February 26, 2010
BEIJING — Nearly two dozen artists protesting the forced demolition of their homes and studios marched through the ceremonial heart of the capital before the police intervened and prevented them from reaching Tiananmen Square, the artists said Tuesday.
…
The fight over the future of Beijing’s artist villages coincides with soaring real estate values and ugly scuffles over land expropriation, several of which have led to the suicides of those facing eviction. Widely publicized in the media, the suicides have helped prompt the government to consider modifying the nation’s urban redevelopment regulations.
–Andrew Jacobs, The New York Times
…because state-controlled gentrification is a sure way to prevent a housing crisis…
Full story & Reuters video clip at NYTimes.com. Also on the Guardian.
February 2, 2010
or, A New Direction in China’s Visual Communications
Once again, Designboom seems to have tapped into my subconscious, enriching my recent firsthand exposure to images created by Chinese artists.
Still from First Spring, 2009
Yang Fudong is today’s topic. I recently came across his work as a “new direction in Prada’s visual communications”: his latest work is a short film for the luxury brand (full video at the end of the post), which was picked up by Hypebeast, among other blogs. I watched it and didn’t give it a second thought.
Dawn Mist, Separation Faith, 2009
It wasn’t until I chanced upon his name in Designboom later that day that I realized that I had seen his work before, at UCCA’s “Breaking Forecast” exhibition (which runs through the end of February). Unfortunately, I somehow managed to miss the film ‘Dawn Mist, Separation Faith,’ a new full-length film that was screening at the UCCA.
Ms. Huang at M Last Night #2, 2006
In any case, the show included a couple of photos from his 2006 series ‘Ms. Huang at M Last Night,’ which suggest a mute narrative that is probably less intriguing than the stylistic content/composition implied by the noirish glamour of the stills.
Seven Intellectuals in Bamboo Forest, Part I, 2003
‘Seven Intellectuals in a Bamboo Forest‘ is a five-part video piece that apparently found an audience at the 2007 Venice Biennale. I don’t really know enough about film or photography to legitimately critique his work, so I’ll just say that it looks pretty good to me.
Seven Intellectuals in Bamboo Forest, Part V, 2007
Which brings us to Yang Fudong’s latest film, ‘First Spring,’ a period piece set in Shanghai during what the West knows as the Interbellum Period.
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January 12, 2010
798 Dashanzi Arts District – Pace Beijing
I had intended on writing a longer-form essay on the Beijing art scene—among other stillborn topics such as food, drink, work and leisure—but I settled on a few profiles and discursive remarks regarding specific artists. Just as there are emerging artists, I would say that there is an inchoate art world that is still redefining itself.
However, I have decided to refrain from writing an inane opinion piece or a tedious art-historical treatment of Chinese contemporary art.
Instead, I will resort to a simple device: interpolating quotes (which invariably resonate with my experience in Beijing) from a highly relevant news article (which was conspicuously absent from my previous NYT-heavy aggregation of interesting news items) into a series of photos from the 30 Degrees opening at Red Gate Gallery last fall.
This juxtaposition may or may not reveal profound connections between words (taken out of context) and images (of images) within a thematic framework of contemporary art production and exhibition in China.
In other words, here are some pictures that I didn’t get around to posting and some quotes from a recent New York Times article.
Zhang Jie – Pigs Might Fly / Mao Yu – Tree of Man
Being Chinese-American makes it easier to be an observer of what’s really happening because I’m camouflaged,” she said. “But it doesn’t mean I understand any more what people are thinking.” Still, Ms. Ho, 40, revels in her role as outsider in a society that she says is blindly enthusiastic about remaking itself.
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January 2, 2010
All photos via the artists' website
I’ve noticed that Designboom, a regular source of interesting ideas, images and other forms of inspiration that , seems predisposed to the work of Chinese contemporary artists. [Or should that be contemporary Chinese artists? Does the differing emphasis suggest that these are two entirely different categories of artist? Food for thought...]
Anyway, they’ve brought my attention to Li Wei, whose work I had previously encountered in Wallpaper‘s China Issue from last summer. Designboom focuses on his ongoing “Li Wei Falls To The…” series of photos, which capture the essence of his oeuvre, though I would also add that it’s worth checking out the rest of his work on his website.
One of several photos featured in Wallpaper
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December 10, 2009
“To give a price to an artwork, no matter how high or low, is always absurd.”*
via the New York Times
Ai Weiwei is invariably described as the quintessential contemporary Chinese artist, an outspoken persona and activist whose socio-political message is matched by his strong sense of form and history. His body of work, realized in every medium from architecture to photography, is a critical reinterpretation of traditional Chinese culture in an unambiguously modern aesthetic.
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