Art Attack: Openings Galore, Booker Prize and China Overtakes the US?
Those exciting exhibit openings I promised you last week are right around the bend now, ready to smack you in the face. Get your gallery-going shoes ready!
But first on the newsy side, Artinfo.com tells us a new follow-up analysis lists China as the world’s top art market – if we’re only looking at Fine Arts. That’s kind of like if we just didn't count those votes in Florida, Al Gore would have been President of the US … not sure what that means, but the point is, things are being shaken up around here.
(Ok, basically what it means is that wealthy Chinese mainland collectors are really driving up revenue for Chinese auction houses. If private dealers and galleries develop more, we’ll really be in business…)
Also, according to the South China Morning Post, two Chinese writers have been shortlisted for the prestigious Man Booker International Literary Prize – for the first time ever. One of the writers, Su Tong, wrote the novella "Wives and Concubines," which spawned Zhang Yimou’s film Raise the Red Lantern. The film version was nominated for an Oscar almost two decades before its literary predecessor is getting its Booker nod, which gives us some sense of the lag in foreign interest between China’s cinema vs. literature. The other writer, Wang Anyi, is famous for his 1996 novel, The Song of Everlasting Sorrow. The Man Booker International Prize is based on authors’ entire bodies of work, not just one book. Winners are announced May 18 in Sydney; we’ll keep you posted.
And now, to the events!
Opening today, April 1:
Peter Lindbergh, “The Unknown”
The German photographer rose to fame in the 1980s on the shimmery legs of Claudia Schiffer, Kate Moss, and Naomi Campbell. Now he’s been commissioned to create an exhibit just for the UCCA, playing on themes of celebrity, beauty, and the truth and lies behind image production. RMB 15. Through May 22. UCCA
Kong Lingnan: “Only Her Body”
The young painter features in the UCCA's long-running Curated by... Series (handled here by Yang Shaobin). See her eerily pretty oil-painted neon-looking landscapes for the first time. Free (courtesy of Bloomberg). Through May 22. UCCA
Wang Jianwei: “Yellow Signal”
The multi-media installation artist is known for his conceptually complex, theatrical presentations. This exhibit explores the space between green and red lights, permission and prohibition. It’ll play out in four parts, and this is the first chapter: 8 films projected upon four large entryways, each giving the viewer a different perspective. RMB 15. Through June 26. UCCA
Saturday, April 2:
The Berlin Scrolls, Lu Hao
Lu Hao’s hand scrolls of Chang’An Street (they’re like the contemporary, post-Socialist update on the Qingming scrolls – how appropriate) showed at documenta, the most prestigious and elusive international art festival. Now, his take on Berlin’s sister soviet-inspired street, the Karl Marx-Allee, is being displayed in Beijing. The Berlin Scrolls open at Alexander Ochs Galleries this Saturday, with exhibit running from April 3 – May 21. Free.
Artist Talk
Peter Lindbergh sits down with Angelina Cheung, Editorial Director at Vogue China, and Jerome Sans, UCCA Director, to discuss his artistic vision and philosophy in the context of his first major project in China. Free. 2-3.30pm. UCCA
*Note: requires reservation. Members should contact Membership Department for details, non-members should call 8459 9269/9387 between 11:00-18:00, Tuesday-Friday, for a reservation number.
Monday, April 4
Cao Baoping's Troublemakers
Catch mid-market filmmaker (not quite market giant, not quite underground) Cao Baoping’s 2006 sleeper “Troublemakers” at the BC MOMA. The film follows a band of decidedly un-heroic Yunnan villagers in their unlikely efforts to topple their corrupt local leaders. This film was delayed for years but finally released with little fanfare, though it’s one of the director’s more interesting. 7.30pm. BC MOMA (8438 8258)
