wushijiao Posted May 2, 2006 at 10:27 AM Report Share Posted May 2, 2006 at 10:27 AM Interesting profile and audio story of an artist who doesn't actually paint his own works. Quote: He would succeed by beating the art market at its own game, exposing its commercialism while exploiting it to the hilt. He would produce paintings that he hoped would be acclaimed by the same Western collectors and journalists who, in his mind, had advanced the careers of too many mediocre Chinese artists. Quote: Determined to make it, Mr. Zhou said, he analyzed the contemporary art scene in China. It was dominated, he said by Western-style paintings studded with patently Chinese elements, such as images of Mao or references to the Cultural Revolution that easily caught the eye (and pocketbooks) of foreign collectors. "The way foreigners thought about Chinese art was too simple," he said. "They just thought about politics. So I thought I'd do something different." And he did. Mr. Zhou said he decided it would not be necessary for him to do the painting himself, since, to his thinking, his competitors were not terribly skilled painters anyway. His initial subject matter was what he saw as the absurdities of the art market. http://www.nytimes.com/2006/05/01/arts/design/01zhou.html?pagewanted=1&ei=5087%0A&en=8c2ad67bd4d1b2a0&ex=1146715200 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lu Posted May 3, 2006 at 04:14 PM Report Share Posted May 3, 2006 at 04:14 PM There's a Dutch art company/group/sth that does the same thing: they photoshop the painting their costumer wants, and then send it to China, where it's painted cheaply. Zhou Tiehai has the advantage of already being in China :-) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gato Posted May 10, 2006 at 11:58 AM Report Share Posted May 10, 2006 at 11:58 AM I wonder what's the thinking behind paying $100,000 for paintings like his. The "Flying Spaghetti Monster" is more original than "his" Joe Camel paintings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wushijiao Posted May 10, 2006 at 01:23 PM Author Report Share Posted May 10, 2006 at 01:23 PM If his whole thing is being the guy who knows who to play the art industry, one has to wonder if his works will stay that high in value once the art industry changes. It's funny, but a bit gimmicky. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gato Posted May 10, 2006 at 01:37 PM Report Share Posted May 10, 2006 at 01:37 PM Marcel Duchamp started the conceptual/satirical art craze with his "Fountain" in 1917. Maybe it still seems fresh when the Chinese are doing it, but I don't know if it's worth more than a chuckle maybe. http://arthist.binghamton.edu/duchamp/fountain.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and select your username and password later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.