This morning at Sotheby’s a record was set for a Classical Chinese painting sold in the US when Bada Shanren’s Two Mynas on a Rock from 1692 sold for $2,994,500 – many multiples of the $400/600,000 estimate, at the Fine Chinese Ceramics and Works of Art auction. Henry Howard-Sneyd, Vice Chairman, Asian Art at Sotheby’s said: “The price of nearly $3 million is a reflection of the compelling beauty of Bada Shanren’s Two Mynas on a Rock. We are thrilled to have set a record for a Classical Chinese painting sold in the US for this masterful depiction of two birds that has not appeared on the market for over 25 years. The stunning success of this and other paintings sold this morning again demonstrates the appetite for fresh to the market works priced conservatively.” Two Mynas on a Rock led the largest and most important selection of Classical Chinese painting offered at Sotheby’s New York for many years. Several of these paintings achieved superb prices including, Scholar by Zhang Daqian, which has not been offered at auction for over 50 years which sold for $902,500 (est. $120/180,000) and an Album Of Figures And Accompanying Calligraphy by Zhang Daqian (Chang Dai-Chien, 1899-1983) And Pu Ru (1896-1963) which sold for over 10 times the high estimate when it fetched $662,500 (est. $40/60,000). A new record for Chinese calligraphy sold in the US was also set when Calligraphy in Xing Shu (Running Script) After Zhong Yao’s “Zhang Le Tie” also by Bada Shanren sold for $482,500 (est. $100/150,000). After the first session the auction had brought $9,636,813, already exceeding the pre-sale high estimate by nearly $2 million.

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NEW YORK, NY.- Eli Klein Fine Art presents Zhao Bo’s second solo exhibition in New York, his first at the Gallery. Through his paintings, Zhao Bo records the monumental cultural and political shifts in China, shown from the perspective of Chinese people. China’s opening to the West in the late 1980s ushered in a new era and these paintings provide a snapshot into this unique period. He clashes Communist and contemporary icons together in the same scene, revealing that Chinese society is more interested in adapting to contemporary culture than adhering to staid traditionalism.

Mocking the social realist propaganda of Communist China, Zhao Bo replaces the ideal Chinese worker or citizen with an ostentatious cartoon. The bright colors and enthusiastic poses express the vitality and exuberance of this new Chinese generation. Rather than revering Chairman Mao and principles of Communism, these wide-eyed figures revel in the glow of billboards and luxury goods. Yet, their placement in front of important Communist markers, such as Mao’s tomb or signs proclaiming, “Long live the people,” is a constant reminder of the government’s presence.

Zhao Bo received his Bachelor of Fine Arts from Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts in Chongqing, China. His works have been exhibited in museums in China and the United States including the Denver Art Museum, the Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, the Art Museum of Shanghai, the He Xiangning Art Museum in Shenzhen, and the Art Museum of Chongqing.

The exhibition will be on view at Eli Klein Fine Art through April 22, 2010

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DUISBURG.- Ai Weiwei (b. 1957) is not only one of today’s most cherished artists but also a well-known public intellectual. If contemporary debate centers on China, on a formerly introverted empire that has almost overnight turned into a global power, Ai Weiwei serves as a most eloquent go-between for those in the West who wonder what sort of China they will be dealing with. As an artist, Ai Weiwei commands a wide range of media, including sculpture, photography and installation but also architectural work and, last but not least, his notorious blog. While tracking and making public the daily drama and banalities of an “individual consciousness” (Ai Weiwei) the blog is also a tool used by the artist to imagine and foster a counter-public to China’s one party-rule.

The exhibition at DKM, realized on the occasion of Ruhr 2010, does not seek to downplay the sheer fascination that Ai Weiwei’s work generally musters. Rather it proposes the next step which is to challenge those Western perceptions of China and its political system which are nothing than misunderstandings. As a figure, Ai Weiwei is neither the exemplary dissident, the lonely hero in the face of a sinister system, nor is he Mr. Big – the sole survivor of the historical avant-gardes. These roles he can play (and he plays them with acumen and cunning) but they are not the real thing. They do not match the artist’s conceptual intelligence.

Ai Weiwei’s vision is marked by a high degree of sobriety and scepticism, and both are evident in his understanding of how precarious all things material can be. Besides showing new pieces, Barely Something draws mainly on early work from the 80s, a period that the artist spent in New York. It also traces his activities as a figure on the unofficial Chinese art-scene – such as curating subversive exhibitions or editing anthologies, the explicit purpose of which were to address a lack of artistic education in China, particularly in relation to Modernism.

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HONG KONG.- Seoul Auction, Korea‟s leading auction house, will offer an unrivalled selection of 80 works in its Modern and Contemporary Art Spring Sale in Hong Kong on 4 April 2010 at the Grand Hyatt Hong Kong. Expected to realize in excess of HK$60 million (US$8 million), the sale features works by leading Western and Asian masters, as well as up and coming artists from Korea, Japan, China and Indonesia, reflecting the dynamic vibrancy of contemporary Asian art.

Mr Jun Lee, CEO of Seoul Auction, said: “In our debut sale in Hong Kong in October 2008, Seoul Auction played a pioneering role when we offered significant Western masterpieces, as well as Asian artworks, at auction for the first time. In view of the appetite of discerning Asian collectors with sophisticated tastes, our strategy has been to introduce a wider variety of artworks by internationally renowned artists to the Asian marketplace. In our October 2009 sale, The Importance of Elsewhere –The Kingdom of Heaven from the renowned British artist Damien Hirst‟s celebrated Butterfly Series achieved HK$17,222,000 (US$2,236,623), establishing a record as the most expensive work by Damien Hirst ever sold at auction in Asia. In the same auction, we also brought to the Asian auction market for the first time a remarkable work Untitled by the UK-based Indian sculptor Anish Kapoor which realized HK$6,508,000 (US$845,195).

“We are witnessing a growing interest and a greater level of appreciation of Western contemporary art among Asian collectors. Seoul Auction is proud to have a long history of over 10 years of selling Western art in Asia, and to have been the first auction house to bring Western contemporary art to Hong Kong. We are delighted to provide a platform and introduce a wider range of both Western and Asian art to Chinese connoisseurs.

“This Spring also marked a new milestone in the history of Seoul Auction as we held our first auction preview of our Hong Kong Sale in Beijing in March, in addition to our customary sale previews in Seoul and Taipei. We have seen a rapidly increasing interest in Western contemporary art within the past couple of years amongst collectors in Mainland China, and we believe that China is a highly significant market with vast potential for this collecting category.”

Chinese Art
Leading the Chinese section is Girl and Peaches by Wang Yidong (born 1955), a significant figure in the history of modern Chinese realist painting (Estimate: HK$3,100,000-3,800,000/US$400,000-500,000). This is the first time that this masterpiece by Wang has been offered in the auction market. Wang Yidong‟s subject matter mainly derives from the village culture of the Yi-meng mountain region in his native Shandong province. Since the 1980s, Wang Yidong has sought to capture the life and customs of the region, reflecting the artist‟s pursuit of purity and timelessness through his dedicated portrayal of simple yet venerable human characters and their rituals. Girl and Peaches is a perfect example demonstrating Wang‟s mastery of composition, portrayal of light and his superb command of painting technique and capturing of details. The peaches on the table symbolize the girl‟s deliberation about marriage, which is a common theme employed by Wang. The slip of paper placed next to the peaches may very well be an amorous note from the young girl‟s beloved.

Also making its first appearance at auction is an important wooden sculpture from Zhu Ming‟s (b. 1938) Taichi Series (Estimate: HK$1,300,000-1,600,000/ US$170,000-210,000). Zhu Ming is renowned as Asia‟s most pre-eminent living sculptor, having forged a signature style that is recognized throughout the art world. He is best known for his iconic Taichi Series, powerful and often monumental figures in both wood and bronze, which were inspired by the ancient martial art of tai chi chuan and which celebrate both the physical and spiritual aspects of this age-old Asian practice. His timeless, universal Taichi sculptures are characterized by a sense of balance, control and gracefulness.

Another prized offering in the sale is Mask Series no.21 3-1 by Zeng Fanzhi (born 1964) who is recognized as one of the most iconic and expressive painters of the contemporary Chinese avant-garde art movement (Estimate: HK$1,100,000-1,300,000/US$140,000-170,000). In 1993, Zeng moved from his native Wuhan to Beijing and in 1994 embarked on his famous “Mask” series which expressed both his personal inner feelings of loneliness and isolation in a new big city, and the alienation of the individual in Chinese society in general. In this series of paintings, Zeng used expert line and brushwork to depict smartly dressed figures wearing white masks with blank expressions. He wished to express his feeling that in Beijing in the 1990s, people were starting to wear suits and ties, effecting an outward change into new social roles, but one which was artificial. Thrown into this new modern environment, individuals suffered feelings of social isolation and could not connect with each other. The mask is emblematic of the barrier between them. The number of people in the paintings is reduced to a small group, or a solitary person.

Other highlights include works by young emerging artists, including Happy Face by Gao Yu (Estimate: HK$150,000-180,000/US$20,000-24,000) and A Smooth Run by Chen Ke (Estimate: HK$300,000-400,000/ US$39,000-52,000).

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HONG KONG.- Sotheby’s Hong Kong 20th Century Chinese Art Spring Sale 2010 will be held on 5 April, offering a meticulous selection of more than 65 lots estimated at approximately HK$75 million. Many of the paintings are exceptionally rare, appearing for the first time on the art market.

Lily Lee, Head of Sotheby’s 20th Century Chinese Art Department, said: “The 20th Century Chinese Art Autumn Sale 2009 has garnered impressive results with the record-breaking sale of Lotus et Poissons Rouges (Lotus and Red Fish), a landscape painting by Sanyu, achieving the second highest auction price for a Sanyu painting, and an auction record for a landscape painting by the artist. Zao Wou-ki’s 7.4.61 sold for almost twice its estimated price at HK$15.78 million.

Following last season’s success, our spring auction will bring together the outstanding works of Zao Wou-ki from the “Paul Klee Period” of his career in Paris during the 1950s as well as those created during his “oracle-bone inscriptions period” and in the 1970s. Several of these paintings have never been auctioned before, including a large-scale painting 10-3-78 as well as Village de Montagne se Disperent, a work that has been unseen in public for nearly half a century.”

Exceptional Works by Zao Wou-ki (1950s – 1970s)
A pioneer of Chinese abstract paintings, Zao Wou-ki (Zhao Wuji, b.1921) started out in expressionist figurative paintings, followed by a transition from painting symbolic images to expressionist abstract oils.

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