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.

Glimcher goes on to compare his galleries two stars, Zhang Xiaogang and Zang Huan, to Johns and Rauschenberg respectively. But that shouldn’t be read as meaning Glimcher thinks Chinese artists are echoing Western work:

“Western figurative art at this moment in history has very little narrative or meaning. It’s tweaking,” the art dealer and movie producer said. “This is all about their narrative….It’s very, very pertinent and it’s very exciting. They’re making art because they have to. There’s real meaning to this art.”

And it is clear there’s a huge appetite in China for art:

As impressive as the new Beijing gallery is, new visitors are likely to be more astounded by the bustling crowds that descend on the 798 District every weekend. Thousands of Chinese, most of them in their 20s, pack the sprawling streets and alleys to peer at the latest art.

“It’s extraordinary, extraordinary, the activity here,” Guy Wildenstein told the Sun. “It’s like a whole town, an art town, an art city. The youth is amazing here and the feeling of power, interest, the will to learn, the will to expand, the energy.”

“It makes Chelsea look provincial,” the gallery’s chief spokeswoman and Mr. Glimcher’s daughter-in-law, Andrea Glimcher, said.

An Art Powerhouse Opens in Beijing (NY Sun)