Taking A Look At China’s Next Stars And What Sets Them Apart#
The current issue of Modern Painters magazine turns the spotlight on contemporary Chinese art, ramping up the start of the fall art season with a close look at emerging and established Chinese artists and the evolving Chinese art scene.
While many art magazines have run multiple features on contemporary Chinese art and artists—notably Art in America in June/July 2004—the September Modern Painters is the first major magazine in recent years to devote an entire issue on the subject.
The reasoning behind the issue’s focus is clear. In the past few years, Chinese contemporary art has become an increasingly important part of the global art scene, with Chinese contemporary artists appearing in high-profile museum exhibitions and frequently breaking sales records at auction. With confidence in the Chinese contemporary art market gaining ground lost in the aftermath of the global financial crisis, and artists there experimenting more with style, form and mediums, we're seeing an explosion of creativity not only in traditional art hubs like Beijing, but also in Shanghai and smaller cities like Wuhan or Kunming.
The issue covers a good deal of ground, and gives an insider's perspective on the current state of Chinese art via comments by a panel of experts on China’s art market, including artist Zhang Huan; artist and curator Shengtian Zeng; Alexandra Munroe, senior curator of Asian Art at the Guggenheim Museum in New York; Christopher Phillips, curator at the ICP in New York; Pan Gongkai, artist and president of China Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing; Barbara Pollack, journalist and author; and Wu Hung, critic and professor of art history at the University of Chicago.
The issue also highlights several emerging artists, as introduced by Beijing-based journalist David Spalding, a Beijing based journalist and in a photo-essay by Rong Rong of seven young Chinese artists.
The magazine’s regular ‘Introducing’ section also focuses on two individual Chinese artists, Qiu Anxiong and Lin Tianmiao. Another feature looks at the unique breed of private museums in China—which foster the relationship between art and business as a result of China’s growing role in the speculative art market—questioning how they should be managed and what they do to serve the public. A visit to Wang Qingsong’s studio catches him in the process of creating History of Monuments, a work that recreates and satirizes classic sculptures as a commentary on the Chinese public’s sudden enthusiasm for masterpieces.
With a travelers’ introduction to Shanghai in time for the fourth annual ShContemporary (September 9-12), and an ‘Exit Interview’ with Monique Burger of the Burger Collection and the advisory board of Art HK, Modern Painters rounds out an in-depth look at contemporary art in China, drawing the conclusion that things will only get more interesting.
Article by Felice Jiang