The Paper's reporter Huang Song
Raphael, Turner, Monet, Munch, Chagall, Picasso, Giacometti... Under the background of many classic masterpieces in the history of Western art coming to the two sides of the Pujiang River in recent years, how can Shanghai's art museum industry enhance its core competitiveness?
From the perspective of history, the urban character of HaiNa baichuan has cultivated Shanghai's open aesthetics, and also formed a relatively complete artistic ecology, with first-class venues, enthusiastic audiences, as well as policy support and financial support, creating a fiery artistic atmosphere. Of course, in the global context, we must also see the shortcomings that still exist in the current art museum industry, for example, becoming a "punch card" is the performance of some art museums becoming Internet celebrities, however, why are art museums "punched in"? How can art galleries no longer be vassals of commerce or extensions of galleries? How art education can really advance... All of this requires real reflection.
This issue of The Paper's Art Review's "Anti-Ball Art Field in Shanghai" series explores this issue.
"The Sound of Everything" - Centre Pompidou Collection Exhibition (II), Exhibition Site, Source West Bund Museum
Before 2000, there were only a few art venues in Shanghai, but now the city has nearly 250 museums and art galleries, about 2,000 exhibitions are held every year, and the audience can reach 20 million, ranking the forefront in the country; a number of high-quality cultural carriers such as the Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai and the West Bund Art Museum have emerged, cultivating a number of high-quality exhibition brands such as the Shanghai Biennale, the West Bund Art and Design Fair, and the ART021 Art Fair, and launched the Pompidou Center Collection Exhibition. A number of international cooperation projects such as the Tate Collection Exhibition. This not only shows the public's demand for cultural life and spiritual aesthetics, but also in terms of urban renewal, the development model of the art museum will quickly enhance the cultural atmosphere of the radiation area and drive a new round of development, and a series of policy preferences have also risen the trend of combining the development of the art museum with shopping malls and communities. The art museum has also expanded from a single "fine art" category to design, fashion, animation, architecture and other fields that are closely related to modern life, advocating the integration of art into contemporary life and fashion culture.
Rich resources are placed, art galleries and art events are gradually becoming a social platform, and the public's stay time is getting longer. This social attribute extends to social media, and "punching in" has become another expression of "visiting here", and it is precisely because "punch card photos" allow more people to see the richness of art, and then more publics walk into it.
Why are museums popular? Become a punch card place, or impress the audience
Becoming a "punch card" is the performance of the art museum becoming an Internet celebrity. But unlike other punch-in places, art galleries are often landmarks in their areas, cultural windows to the city, and ideal places for the public. Therefore, the eagerness to art museums also proves the charm and influence of culture and art.
However, why is the art museum "punched"? But it is a question worth thinking about.
In 2020, the audience took photos and punched in front of Monet's "Sunrise Impressions"
First of all, probably because of architecture, some emerging art museums sit in a position where they can see the scenery and invite big-name architects to design. As soon as the museum opened, it became the focus of the city, with the media rushing to report and the public flocking to it, forming a huge passenger flow.
However, when architecture becomes an ongoing topic, it is inevitable that the cart before the horse is reversed, and the space of the museum is designed to present works of art. The protagonists of the museum are collections, exhibitions, and catholic education. If you just stop at finding a well-known architect to build an iconic house, it becomes a tourist attraction.
Outside of architecture, another important reason that makes an art museum an internet celebrity is the exhibition. At present, many "net red exhibitions" are often introduced from abroad, especially after 2020, under the condition of limited travel, the art museum will continue to introduce the works of international artists and the collections of foreign art museums, so that the public can "stay in Shanghai" to view the global art classics, and bring comfort to the soul with art. However, there are also some "introductions" named raphael, Monet, Katsushika Hokusai and other painters with a broad mass base, and only one or two less refined originals, with dozens of works and even replicas of other painters, and then attached to the so-called "immersive" exhibition, it is possible to trigger a queue of people and become an Internet celebrity, which is rare in the world.
So, what kind of "introduction of progress" in the world will cause a boom in exhibition viewing?
In neighboring Japan, for example, the National Museum of Western Art, Tokyo Metropolitan Museum of Art, and Ueno Nomori Museum of Art in Ueno, Tokyo, are also famous for exhibiting Classic Western art, and the works of Vermeer, Van Gogh, and Munch are all highlighted here. In 2019, in Tokyo's "9/35 Vermeer and Dutch Art", 9 of the 35 surviving works of Vermeer are displayed in the exhibition hall, including the "Maid Who Poured Milk", a treasure of the Dutch National Museum. At the end of 2019, the "Van Gogh Exhibition" exhibited 83 works by Van Gogh and Impressionist painters from 10 countries and regions around the world, including "Cypress" from the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, "Rose" from the National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., and "The Courtyard of the Sanatorium of Saint-Rémy Sanatorium" in the Wotrokule Museum of the Netherlands, and the venue is absolutely forbidden to take pictures, so even if it is crowded, it is only a quiet discussion and careful discovery of surprises in the works.
Outside the Ueno Noburi Museum in Tokyo, poster for the exhibition "9/35 Vermeer and Dutch Art"
The crowd waiting in line to see the exhibition "9/35 Vermeer and Dutch Art"
Watching the Impressionist exhibition in Shanghai, the crowd is also surging, but the gap is obvious. On the one hand, the reason is that most of the exhibits in Shanghai to introduce Western classic art exhibitions come from a single foreign institution, the introduction process is much simpler, and the exhibits naturally have certain limitations. On the other hand, the crowd of people taking pictures also makes the exhibition experience poor. "While most of the 'lead-in' quality is still passable, there are also some exhibitions that are 'one trick' – using a work as a publicity gimmick, attracting the public through marketing means, and marking a large ticket price." What's more, the printed works are indiscriminately counted, and the audience who are in the dark is still randomly moved by the printed materials. However, the public will not always be unaware, this kind of 'one trick fresh' approach, can only be used 'one trick', and ultimately affect the public's trust in the industry. A senior director of the Shanghai Art Museum industry said.
Of course, many art museums in Shanghai have been established for less than five years, compared with foreign first-class venues with nearly half a century of history, they are still in the learning stage, and at this stage, the introduction of collection exhibitions of foreign art museums to show where the current art comes from does have a certain educational nature and popular significance. But art museums also need to be based on in-depth research, "art museums are containers for the production of knowledge, an art museum is like a scholar, it should have its own accumulation and research direction, if the art museum does not accumulate, all forms of exhibitions are done, then there is no memory point." Lu Mingjun, a young researcher at the School of Philosophy of Fudan University, said.
At the end of 2004, the Shanghai Art Museum was lined up at the entrance of the Museum of Fine Arts because of the exhibition of "French Impressionist Painting Treasures". Courtesy of Li Xiangyang
If an art museum wants to highlight scholarship, it cannot be used as an extension of the gallery
In addition to introducing foreign exhibitions, some art museums also do solo exhibitions of artists represented by galleries. And at present, this is a situation of "multi-party profit", but as an academic institution, the art museum has become an extension of the gallery, and it has gone astray.
Although in New York, Berlin, London and other more mature art galleries will also exhibit gallery representative artists, such as Tate Modern Director Frances Morris curated a series of solo exhibitions of female artists from a female perspective, including Louis Bourgeois in 2007, Yayoi Kusama in 2012, and Enig Martin in 2015. In recent years, Picasso's muse, Such as Dora Mar, has also been excavated. The aim is to guide the public to new content, to pay attention to how their art is formed, and to establish a connection between the audience and art history through artists and their works.
Although the solo exhibition once again establishes the status of the artist, the price of his works will usher in a wave of increases, and the final value will still be brought. Gong Yan, director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Shanghai, also admitted that the relationship between artists, galleries and art institutions is difficult to sort out at present, but she also mentioned that "everything has a 'degree', and there must be a clear positioning and goal at the beginning." The art museum must be non-commercial, highlighting the academic, bringing spiritual inspiration and enjoyment to the public, which is the foundation and can never be changed. ”
In 2017, the audience of the "James Trier Retrospective" at the Long Museum (West Bund) competed to take photos in front of the work.
However, some private art museums have constructed "the lies of the academic game", and artists have a certain responsibility for causing the current situation. Because compared with the public art museum to hold a solo exhibition is not only a high threshold, or also need to donate works as collections, many private art museums have collection resources, which can bring direct benefits to artists and galleries, and can also produce good social effects, resulting in some private art museums with galleries as the leading artists' solo exhibitions have been scheduled until the next few years, which points to a crisis of art ecology.
Although it is difficult for artists to concentrate on creating without the help of galleries. This is not to say that artists are swayed by galleries, and that the two should maintain a mutually reinforcing relationship. But the gallery and the collectors behind it constitute a stubborn yet invisible system. "Domestic collectors buy works not to buy 'risk', but to buy 'insurance'. When they are not sure whether the works they want to enter will appreciate in the end, the artist's resume has become a value evaluation system, resulting in more and more opportunities for big-name artists, and art museums are also icing on the cake, which is not conducive to the ecology of art. Lu Mingjun said.
As a result, professionals' expectations of the art museum have become smaller, the exhibition is difficult to cause discussion, and few people care about its true significance. But art museums do not exist in isolation, they need to trigger certain repercussions within the art system, and exhibitions also need to consider how artists, curators, and art researchers can comment. "The voice of criticism is beneficial to both institutions and artists, an exercise of communication, and art criticism and controversy can promote progress." Gong Yan said. But now most of the art media and art critics play the role of "reporters" and "praisers", and few really dig into the art scene and make voices with their own attitudes, resulting in the lack of art criticism.
Promote artistic talents with education and improve the art ecology
Although there are still flaws in Shanghai's art museum industry, the flaws are not hidden, and the venues are first-class, the audience is enthusiastic, as well as policy support and financial support, creating a fiery artistic atmosphere. State-owned art museums comb the art tradition of the Shanghai school based on art history, and private art museums bring international artists in the peak period of creation to Shanghai with their openness, so that art museums can be closely linked with international art trends. Especially after the epidemic, the art museum has moved from offline to online, and the continuous launch of online activities such as full-landscape exhibitions, online lectures, and live tours has opened multiple pages of the art museum; the art museum has also entered the community and established a connection between art and the public in a "local" way.
Art021 Shanghai 21 Contemporary Art Fair
However, whether it is a state-owned or private art museum, it is facing the problem of how to cultivate and retain talents, and art museums should become a booster for young curators and artists. "But now that the content of the exhibition is becoming more homogeneous, there are not more opportunities for young artists, especially experimental and critical works." Curator Shi Hantao said.
Fundamentally, nurturing young artists and curators also requires the accumulation of education. Shanghai was once the first city in China to develop art education, and in the first half of the 20th century, it was home to an important art school in China. But today, compared with Beijing, Hangzhou and other cities, Shanghai is still far behind in building first-class art academies, and there are also some faults in secondary art education.
Wang Chunjie, the former director of the Himalayan Art Museum, once believed that "the lack of first-class art academies and research institutions makes it difficult to gather important research-oriented art experts and scholars." Without experts in art theory, art history, and art criticism, the survival and development of artists can only be fought alone and thin. This is also another weakness of Shanghai's artistic development. In addition to cultivating a large number of artistic talents, how to attract Chinese and foreign artists to create and live in Shanghai is another prominent issue. ”
"Landscapes of the Mind: An Exhibition of the Treasures of the Tate Britain (1700-1980)", jointly organized by the Tate Museum in London and the Shanghai Museum, 2018.
As a senior art practitioner said, whether it is to do an art museum or to do art, you need a sense of mission, art is an ideal is not a business, do art to clarify what is your heart? One needs to be wary of leaving only photographs and traces of capital after an exhibition, leaving no real serious discussion.
Editor-in-Charge: Lu Sijia
Proofreader: Luan Meng