798 District Blog

The 2011 programme at the Kunsthaus Zürich is the most exciting yet. News of one highlight has already leaked out: the prestigious private collection of the Nahmad family is to receive its world premiere in Zurich. There will be a retrospective of the work of Franz Gertsch, one of the most important contemporary Swiss artists. Full of fascinating insights, ‘The Original Copy: Photography of Sculpture’ transfers to the Kunsthaus Zürich from the Museum of Modern Art New York. There is a revival for the ecological and political work of Joseph Beuys. ‘Beastly Good Show’ will be of particular interest to families. Exhibitions featuring the most recent work of Roman Ondák and international rising star Haris Epaminonda will be of particular interest to experimental art enthusiasts.

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BASEL.- The 41st edition of art basel closed on Sunday, June 20, 2010. This year, the annual reunion of the international artworld attracted more than 62,500 artists, collectors, curators, and art lovers from around the globe, a new record for attendance at the show. The participating galleries, art lovers, and media were unanimous in pronouncing this a superb year for the show in terms of quality. Collectors rewarded the excellent material and booth presentations with strong sales throughout the week.

A great many artists attended the event, among them Doug Aitken, Kader Attia, Carol Bove, Christo, Yona Friedman, Douglas Gordon, Rodney Graham, Susan Hiller, Joseph Kosuth, Paul McCarthy, Richard Phillips, Michelangelo Pistoletto, Ugo Rondinone, and Lawrence Weiner. And over 60 museum groups, representing almost all the worlds major museums visited Art 41 Basel, significantly more than last year, as did major private collectors from North and South America, all of Europe and the emerging markets of the artworld.

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Well-off Hangzhou is famous for traditional Chinese art, and many people have sniffed at contemporary works. A recent art fair tries to change attitudes and build a market. Xu Wenwen reports.

Hangzhou strongly supports the arts and cultural industry, and not just traditional Chinese arts. Many exhibitions today feature art of all kinds from China and abroad.

But contemporary art is an acquired taste in the city that is known as a showplace of ancient tradition.

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A mammoth new exhibition of 291 Chinese artists, Reshaping History, currently on display at three venues across Beijing, is hoping to cast a light on the growth and maturity of the entire nation, as the exhibition’s subtitle, “Chinart from 2000 to 2009,” indicates.

Often we look to art to illuminate something deeply personal, something lurking under the surface of artists’ imaginations that reflects their view of themselves, their surroundings and the world at large. Art too can serve as a proxy for far larger, more expansive arenas: a community, a people, a race.

Indeed, if there is one buzzword that encapsulates the Chinese experience over the past 10 years, it is “growth,” a concept toward which the artistic luminaries of Reshaping History have no shortage of opinions.

“Like every aspect of the Chinese economy, Chinese art is developing immensely,” said exhibition founder Lü Peng. “So much talent has emerged over the past 10 years, so many contrasting styles and worldviews and I really wanted a venue where we could put them all next to each other and let the viewer take it all in.

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