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Latest News
December 12:Shanghart Gallery held a solo
presentation for Zeng Fanzhi at Art Basel Miami Beach
during December 7-10.
Art in the news
 A painting by
Liu Xiaodong(above) sold in November for $2.7 million,
shattering the record set by Zhang Xiaogang to become
the most expensive Chinese contemporary art work ever sold at
auction. The painting, "Three Gorges：Newly displaced
Population," was sold to a Singapore collector in 2005. But
the piece was put up for auction and the Chinese Poly auction
house sold it today. The buyer was Zhang Lan, the
founder of the South Beauty chain of expensive Chinese
restaurants.
 A conference
called“The Reality and Dream of Chinese Contemporary Art” was
held on November 17 at the Central Academy of Fine Arts in
Beijing. Artists Liu Xiaodong, Xia Xing, Cui Xiuwen and
the critics Yi Jinna, Zhao Li, Yu Ding and Feng Boyi
discussed the topic “Can artists create artworks freely when
they live in the market”drew lots of attention from the
audience.
 The Shanghai Art
Fair arranged 2000 square meters space for 50 Young Chinese
Contemporary Artists under 35 years old. Ma Liang, Han
Zijian, Zhanghua, Xiang Qinghua, Zhou Jianhua, Liang Haopeng
and Shen Na attended this special exhibition.
 Zhai Mo, a
35-year-old abstract artist, will set out alone by sailboat
from Shanghai for his around-the-globe voyage on January 1,
2007. His press conference was held at Chang An Club in
Beijing last month. Zhai is hoping to become the first Chinese
to travel around –the globe by sailboat.
 Gu Ya, A
32-year-old woman from Yi Liang village in Yunnan Province,
has created more than one thousand abstract pen–and-ink
paintings in past three years, but she was only educated as
high school level and never received art training. When asked
to explain the meaning behind her images, Ms. Gu spoke in a
language no one was able to decipher. The artist strange art
and language has drawn enormous coverage from the media and on
the internet. Now, CCTV – the national television network –
plans an interview in the hopes of figuring out what this
woman is saying and drawing.
 Now in his 80s,
famous Chinese abstract artist Zhao Wuji, who lives in
Paris, was named last month an honorary professor of Fudan
University. Five of his traditional art works have recently
sold at auction for over $1 million, the highest being a 1958
composition that sold for $3.1 million – the highest price
ever fetched by a living artist in China. Among contemporary
artists, Liu Xiaodonghas sold for the highest price.
 “Visible-Invisible”Chinese abstract painting
exhibition was opened in One Moon Art Gallery which was
located on Beijing Ditan Park on Dec. 2. Based on this
exhibition, the seminar named “Chinese abstract painting” was
held on Dec. 3. The artists of the exhibition were Chen
Ruobing, Li Yang, Lin Yan, Tan Ping, Tang Kaizhi, Wang
Guangle, Xu Hongming, Zhang Fan, Zhou Yangming.And the
attendees of the seminar were: Gao Minglu, He Guiyan, Huang
Du, Lei Hong, Li Xu, Liu Libing, Shao Yiyang, Sheng Wei, Wang
Dunting, Wang Luyan, Wang Nanming, Wang Xiaojian, Zhu Jinshi,
Zhu Qingsheng, Zhao Xun.
 Christie's
completed a record breaking auction of 20th Century Chinese
art today with sales of $67.9 million worth of Asian
contemporary and 20th century Chinese art works. Zhang
Xiaogang's 1993 work, "Tiananmen Square," sold for
$2.3 million, the second highest price ever paid for a work by
a Chinese avant garde artist. Zhang Xiaogang had
another work sell for $2.3 million and two other paintings
sell for close to $1 million, making him easily the most
sought after Chinese contemporary artist. Also, Yue
Minjun's 1993 piece, "Kites," sold for $962,000 --
a record for a work by the artist. And a Zeng Fanzhi
piece, "Mask 1999 No. 3," sold for 816,400 -- a record
for the artist.
 Two works by
Chinese contemporary artists were banned from the Shanghai Art
Fair held this week at the ShanghaiMART. The works were by
Huang Rui and Cang Xin. The Cang Xin work
portrayed him licking a Mao figurine. The works were being
shown by the Hong Kong gallery 10 Chancery Lane. The gallery's
other images -- including photographs of Zhang Huan and Ma
Liuming undressing and standing naked with a large group of
artists and other people -- were not taken down.
 The latest issue
of Time magazine features an article about the boom in Chinese
contemporary art. The article, by Simon Elegant, is called
"The Great China Sale," and it explains how hot the art market
is right now. The article also mentions that Christie's
auction in New York last week, one of Zhang Xiaogang's
paintings sold for $1.36 million. The article also says that
the British collector Charles Saatchi paid $1.5 million at a
London auction for another piece by Zhang Xiaogang.
 A man calling
himself the “Yanan Clay Sculpture King,”Wang Wenhai,
has accused the well-known Beijing sculptor Sui
Jianguo, who is the professor of Central Academy of Fine
Arts, of violating the copyright by creating a sculpture
called Sleeping Chairman Mao. Wang, who worked in the
Revolutionary Museum in Yan'an, the central province of
Shaanxi, has devoted much of his life to creating sculptures
of Mal. In 2002, Wang said he created a sculpture of Mao
sleeping. Mr. Wang,who says Mao is his hero, also say Sui
Jianguo's Mao in his work "Nightmare," also depicts Mao as the
devil. Wang told one Chinese newspaper he was so angry about
the image he fainted. This case was heard at a court in
Beijing Chaoyang District People Court on November 21 2006. No
word yet on the verdict.
 In 2006 Taipei
Biennale, the young artist from Guangzhou, Cao Fei,
created what is being called her National Father project. As a
curator, Cao Fei planned the whole sculpture solo exhibition
for her father, the sculptor Cao Chongen. At the
exhibition, she exhibited six small bronze sculptures of the
famous Chinese leader Sun Yat Sen in his different time
such as youngster Sun Yat Sen, the Great President, Great
Marshal, etc. Cao Chongen, Cao Fei’s father, created many of
the Sun Yat Sen sculptures that are now displayed in China.
About
Artzinechina:
ArtZineChina.com has
announced that three of the leading figures in the world of
Chinese contemporary art have joined the online magazine's
board of advisors: Wu Hung, a distinguished professor
of art at the University of Chicago, Christopher
Philips, the curator of the International Center of
Photography in New York, and Weng Ling, the
director of the Shanghai Gallery of
Art.
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