A Thin-Skinned Government vs. an Overflowing Art Market

The New York Times reported yesterday that the Asia Society had been blind-sided by the Chinese governments slow-playing their hand on a loan of art from the Revolution, 1950-1970. With their spotless control of the Olympics, the Chinese goverment’s actions should come as no surprise even if one has to chuckle at the trick of reneging on a promised loan at the last minute to sabotage the exhibit:

Despite the Chinese government’s decision, Asia Society has decided to proceed with the show by seeking loans from private collectors.

The approach of the Olympics seemed to have been the deal breaker. “Initially, they said, ‘Any loans you want; no problem,’ ” said Vishakha N. Desai, the society’s president. “The closer it got to the Olympics, they changed their policy.” Read the rest of this entry »

Artforum Gives Us Scenes from the Gallery Opening

Artforum’s Philip Tinari filed this report (and took this picture of arrayed Pace Wildenstein worthies) from the opening of Pace’s new gallery in Beijing: Read the rest of this entry »

The US Embassy in Beijing Highlights Jeff Koons’s Art

This Jeff Koons sculpture sits in front of the new US Embassy in Beijing that opened today. The choice of Koons as a symbol of America in the country with the most consequence in coming years is implicit recognition of the artist’s stature in world culture–not just the art market. Here the New York Sun profiles the building itself. The Art Newspaper gives more details on the rest of the art in the building. But Felix Salmon at Portfolio points out that the art budget was measley in comparison to accepted guidelines for public art. And New York’s redoubtable Jerry Saltz offers valuable discussion of the artist and his work capping off with this observation: Read the rest of this entry »

As the Olympic Games get set to open, there’s been more than a little coverage of the Chinese Contemporary Art scene. Holland Carter went in search of Mao and his meaning by going to Mao’s mausoleum. The travelogue covers a lot of intellectual and emotional territory but the subtext of the whole piece comes out when Carter sets up a quote from Ai Wei Wei: “the concoctions for the Olympics are only cosmetically different from official design. Both, in different ways, affirm the continuance of one-party rule, he says, and the repression that implies. ‘There is no New China,’ he concludes.” Read the rest of this entry »

Pace Wildenstein Opens in Beijing

The New York Sun covers Pace Wildenstein’s 22,000-sq.-foot gallery space opening with an interview. “The true art . . . of real significance is coming from China,” Arne Glimcher said. Read the rest of this entry »