The first ink art fair in the history of mainland China, the Art West Lake International Ink Art Expo, will be held from May 24 to 28 at the Hangzhou Peace International Convention and Exhibition Center. This expo is not only a grand event of ink art, but also has received widespread attention from the collection community at home and abroad, and the active participation of many top international galleries shows the macro trend of international capital strategically focusing on Chinese contemporary ink art.
Zeng Jianyong Location No.1 Color on paper 42X56cm 2015
Market preference: very oriental, very Chinese, very contemporary
This expo invited a number of top art institutions with outstanding academic and market contributions in the field of international ink art to participate. Taihe Art Space brought dozens of works by four famous artists, Tu Qin, Wang Qiuren, Mao Xiaolang and, to the exhibition, with a strong lineup.
As one of the most prestigious and main institutions in the Chinese art market today, Taihe Art Space has been engaged in the research and operation of ink art for more than 20 years, and its selection of artists and works of art largely reflects the attitude of the current market to ink art and the prediction of future market conditions.
Oriental Tuqin Ink Meditation Series Ink on Paper 45cm 69cm
Among the four artists exhibited by Taihe, The Oriental Tuqin is a very unique phenomenon, and his works can be seen as a contemporary expression of writing. Oriental Tuqin is very familiar with tradition, but is not satisfied with tradition, but deconstructs and overlaps tradition, showing a new contemporary atmosphere and contemporary expression. He starts from tradition, generates tradition, activates tradition, and has many future possibilities.
Wang Qiuren Auspicious Cloud Heavy Color on Paper 250×120cm 2012
Wang Qiuren, the author of the Declaration of Free Artists in the Yuanmingyuan Art Village, is one of the earliest contemporary artists in China, who has been engaged in the artistic creation of installation and shelf for many years, but later turned to finding roots from traditional pen and ink, deconstructing Chinese landscapes from traditional pen and ink, and integrating new colors and expression techniques.
Ink Thinking • Celestial Stone • Is it related to time? Series No. 28 Ink and thinking. Daysaway the stone. Related to timeSeries of 28. 2016
is a veteran of the 85 art trend, but also engaged in contemporary art creation for many years, turning to seek a breakthrough from tradition, reconstructing the artistic language in the way of ink, and the expression of its sense of volume makes the works more visual impact and oriental expression temperament.
Mao Xiaolang Non Xuan Ink (14) 130×152cm 2012
Mao Xiaolang is also an artist who came out of the 85 art trend, engaged in a lot of abstract expression of ink art practice, in the past 10 years has also returned to the tradition to seek the matrix, with a very complicated brushwork, lonely, stoic and tenacious spirit, in the mountain village secluded living state, found a unique way of artistic expression.
A common feature of these four artists is that they originate from ancient traditions, integrate into contemporary expressions, and go out of their own unique artistic path. To sum it up in 9 words, it is: very oriental, very Chinese, very contemporary. This common feature represents the preference of the market to a certain extent.
Jia Tingfeng: Contemporary ink painting is the most potential collection plate
Jia Tingfeng, a well-known art dealer, curator and chairman of Taihe Art Space, has been optimistic about the market prospects of Contemporary Ink Art in China for nearly 20 years, believing that this is the collection plate with the most potential in the future. Over the years, Jia Tingfeng has written many articles and expounded this view in public academic activities and market activities.
Jia Tingfeng believes that ancient traditional Chinese art represents the glorious past, but it cannot represent the future. Many of the current contemporary art is too Westernized, has been played by Westerners, is not suitable for dialogue with the West, and is more formal than content. Only Contemporary Ink Painting in China can represent the future of Chinese art. Therefore, China's contemporary ink painting is the most collectible potential.
The "New Tradition" interprets the spirit of ink painting
As the world's premier international art exchange platform with diverse academic interests and cultural perspectives in China, Amy Lee Gallery presented a grand exhibition with the largest booth of the year at the "2018 Art Beijing" held in April, and just one month later, Amy Lee Gallery brought the works of ten famous artists, Zhang Jian, Gao Qian, Jin Sha, Shen Qin, Wang Jianwei, Inoueyi, Xiao Ping, Liu Yun, Xu Hualing and Lang Chengwen, to the first ink art fair in the history of mainland China, Art West Lake· International Ink Expo.
Inoue Yu-Ichi Tower Ta Ink on paper 101x161cm 1971
Amy Lee Gallery director Li Yizhen Amy said that ink painting is one of the most essential parts of Chinese culture, as a Chinese, I feel that I have a natural sense of mission and responsibility for the inheritance and promotion of ink painting, so although the gallery has a variety of activities and a tight schedule recently, it is still carefully planned and selected to participate in the Art West Lake International Ink Expo. At present, the collection market of contemporary ink works is in the stage of development, the prospect is good, but it is far from reaching the mature state of the traditional art collection market, so from the perspective of the industry, a professional exposition focusing on ink painting is very necessary and beneficial, which will contribute to the innovation and development of contemporary Chinese ink art.
Sands Jin Sha - Conversations with Leonardo da Vinci 2017 Convesation with Leonardo da Vinci 2017 Color on Silk + Digital Printing, Acrylic Ink and Colour Pigment on Silk ; Disital Print and Acrylic 65x124cm+25x35cm 2017
Li Yizhen Amy introduced that the theme of Amy Lee Gallery's exhibition is "new tradition", although the works of these artists are not all created with ink as a medium, but also include works with mixed materials on paper, but whether it is "new ink" or "new tradition", which contains the spirit of traditional Chinese and is common to the spirit of ink art.
高茜 Gao Qian - 鱼石图 Fish and Stone 纸本设色 Ink and colour on paper 234.5×142cm 2016
When selecting works for the exhibition, Amy Lee Gallery pays attention to both academic and ornamental. For example, one of the leading figures of contemporary Gongbi and the famous artist Gao Qian's largest Gongbi painting so far, "Fish stone map", which was created for nearly a year and has been exhibited in important institutions such as the Long Museum, is a perfect presentation of the artist's representative style. Many collectors wanted to be able to enter the painting, but Gao Qian could not give up and did not agree. In order to support the first Art West Lake International Ink Exhibition, the artist finally agreed to exhibit his works in Hangzhou. Wang Jianwei's works contain rich traditional cultural elements, he uses paper heavy color and propylene mixture as the medium, and through the transformation of traditional Chinese painting elements, presents a new artistic style of "ancient for modern use". The masterpieces of the famous appraiser and calligrapher Xiao Ping can be called elaborate works, rarely appearing, and wonderful.
Collectors from all over the world focus on Himeko's legacy
Wang Boqiao, curator of this expo, introduced that among the participating artists, Jizi's works are one of the hot spots that collectors from all over the world pay attention to. For the secularized art world, Himeko is a unique presence. Ji Zi had a lot of life, did not have the opportunity to study in the Academy of Fine Arts, but independently studied painting for more than 50 years, did a variety of short-term work to make a living, but always unswervingly, taking nature as a teacher, taking history as a mirror, taking the contemporary as the theme, integrating the essence and magic of Chinese classic painting, and exploring the true meaning of "Ink Road Landscape" art.
Mixed Element Series No. 3, 90×96cm, Ink on Paper, 2010
For the last 27 years (1988-2015), Himeko had no financial income and was entirely dependent on her family for support. Because of this, Himeko was able to devote her great energy and time to his painting career. Himeko's paintings are often large in size, and the concentration and density of ink are far superior to others. Himeko painting rarely or does not use special effects (rubbing ink, splashing ink, collage, etc.), but maintains the traditional pen and ink writing, dot accumulation into surfaces, area imaging, image accumulation into a body, and over and over again, layer by layer to form a multi-level depth space. He Jinwei, the founder of the Asia Live Art Center, called the Jizi pen and ink method: the poly ink method, which can better reflect the extraordinary density, depth and cosmic image style of the Jizi picture than the accumulation ink method.
Mixed Element Series No. 4, 90×96cm, Ink on Paper, 2010
Wang Boqiao introduced that Jizi worked alone for more than half a century, and in the past ten years, he gradually appeared in the public eye and was recognized by everyone, which in turn set off a worldwide trend of Jizi research. Shui Tianzhong, a researcher at the China Academy of Arts, Gao Minglu, a professor at the University of Pittsburgh, Wang Min'an, a professor at Capital Normal University, Shane Mc Causland, a professor at the School of Oriental and African Studies at the University of London, David Brubaker, a famous American art theorist, Yu Yang, director of the Chinese Painting Research Department of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Xia Kejun, a professor at Chinese University, and Gao Congyi, a famous scholar, all gave High praise to Jizi art.
International capital is aiming at contemporary Chinese ink painting
Many of the galleries participating in this expo are from overseas, including the Mozhai Gallery, which has been committed to Chinese ink painting collection for more than 20 years, and the Tokyo Gallery, one of the world's top ten galleries, and so on. The participation of these top international galleries represents the international basic attitude towards contemporary Chinese ink painting.
Yu Guoliang, one of the founders and gallery director of Ink Studio, said in a recent interview with the media that in the past, international interest in contemporary ink painting was mainly concentrated on curators and collectors of traditional Chinese art who were interested in contemporary art. But in the past two years, curators and collectors of international contemporary art like Jeffrey Deitc, as well as art giants such as Michael Govan, director of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art, and Noah Horowitz, director of Art Basel Miami, have begun to study and collect contemporary Chinese ink.
Huang Zhiyang Mishi No.1603, 2016 Mixed Media 200 x 240 cm
Since 2012, sotheby's and Christie's two major international auction giants have launched exhibitions or exhibitions of Contemporary Chinese Ink Painting in New York almost at the same time, and in China, the two giants of China Guardian and Beijing Poly have also launched special auctions of "New World of Ink Painting" and "The Backbone of Contemporary Chinese Ink Painting" that year, which has launched a boom in contemporary ink painting collection. In the following years, the performance of the contemporary ink plate continued to be eye-catching. In 2016, Sotheby's Contemporary Ink Art Division in Hong Kong achieved a record of HK$73.5 million, setting a world auction record for the works of five artists. In 2017, Sotheby's Hong Kong launched a special session called "He", which collected a number of contemporary ink paintings created by artists from Japan, India, Iran, France, the United States and other countries, and the sellers came from all over the world, reflecting a strong international tendency.
It's a good time to buy contemporary ink
Jiang Feimo, curator of this expo, introduced that ink painting is a common civilization of all mankind unique to the East and shared by the West, and is the representative of the height of Eastern civilization. After purgatory of ink painting, there will inevitably be some outstanding artists who will remain in art history, which is an inevitable choice of each era. Moreover, in the East of the earth, it must also be the art history of the East, and the art history of the East cannot be based on the logic of the history of the West, unless there is really no artist left in the land of the East. A real purchase is a purchase of art history, and a real collection is a collection of art history. According to the law of the art market, only when the academic level of the work is fully recognized, the price will rise with it.
Three times_ rice paper ink paper tube mounting _W2150×H400mm_2015
Jiang Feimo said that after 30 years of research and development, the academic value of ink painting has been affirmed by the international market, and the internal and external performance of ink painting has become increasingly mature, in recent years, Christie's and Sotheby's in New York have successively launched contemporary ink artists such as Li Huahan, Xu Bing, Yang Jiecang, Li Jin, etc., which in itself is an affirmation of contemporary ink painting achievements. At the same time, international first-line gallery institutions have also participated in the operation of the ink field, such as the Ink Gallery with a financial background in the United States, the Tokyo Gallery in Japan with a history of 68 years, the Hong Kong World Gallery for more than 40 years, and the Taihe Art Space in Beijing 798 for more than 10 years. These art institutions all have the responsibility and dream of renewing the oriental context, and have been operating for ten years. Despite this, most of the ink artists are not well known, and some artists are completely blank in terms of marketing, and we should give them more attention.
Tian Wei, 1227-2012-Vesheli-92×58cm-ink on rice paper, mineral color, acrylic, watercolor
Jiang Fei defaults to the fact that at present, many excellent works of domestic ink painting are low overall due to lack of attention, mostly between 50,000 yuan and 500,000 yuan, and the price is very small, with the inevitable trend of cultural rejuvenation, cultural self-confidence, and cultural self-reliance, the future period of contemporary ink painting will go to the market eruption period, for real collectors, now is a very good time to intervene in contemporary ink painting. The authenticity identification of contemporary ink painting has also become relatively simple due to the fact that most of the creators are alive, and the investment risk is small and the efficiency is high. Due to the intervention of collectors in Europe and the United States and Southeast Asia, contemporary ink painting has a certain foreign buyer base, and contemporary ink painting has the advantage of international disk. Overall, the future of the contemporary ink market is bright, which is also the positive social significance of this expo.
The work itself is more important than fame
Regarding the question of how collectors should identify and collect contemporary ink artworks, Jia Tingfeng said that in the selection of contemporary ink works, he has always adhered to four criteria: first, rooted in Ancient Chinese Civilization; Second, absorb the nutrients of world art; Third, highlight humanistic care; Fourth, generate and optimize the artistic originality of contemporary expression. Artists and works that meet these four criteria are works with high collectible value.
Tan Jun:_Silent Words.15 2017 collage on canvas 120x200cm
When selecting works of art, we should not look at the artist's fame, but more importantly, look at the work itself. It is also necessary to understand what this artist has been doing for decades, and if the artist has been doing art for decades, then this artist is worth paying attention to, and if it is an artist who plays with tickets, it is necessary to carefully consider it.
The choice of works also depends on the artist's own academic accomplishment and technology, if the artist's technology is not good, of which originality is more important, can not be copied, can not simply copy themselves. For contemporary ink painting, ambitious artists will not simply imitate tradition, but will find the DNA of tradition, and then generate and optimize their own artistic expression.
The professional ink platform serves collectors from all walks of life
"Art Westlake International Ink Expo" is a never-ending exposition, after 5 days of meetings, not the end, but just a new beginning.
Wang Boqiao, curator of this exposition, said that at present, there are many comprehensive large-scale art fairs in various parts of the country, and these expositions are seriously homogenized, in addition to the different locations, other aspects are basically not much different, which has caused the public's aesthetic fatigue. We don't want to continue to do that kind of large and comprehensive comprehensive art fair, but to create this platform according to the cultural attributes of Hangzhou and the needs of the Collectors in Zhejiang.
Wang Boqiao said that the Art West Lake International Ink Expo is committed to building a lasting professional and open art platform, using the concept of fairness and justice to serve the art world and collectors from all walks of life, so that good galleries and good artists can communicate on it.
Ink art has phoenix nirvana
Professor Wang Chunchen, the academic host of the expo, the deputy director of the CAFA Art Museum, and the curator of the Chinese Pavilion of the 55th Venice Biennale, said that the more than 100 years since the 20th century to the 21st century have been a century of purgatory for China's unique ink painting. It has withstood the impact of Western art, it has experienced the shock of self-reflection and criticism, and it has been declared dead and doomed many times. But its inner vitality is still there, there is no end, because ink painting is not a technology in the first place, nor is it a technique, it is a cultural system, as a medium, it can transform transformation and mutation, it conforms to the law of life inheritance.
Wang Chunchen believes that after a century of experience and fire quenching, ink as a thought, ink as a concept of behavior, ink as a symbol of personality, and ink as a modern aesthetic, all came into being, all of which were phoenix nirvana. Ink painting in the difficulty, to prove their own survival force, this is a cultural significance of the rebirth, is a revival of personality value, therefore, ink rebirth means the rebirth of the value of life.