Liu Xiaodong’s “The Process of Painting” Opens at Kunsthaus Graz

After a month in the desolate mining town of Eisenerz, Austria, Liu Xiaodong opened his new exhibition “The Process of Painting” at Kunsthaus Graz. Although I was slightly bewildered by the two new paintings’ setting, the exhibition quite accurately depicts Liu Xiaodong’s process of painting through painting, diary and film. Having accompanied Liu for the duration of the Austrian project, I became accustomed to seeing the paintings in their sheds en situ, quite literally amongst the overgrown fauna that surrounded a swimming pool, or beside a road in the middle of town. The pristine walls and perfect lighting of the Kunsthaus were unnatural in comparison to the dirty and paint covered floors of the painting shed.

Curated by Gunther Holler-Schuster, “Prozess Malen” brings together Liu Xiaodong’s newest Austria project with Hometown Boy, a series created in conjunction with UCCA in Beijing. Quite like the settings in both Eisenerz and Jincheng, Liu Xiaodong’s hometown, the exhibition’s floor plan is both open, like a large town square showcasing Liu’s larger 3×4 meter paintings as well as narrow, with walls more intimately dispersed to create a feeling of meandering streets, and showcasing smaller works from Hometown Boy. Further, there are a total of eight documentary films being screened at various points throughout the exhibition enabling audiences to gain a well-rounded perspective of Liu’s painting process from various projects, as well as spend upwards of six hours (if desired) to absorb the development and evolution of his method. Nevertheless, for those who prefer text, there was hardly a shortage of that as well. Incorporating all 116 pages of his diary from Hometown Boy as well as the 32 from Eisenerz, there was a plethora of emotions, anecdotical tales and photos to captivate readers for several hours.

 Peter Pakesch (Kunsthaus Director), Liu Xiaodong, Gunther Holler-Schuster (Exhibition Curator)

Liu Xiaodong (far right) with four students that modeled for the painting in background

Beijing Art World: Spring Has Arrived

This past weekend, the newness of spring permeated the air. Hoards of people emerged from their hibernating worlds to enjoy the warmth of the sun’s rays and celebrate the season opening for Beijing’s art world. Both 798 and CaoChangDi crawled with individuals who visited openings at the Ullens Center of Contemporary Art (UCCA), Tang Contemporary, Galleria Continua, and Pékin Fine Art, amongst others. There was certainly a buzz of excitement, as finally the white walls were filled works of art and exhibitions that were unlike their somewhat dull counterparts of winter’s filler exhibitions.

Phil Tinari’s second exhibition at the helm of UCCA, a retrospective for the great Gu Dexin entitled The Important Thing is Not the Meat, proved a curatorial feat. Born in Beijing in 1962, Gu entered the art world without any formal training, yet was able to communicate his vast understanding of artistic discourse through his usage of varying mediums. From his first works on paper and canvas reminiscent of Chagall’s colorful and dreamlike works, to the unembellished animations that ridicule the automation of modernized society, the show includes over 100 works that span the artist’s 30 producing years, prior to his retirement and retreat into “normal” life in 2009.

Galleria Continua equally prevailed with their solo exhibition, The Tunnel, for the Egyptian multi-media artist, Moataz Nasr. Clearly influenced by his childhood in a culturally rich region of the African continent, yet frustrated by the hindrance of the sociopolitical milieu, Nasr allows the varying sounds, colors, ideologies and traditions of his culture to influence his video, sculptural, photographic and installational works.

Further, out in CaoChangDi, Meg Maggio’s Pékin Fine Art opened RAZE, a collaboration between SEEK-art and Thinking Hands. Although a group show including artists Huang Rui, S/N Coalition, Zhang Dali and Zhang Ding, the exhibition’s core, quite literally, as it not only occurred in the gallery’s spatial center, but also was conceptually based on centripetal certainties of the world. In its practical essence, this performance installation, Rumor Mill, by Huang Rui is used to grind five native grains that are then bottled and sold on site. Pulled by a live donkey, this stone mill is set atop another circular, stone counter that is inscribed with the world’s ultimate truths, as told by the I-Ching.

The evening concluded with the second installment of the Black Eyeliner parties hosted by Parson’s design professor, Benjamin Bacon and Vogue China’s artistic director, Alex Chow. Spinning a variety of music from tripped-out hip-hop, to electronic beats that defy top-40 remixed tracks, the duo is set to throw monthly parties that will tickle one’s senses with their self-created visual stimuli, infectiously danceable beats and an unbeatable crowd that gives Beijing the pulse its known to have.

Reasons for the Affordable

Two days ago I was able to explore Beijing’s 798 arts district for the first time since my move. Although I spent a lovely Spring afternoon in the district on my first full day in Beijing, I merely enjoyed some tea and good company after attending a brief discussion at UCCA with artist Kong Lingnan.

Although gifted with a technical ability and impecable sense of light, her neon paintings that touch on issues of global warming and the dominance of man in nature lack a depth of discussion, considering the weight of the issues.  Rather aesthetically pleasing, her oil paintings are  selling quite quickly in the Asian market, but considering the rather affordable price point of under USD$10,000, I too would be buying one to decorate my kid’s room, if I had one.

(Images courtesy of Yang Gallery)

However, this weekend I was able to browse a few more galleries as well as meander into Affordable Art Beijing. The brainchild of UK born Tom Pattinson, AAB is similar in nature to other affordable art fairs throughout the world. Although, unlike AAF in New York, its price ceiling is capped at 20,000 RMB (a mere USD$3,070), and thus giving truth to the term affordable.

Having just completed its fifth show, AAB is still rather small. Housed in a large, one-room converted factory building, the fair’s densely covered walls could be scanned and sorted through within thirty minutes. I did, however, enjoy that all the works were selected and curated by Pattinson and his small team.  In a certain sense, it was was affordable art should be; coming directly from an art school or a small practice that has yet to be picked up by an established gallery. It gave the artist a chance to showcase their work in the middle of Beijing’s busiest arts district on a buzzing Spring afternoon.

Though I must say, if this is truly the newest and most appealing work coming from the top academies in China, then there may be yet another stagnant spell on its way. Unfortunately, the majority of the work that was being exhibited had the remnant concepts and aesthetic value of the political pop and cynical realist movements that developed out of the Cultural Revolution. But then again there is alway the hopeful promise of what ArtHK 2011 can bring in less than two weeks. We shall see how significant the tradeoff is between a price tag and the dialogue it generates.