798 District Blog

The exchange of contemporary art between Belgium and China is a new achievement of the two countries’ cultural interaction. The exchange can help us not only examine the contemporary art of the two countries from a new perspective, but also pinpoint the cultural similarities and differences related to the two countries’ contemporary art. The exchange of contemporary art between Belgium and China is a new achievement of the two countries’ cultural interaction. The exchange can help us not only examine the contemporary art of the two countries from a new perspective, but also pinpoint the cultural similarities and differences related to the two countries’ contemporary art.

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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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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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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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NEW YORK, NY.- An exceptionally broad range of pre-modern Japanese art will go on view this March during New York City’s Asia Week in two exhibitions held by JADA, the Japanese Art Dealers Association.

The works of art range from a 12th century Buddhist sculpture to satirical ephemera of the 18th century and a four-foot tall model of pagoda once owned by New York railroad baron E. H. Harriman and later in the collection of the Metropolitan Museum of Art. In addition, the exhibitions will present a complete suit of armor formerly in the collection of Japan’s leading Hokosawa clan (one of three works of art once in the possession of the millennia-old ruling family to be presented). Also in the exhibitions will be goldleaf screens, sculptures, prints, lacquers, and hanging scrolls that illustrate a reverence for nature as well as those that illuminate Japanese artists’ love of humor.

JADA 2010: An Exhibition by the Japanese Art Dealers Association
Among the earliest works in JADA 2010, an episodic survey of traditional Japanese art, is a Standing Jizō Bosatsu (Skt. Ksitigarbha), a wood sculpture that dates from the Heian period, 12th century. The delicate hands, facial features, and the shallow carving of the drapery mark this work as stylistically related to the work of Jōchō, whose famous image of the Buddha Amida is worshipped at the temple Byōdō’in near Kyoto. Jizō, a merciful protector of abandoned souls, appears again in a 16th or 17th century elaborate, intact traveling shrine. Decorated with a robe with cut gold, the figure holds both a crystal jewel and staff, Jizō stands on a lotus and cloud base within a shrine that features interior gilding.

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Sotheby’s Hong Kong will hold its Contemporary Asian Art Spring Sale 2010 on 5 April at the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre.
This season’s sale will offer a series of early works by established Chinese artists that are rarely seen on the market, as well as seminal works from prominent Japanese and Korean artists.
There will be over 170 extraordinary pieces, with a total estimate in excess of HK$94 million / US$12 million.

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NEW YORK, NY.- Eli Klein Fine Art presents Zhang Gong’s first solo exhibition in the United States. Zhang Gong’s work parodies instantly recognizable Western art, demonstrating the effect of Western popular culture on contemporary Chinese society.

In his most recent works, Zhang Gong incorporates cartoon characters with scenes from modernist Western paintings and other popular images. These juxtapositions simultaneously satirize and question ideas about what constitutes high art and originality. His own unique creation, Miss Panda, interacts with the Western characters in chaotic scenes. Miss Panda often finds her way into famous Western paintings, reminding the viewer that Western art, once banned, has now been assimilated into the collective consciousness of modern Chinese society. Through his works, Zhang Gong brings historic and contemporary art into dialogue with one another.

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NEW YORK, NY.- On March 23, Christie’s South Asian Modern + Contemporary Art sale will feature 91 works from the leading 20th and 21st century artists from South Asian.
The sale will focus on prime examples of many different movements and styles, with highlights including works by modern masters Vasudeo S. Gaitonde, Maqbool Fida Husain, Akbar Padamsee,
Syed Haider Raza, Francis Newton Souza, as well as works from leading contemporary artists Atul Dodiya and TV Santhosh among many others.

Christie’s celebrates acclaimed master Syed Haider Raza, whose Gestation, 1989, represents a highlight in this month’s sale (estimate: $600,000-800,000).
In Gestation, Raza presents an arrangement of shapes and earthy colors seamlessly merging his characteristic horizontal bands with elegant obliques.
In this seminal work, Raza generates an inherent rhythm and elegance…

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NEW YORK, NY.- On March 23, the afternoon will be devoted to the classical works of Indian and Southeast Asian Art. Christie’s will offer an extensive selection
of nearly 200 lots of sculpture, paintings, ritual objects, and works of art from India, Tibet, Nepal and Southeast Asia from the notable collections.

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