Art Market Monitor

Global Coverage ~ Unique Analysis

  • AMMpro
  • AMM Fantasy Collecting Game
  • Podcast
  • Contact Us

When Boring Art is Good

July 10, 2009 by Marion Maneker

Ben Lewis finds a topical museum show that’s also safe and appealing for those who don’t “get” contemporary art. It’s at the National Portrait Gallery in London and features small works that are surprisingly relevant:

Uighur by Emmanuoil BitsakisThe riots in that region this week, which involved fighting between the Uighur and dominant Han Chinese and left more than a hundred dead, make Bitsakis’s portraits timely and newsworthy — but these are also stunning paintings in their own right, deserving winners of the 2008 BP travel award.

Not much more than a dozen centimetres square, the images have a powerful mood of loss and fortitude with their flattened perspective, sharply drawn brooding faces, which recall Dürer and Memling, and compressed backgrounds featuring local ornament and Communist architecture. A solo show beckons.

The rest of this exhibition — 62 pictures selected from 1,900 entries, is a case study in how good art doesn’t always have to push boundaries. It’s old-fashioned, un-experimental, sometimes stickily sentimental.

BP Portrait Award Faces Our Current Affairs (This Is London)

More from Art Market Monitor

  • Christie's Chinese Ceramics & WoAChristie's Chinese Ceramics & WoA
  • Bonhams Sells Hepworth Sculpture for $849kBonhams Sells Hepworth Sculpture for $849k
  • Emily Fisher Landau is No FoolEmily Fisher Landau is No Fool
  • Fischl: It’s the Painting, Not the Price TagFischl: It’s the Painting, Not the Price Tag
  • Christie’s PWC Total = $465mChristie’s PWC Total = $465m
  • Artists and CharitiesArtists and Charities

Filed Under: Uncategorized

About Marion Maneker

LiveArt

Want to get Art Market Monitor‘s posts sent to you in our email? Sign up below by clicking on the Subscribe button.

  • About Us/ Contact
  • Podcast
  • AMMpro
  • Newsletter
  • FAQ

twitterfacebooksoundcloud
Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
California Privacy Rights
Do Not Sell My Personal Information
Advertise on Art Market Monitor
 

Loading Comments...