The Gallery Faurschou had caused controversy last year with the exhibition of a life-size bronze statue of Mao whose facial expression indicated deep remorse. What is more, the head was designed so that it could be taken off and hidden in a separate location with the body remaining headless and unthreatening to authorities.
On Sept. 3 the head came out for a Gao brothers “party” — the code name for one of the invitation-only private exhibitions that the artists behind this work hold several times a year. The brothers also employ underground exhibitions to bring their art to the people. (Read it here.)
Art gallery director Kuang Wei was so terribly kind as to give me some of his time for an interview. This is the transcript.
What do you think is the strength of the Chinese market with regards to art and what is its weakness?
I think the remarkable and sustainable Chinese economic growth is the most prominent strength of the market. As a country with rich culture, China has a long tradition of collecting art in her 5,000 years development. The vision for the booming art market is promising. As to the investment point of view, more and more people see art investment as a safe and wise thing to do during the time of inflation.
The weakness is that the market needs to be regulated. China needs time to digest and adjust to the dramatic changes happened in the recent years. The art collecting frenzy has caused a somehow chaotic and fickle atmosphere that will not do real good to the market in the long run. Contemporary art is new to most Chinese, so it takes time too. Since we opened our gallery in Beijing, we’ve been dedicated to promote art of the highest caliber to Chinese audience, and have done museum quality shows that serve as an art education to the audience.
How do you see your gallery in China in five years from now?
We are confident that Faurschou Beijing will be one of the top galleries with high quality of art and unique style in the market - This is also our goal ever since its establishment from the 1980s.
Who is the best artist you have had the pleasure to exhibit in your gallery?
From Robert Rauschenberg, Andy Warhol, Shirin Neshat to Ai Weiwei, all the exhibitions are of high quality, and have attracted extensive attention from the public. Every artist is present with a unique style. We are pleased and honored to present each of our shows and the cooperation with the artists.
Why do you think there has been such a strong development of modern art in China recently? Is this dependent on improved economic situation or would you say it is the expression of a more profound set of needs?
It definitely has a great deal to do with China’s remarkable economic development. China actually has a long tradition of art collecting. In my opinion, the situation in China nowadays is similar like that of Germany after World War II – with very complicated feelings of lost of pride and setback have turned into an impulsive, explosive catharsis by means of art. After centuries-long isolation to the world, the opening-up policy commenced 30 years ago has offered such an outlet for the explosion in the aspect of art. The conflicts in the ideology, politics, culture, social and economic developments etc. provide tremendous energy and resources for Chinese contemporary art. Contemporary artist always serves as the prophet for civil evolvement in history. They are like the thermometer of our times and history.
What can we expect in the future form your gallery? How do you choose the artists who will have a space in your gallery?
We will have Tony Oursler’s solo exhibition from February 6 till May 10, 2010. We will always keep the top artists active in the field in our vision.
I am writing a blog about debates within the world of art .This particular video is about your gallery and an event that attracted a lot of attention - what is the real risk that artists face in China when they want to express their point of view freely? How is this going to be tackled in the future?
I am sorry to tell you that I couldn’t log on your blog to check out what the video is about, probably due to Chinese government’s strict internet control.
It is an interesting question. We have gone through a lot of problems of such kind that resulted from the contradiction between free expression and the government policy and ideology. It takes time to accept new things. We have talked to some government officials and found out that Chinese government doesn’t support contemporary art, but it doesn’t see it as monster, and interfere that much too as most of the western media has described. They know that it is unstoppable. More and more younger government officials actually have a more objective and tolerant stand to contemporary art. I think the situation is going towards a more lenient direction. My attitude is optimistic. It is getting easier to build up dialogue with them. Contemporary art is about being skeptical and critical – this essence will never change no matter what kind of political situation it is facing. From another point of view, such contradiction in China context serves as the biggest energy and resources for Chinese contemporary art.
Also, while in this case ''sensationalism'' could not be avoided because of political and cultural reasons, what do you think of the "shock" values that is more and more often used to promote modern art i.e. the latest Turbin Hall installation art at Tate Modern in London. Can art be "quiet" these days or does it necessarily need to disturb or offend to be noticed?
Life is like a stage, and everyone is the actor or actress. So do the artists – and usually the more expressive ones with more distinct styles and sharp viewpoints. They need audience. Every artist has their own ways of expressing themselves. Art that looks like to disturb or offend might have something to do with its nature of questioning and criticizing. There are also many art that are “quiet” but very beautiful, strong, impressive and also well addressing problems.
My last question is more generic and it is about your opinion about art: what do you think can we define art nowadays and what does it differentiate to popular culture or entertainment? What happens when the ''aura'' of fine arts disappears as it is now happening?
It is another interesting questions. Great waves wash away the sand. Art of true value can always stand the test of time. Art is a vivid and honest reflection of the times in human history – such as the political, economic, social, spiritual climate and problems. For example, “consumerism” is the gist of the time that we are living in, phenomenon of the popular culture and entertainment scenes nowadays are the product of consumerism. Art is the one who tries to address the problems and phenomenon. It remains independent, skeptical, critical, and ironic. For those who losing its “aura” of fine arts, the most important thing is to identify its motives. If it is a product of consumerism itself, it will be washed away at the end of the day.
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