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Profound sense of loss and disillusionment (December 22 2012) Profound sense of loss and disillusionment (December 22 2012)

Yue Minjun the 50 year old Chinese contemporary artist best known for oil paintings depicting himself in various settings, frozen in laughter as a sort of logo that can be attached to any setting to add value, has been profiled by Nazanin Lankarani in a New York Times article titled ‘The Many Faces of Yue Minjun’. Lankarani states “…The notion of risk is well known in China, where artists can be subject to state censorship in various forms. Recent widely-reported examples include the artists Ai Weiwei, who has faced accusations of crimes ranging from tax evasion to bigamy and pornography, and Zhang Huan, whose 2008 show at the Shanghai Art Museum was canceled in 2008 by local authorities, with no reason given. A prolific painter since the early 1990s, Mr. Yue, 50, belongs to the generation of artists marked by what he calls a “profound sense of loss and disillusionment” after the crackdown at Tiananmen Square in 1989, in which popular demonstrations culminated in the massacre of protesters. “I feel that those years enabled us to find a new energy,” Mr. Yue said in a conversation in July with a friend, Shen Zhong, included in the catalog of the Paris show. “We discovered that the ideas and assumptions we had about a lot of things were no longer credible.” For the artists who chose to stay in China after 1989, the Cynical Realism movement, which Mr. Yue joined, was a possible path to express their experience in post-Tiananmen Chinese society. “Those who stayed experimented with a new iconography lush with signs of a disenchantment in confronting their society and assessing their own status,” said Grazia Quaroni, a curator at the Fondation Cartier. But, she added, “30 years later, Yue Minjun’s work exudes a sense of melancholy rather than cynicism.”

 

Inspired by Nazanin Lankarani ow.ly/g2elq image source Facebook ow.ly/g2efN

Oligarchs and dictators are not cool (December 9 2012) Oligarchs and dictators are not cool (December 9 2012)

Sarah Thornton the British Canadian writer and sociologist of culture, writing principally about art, artists and the art market, has detailed a list of the top ten reasons from potentially ‘hundreds’ of reasons for her decision to quit the art market beat. Blouin Artinfo has reprinted two of the reasons, being (A) It enables manipulators to publicize the artists whose prices they spike at auction. Tightknit cabals of dealers and speculative collectors count on the fact that you will report record prices without being able to reveal the collusion behind how they were achieved. …It’s a shame when good artists’ careers are made volatile by speculation.  And (B) Oligarchs and dictators are not cool. I have no problem with rich people. (Some of my best friends are high net worth individuals!) But amongst the biggest spenders in the art market right now are people who have made their money in non-democracies with horrendous human rights records. Their expertise in rising to the top of a corrupt system gives punch to the term “filthy lucre.” However, the astronomical prices paid by these guys do have a positive trickle-down effect. When they buy a Gerhard Richter for $20m, the consignor of the painting will likely re-invest some of their profit in younger art (particularly if they are American and keen to defer capital gains tax). These Russian, Arab and Chinese collectors bring liquidity to the art world and allow more artists, curators and critics to make a living in relation to art.”

 

Inspired by Blouin ArtInfo ow.ly/fKgvH image source ow.ly/fKgrd

Why are people disappearing in China (October 11 2012) Why are people disappearing in China (October 11 2012)

Phelim Kine the American Senior Researcher of the Asia Division at Human Rights Watch has published an article in the Global Post titled ‘Why are people disappearing in China?’ arguing that foreign countries should resist China’s efforts to make them complicit in the abuse of human rights. Kine states “The Chinese government has a novel solution to the growing problem of illegal enforced disappearances. “Legalize” them. …Chinese state media announced a proposed change in the Criminal Procedure Law which would allow police to legally detain individuals and hold them incommunicado in secret detention for up to six months without contact with either their families or legal counsel. The Chinese government is pitching the proposed change as merely an extension of the conditions of the existing practice of residential surveillance, or “soft arrest,” to suspects in state security, terrorism or major corruption cases. “Soft arrest” allows police to confine criminal suspects to their homes for up to six months without trial or due legal process. But Chinese lawyers, legal scholars and human rights activists warn that the proposal is a cynical fig leaf of legal justification for a wave of enforced disappearances which violate both domestic and international law. …[past 6 months] Chinese security forces have forcibly disappeared at least 26 writers, artists, bloggers and human rights defenders, according to the nongovernmental organization Chinese Human Rights Defenders. …Victims are often violently abducted, denied their right to due legal process and contact with loved ones or lawyers, and are at high risk of torture while in custody.”

 

Inspired by Global Post ow.ly/edbgw image source Facebook ow.ly/edbeL

Steve Chapman the 58 year old American columnist on National affairs published an article on Reason Magazine titled ‘Chinese Communists No Longer Put Much Stock in Communism – China has gone from Mao to ‘money worship.’ In the article Chapman states “Mao was dedicated to class struggle and the elimination of property. He created a totalitarian society in which everyone wore the same clothes, chanted the same slogans and—as far as anyone knew—thought the same revolutionary thoughts. Mao’s “new man” was barely recognizable as human. Purported to be selfless, tireless, austere and indifferent to pleasure, he lived for the revolution alone. Skeptics mocked these subjects as “blue ants,” for their drab, uniform dress and unquestioning obedience. But that way of life is extinct and apparently un-mourned… Not that communism is entirely dead. The party remains in firm control of the government, and many enterprises are partly state-owned. Party committees operate in corporate workplaces, where they play the odd role of celebrating those who diligently serve the interests of shareholders. …Even Communists no longer put much stock in communism. Today, it’s the consumer who rules, and it’s buying and selling that dominates economic life. Mao’s visage still dominates Beijing’s Tiananmen Square, but his people seem to have more in common with Calvin Coolidge. …it’s clear that the business of China is business.”

 

Inspired by Reason ow.ly/bzGhP image source Washington Examiner ow.ly/bzFYH

Chen Guangcheng the 40 year old Chinese civil and human rights activist on issues in rural areas of the People’s Republic of China will be permitted to apply to study abroad, in attempts to resolve the standoff over his future. Chen blind from an early age and self-taught in the law, is frequently described as a “barefoot lawyer” who advocates for women’s rights and the poor. He is best known for exposing alleged abuses in official family planning policy, often involving claims of violence and forced abortions. Chen escaped from house arrest in Shandong province with the help of his supporters from under the noses of dozens of guards, fleeing to safety in the US embassy. Chinese authorities upset about the United States harbouring the critic of its government, had created a sensitive situation potentially threatening to become a major diplomatic issue. To defuse the issue, Chen was subsequently taken from the embassy, delivered to a hospital, and a Chinese foreign ministry spokesman, Liu Weimin stated, “Chen Guangcheng is currently being treated in hospital. If he wants to study abroad, he can apply through normal channels to the relevant departments in accordance with the law, just like any other Chinese citizen.” Implying his potential exile to the USA where Chen had been offered a fellowship by an American university.

 

Inspired by The Daily Beast http://ow.ly/aFGXy image source US State Dept http://ow.ly/aFGRB

Bo Xilai the 62 year old Chinese member on the Politburo of the Communist Party of China and Secretary of the Chongqing Committee has been relieved of his duties and reprimanded by Premier Wen Jiabao. Observers believe Bo’s downfall is a consequence of the Wang Lijun scandal, in which his Lieutenant Wang is speculated to have attempted to seek US political asylum with evidence of Bo’s criminal activities. An open letter claimed to have been written by Wang appeared in international Chinese-language websites, criticizing Bo and accusing him of corruption, referring to him as a “hypocrite” and “the greatest gangster in China”. Bo was expected to have been offered a position on the Standing Committee of the Politburo, a committee of nine people that effectively control the nation of which the majority are due for replacement. Bo’s decline is seen as a victory for the political right particularly among the reformers and advocates of private enterprise. His advocates on the left however reacted angrily on various websites claiming the dismissal a conspiracy by enemies of the state, resulting in many of the sites being shut down by authorities. Vice Prime Minister Zhang Dejiang is stepping into the secretary role at Chongqing.

 

Inspired by Andrew Jacobs http://ow.ly/9MIp7 image source http://ow.ly/9MIEC

Arthur P. J. Mol the 51 year old Netherlands Professor of environmental policy speaks of the growing environmental threat the new Chinese middle class pose for our planet earth. In an article released on Aljazeera, Mol states “this new middle class represents China as a consumer society. Its purchasing power brings cars, durable electric and electronic equipment, (inter)national tourism travellings, larger houses and a meat-based diet within reach of the masses… [however with] green electricity, clean cars, a ban on plastic bags, strong punishments in food scandals: China’s consumption is becoming more sustainable, although it has a long way to go. But compared with China’s acceleration, the US seems to stand still. The Chinese middle class will become the environmental vanguard, because it is backed by the state. Don’t underestimate the Chinese middle class: they are coming, they demand their share in consumption – but they also form a state-backed driver of sustainability.”

 

Inspired by http://ow.ly/8tQKz image source Springer http://ow.ly/8tR1u

Song Dong the 45 year old Chinese conceptual artist credited with having influenced many artists in China and abroad, has opened a new exhibition, the third with his wife and collaborator Yin Xiuzhen, titled ‘The Way of Chopsticks III’. In an article published by Artcat, Dong and Xiuzhen are said to be “Widely regarded as two of China’s most prominent conceptually oriented artists, the husband and wife team have pursued independent careers since the mid-1990s and have continued to do so until the present day … Working together for the first time in 2002, they chose the theme of chopsticks as, whether picking up a grain of rice or a more sizeable morsel of food, two chopsticks are essential . As a symbol of their long-standing personal and professional relationship, the humble pair of chopsticks was an essential element…”

 

Inspired by ArtCat http://ow.ly/7Vnm0 image source panacheprivee http://ow.ly/7VnyZ

Liu Yiqian the 45 year old Shanghai born Chinese entrepreneurial investor, now part of the new super rich generation of Chinese has become China’s largest collector of art. From a working class background, initially working for his mother making and selling hand bags from a street stall, Liu developed a taste for the world of capitalism through uncanny stock trading investments, and now with his curator wife Wang Wei to the collection of ancient Chinese art and collectables from the Song, Yuan and Qing Dynasties valued in their billions. Liu and Wang are proceeding with planning for a suitable venue to permanently display the collection in Shanghai. Plans include the construction of a purpose built Museum to house the entire collection for public viewing. Inspired by Nick Rosen ow.ly/5wNAj image source Jingdaily ow.ly/5wNAS Eccentric because he wears T-shirts (July 10 2011)

Liu Yiqian the 45 year old Shanghai born Chinese entrepreneurial investor, now part of the new super rich generation of Chinese has become China’s largest collector of art. From a working class background, initially working for his mother making and selling hand bags from a street stall, Liu developed a taste for the world of capitalism through uncanny stock trading investments, and now with his curator wife Wang Wei to the collection of ancient Chinese art and collectables from the Song, Yuan and Qing Dynasties valued in their billions. Liu and Wang are proceeding with planning for a suitable venue to permanently display the collection in Shanghai. Plans include the construction of a purpose built Museum to house the entire collection for public viewing.

 

Inspired by Nick Rosen http://ow.ly/5wNAj image source Jingdaily http://ow.ly/5wNAS

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