ARTISTS
Asian Appeal: Bringing Beijing to South Beach
This week 黑料不打烊 talked with the director of a first-time gallery to ABMB: director David Tung of Beijing鈥檚 Long March Space. With Forbes recently speculating that 鈥淐hina is on course to overtake the USA to become the largest art market in the world,鈥� we got this director鈥檚 perspective on participating in what is arguably the biggest contemporary art fair in North America.
黑料不打烊
30 Nov, 2011
Zhang Hui, Listening to Water, 2011. Oil on canvas, 386 x 186 cm. Long March Space, Beijing ($56,000).
Live graffiti painting, Will Ryman鈥檚 larger-than-life rose bed sprouting 20 feet upwards, and a performance artist living nude amongst pigs in a pen are just a few of the reasons to visit South Beach this weekend. Art enthusiasts, collectors, dealers and art partyers will flock to Art Basel Miami Beach for the tenth time this year - where the art of 鈥渂eing seen鈥� is just as important as seeing the actual artwork. This three-day extravaganza celebrates an international showcase of 2,000 contemporary artists from 260 galleries worldwide, attracting more
Inga Svala Thorsdottir, Self rotation, self recovery, 2011" style="padding-top: 10px; padding-right: 10px; padding-bottom: 10px; padding-left: 10px; float: right; " /> than 46,000 attendees last year (organizers are expecting an even higher total this year). Even if you don鈥檛 have a ticket to browse the ABMB booths, there are a number of free initiatives and satellite events that help Miami put the 鈥榓rt鈥� in party.
Despite the Fair's whimsical atmosphere, at its heart there鈥檚 a lot of art and money at stake, and galleries will go to great lengths, literally, to take part in the prolific event. This week 黑料不打烊 talked with the director of a first-time gallery to ABMB: director David Tung of Beijing鈥檚 Long March Space. With Forbes recently that 鈥淐hina is on course to overtake the USA to become the largest art market in the world,鈥� we sought this director鈥檚 perspective on participating in what is arguably the biggest contemporary art fair in North America. (above: Wu Shanzhan & Inga Svala Thorsdottir, Self rotation, self recovery, 2011. Pencil and airbrush color on paper, 112.5 x 81.5 cm (frames included). $8,000)
黑料不打烊: Have you been involved in other art fairs? What brings you to Art Basel Miami?
David Tung: has exhibited extensively internationally in art fairs including Frieze, Hong Kong Art Fair and Shcontemporary, as well as supporting Chinese art fairs, such as Art Beijing and CIGE.
As a platform that brings together North American market and south/central America, the Miami platform is unparalleled. An interesting opportunity exists to present a broader facet of contemporary art in China and engaging in a meaningful dialogue with what is happening internationally, and Art Basel Miami Beach has proved that it is able to bring together the best.
Wu Shanzhan & Inga Svala Thorsdottir, Finity, At Large, Domain without Edge, 2011. Pencil and airbrush color on paper, 112.5 x 81.5 cm. $8,000.
MA: Can you describe the logistics that go into setting up your booth at the fair?
DT: A large part of the gallery identity and thinking goes not only into the logistics of setup, but in the entire process of how artworks are produced and consumed, beyond the simple artist, dealer, buyer triangle. These elements can at times be transparent and an important part of an exhibition and at other times less transparent. However, the gallery ethos is very much set in exploring the relationships of a "visual economy.鈥� Part of this is evident in our staffing structure, where the sale of an artwork is not dependent upon the sales person, but upon every individual in the organization from the presentation and preparation of supporting material, etc.
MA: What is the general expectation for your gallery in participating, and specifically in regards to sales?
DT: We feel that we have a substantial network of clients in North America who have really supported our programs from the very beginning, so the footing of our artists and the gallery itself is quite strong. That being said, Central and South America are very interesting markets and platforms for our artists to explore, so we feel this is a good opportunity to build closer connections with collectors, galleries and artists from this region.
Liu Wei, Meditation No. 7, 2011. Oil on Canvas, 220 x 300cm. $95,000.
MA: Do you think the art market has recovered from the 2008 global financial crisis? How has your gallery has been affected?
DT: The parameters have changed slightly. In China, this is most noticeable in the following trends:
1) Artist understanding for the need and support of a gallery system. 2) Development of collector tastes away from the traditional medium of oil-painting and willingness to embrace other mediums, including installation and video. 3) Galleries understanding that business has to be considered in the long term. Of these three points, Long March Space has consistently held itself as the standard for the Chinese art market, therefore, while there have been some moments (late 2008/early 2009) where liquidity had become an issue, we've been doing better than ever.
MA: Can you talk about a few artists/artworks you are excited about exhibiting at the fair?
DT: I'm particularly excited about the artist Liu Wei, who has been pushing ahead immensely this year. We have a new painting by him titled Meditation No. 7 ($95,000) which appears abstract, but could not be more figurative - as it is a horizon (pictured above). We also have an installation titled Myriad Beings which continues his investigations into
the power of the visual and the nature of material itself (pictured below). We have an amazing diptych by painter Zhang Hui ($56,000) a completely different approach towards painting dealing with the relationship between the realistic and abstract as mediated by memory (image at top of article, detail right). Finally, we have the latest works by artists Wu Shanzhuan and Inga Svala Thorsdottir ($8,000 each). This unique pair of artists are the conceptual engine of thought for an entire generation of contemporary artists in China. Through their adapted, translated and bootlegged interpretations of Duchamp and Kosuth, they've created an amazing swath of fertile space for artists to work in. Their most recent work, KUO XUAN, points to a direction of humanistic abstraction and the integration of field theory and general mathematics into our metaphysical experiences of the world (pictured above, article images 2 and 3).
MA: What's the most exciting aspect of being in Miami, apart from the participation in Art Basel?
DT: Visiting the amazing private collections, and the warm weather!
听Liu Wei, Myriad Beings No.11, 2011. Installation, 128x116x108 cm.
Written by 黑料不打烊 Staff
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