The Gao Brothers were invited to perform their signature World Hug Day in Rome last month. The inspiration for this huge cultural event is a performance piece they created in 1999 at a Beijing performance festival. In the late 1990s there was no Chinese Contemporary art market and many artists were using their physical bodies as their medium of expression.

There was a lot of pain and disillusionment from the Tiananmen Square incident and the strict government policies that followed, therefore most performance art at that time was filled with hatred. At the performance festival the artist before The Gao Brothers slaughtered a lamb for his art piece. The brothers then filled water guns with the lamb’s blood and shot themselves with it. At the end of the performance they were covered in blood. They then looked at each other and hugged for the very first time in their lives. They were profoundly moved by this gesture.

After this Embrace performance they were inspired to recreate the importance of that hug with a larger event in Shandong, their hometown, in 2000. They used the internet to spread the world about their project and how a embrace can combat the violence and hatred in the world. The Western World believed in their cause and after 2003, the year the brothers received their passports, they were invited by several countries to stage editions of World Hug Day.

Today they have performed editions of World Hug Day all over China, Europe and a few cities in East Asia and America. At the performances many participants are moved to tears. There are very few opportunities in life that one gets to feel the love that is generated from hundreds of strangers embracing. The Gao Brothers hope that each day, every person can take the time and embrace a loved one or stranger. That one simple gesture can change lives.

Youtube: The Utopia of Hugging for 20 Minutes
Facebook Event Page
La Repubblica Video of Event

2012 starts off a bit shaky with the highly anticipated Art Stage Singapore. Although this year’s edition of Art Stage boasted more top notch international galleries such as White Cube, Massimo De Carlo, Victoria Miro and Haunch of Venison the end result was quite somber due to the lack of strong sales.

Sun Xun ink paintings

Art Stage is considered to be the second most important fair in the Asia region, right behind of Art HK. That might change in the near future depending on how the Singapore fair is run and if the slow sales were due to the weakening economy or the incompetence of the fair’s director. The first fair of the year reporting slow sales sets the tone for the first quarter. Lets hope that the mainland’s fairs CIGE and Art Beijing in the spring and SH Contemporary in the fall take off.

Vue Privee booth at Art Stage

In general the fair was quite conservative except for Vue Privee’s solo booth of The Gao Brothers works. The Gao Brothers have one of the strongest international resumes in the Chinese contemporary art world but they have had little exposure in the East due to their highly controversial and politically sensitive works. The booth is flanked by Miss Mao sculptures which are Banned in China therefore shocking many of the mainland galleries and guests that attended the fair. The media on the other hand gave the brothers and Vue Privee the most media coverage of any artist or gallery at the fair.

He Xiangyu’s tribute to Ai Wei Wei

One figure who was not in attendance but had his image exhibited all over the fair was the notorious Ai Wei Wei. From The Gao Brother’s huge portrait to He Xiangyu’s life-like figure, Ai Wei Wei was peering out of every corner. Lets hope that the after-fair sales are strong because it would be such a shame to see Art Stage Singapore disappear.

ArtINFO: What Westerners Dont Understand About Asian Art
5 Things You Need To Know About Art Stage Singapore
Wall Street Journal: Gao Brothers
CNNgo: Gao Brothers World Hug Day
Straits Times: Controversial Artists to Perform in Singapore

Happy New Year from all of us at ML Art Source! Last year we were very fortunate to experience some of the best Chinese contemporary art exhibitions in Beijing and around the world. We have high hopes for 2012. Forbes has predicted that China will be the world’s largest art market, eventually surpassing the USA. That will bring big changes to the Chinese contemporary art scene here, in the mainland, and abroad.

Main exhibition tall of Tang Contemporary

To ring in the year of the Dragon, Tang Contemporary has invited one of China’s most infamous artists Wang Qingsong to fill their museum sized gallery space with a over-the-top and in-your-face installation. The exhibition is titled Happy New Year and is a hint to the artist’s sly wit and humor. The main exhibition hall is filled with over 3,000 balloons in intricately placed bouquets. The ornaments celebrate Christmas, New Year’s Day and the Chinese Lunar New Year.

Second exhibition hall filled with debris and popped balloons

“My work is not really critical towards “China today,” but rather takes a skeptical attitude toward exaggerated consumption. A lot of things are not actually that good, but their worth is amplified by propaganda, and people believe that they must have these things in order to reflect their social identities. This kind of logic has caused a lot of exaggerated consumption and blind waste.”
Wang Qingsong

Last exhibition hall

A human-sized spider web filled with garbage hangs from the ceiling in the last exhibition hall. This installation is an extension of a photograph that Wang Qingsong has created previously where he is physically stuck in the center of the spider web of material possessions.

Forbes: China soon to be World’s biggest art market
Jing Daily:Wang Qingsong celebrates the New Year
Wang Qingsong official website

The Gao Brothers and Ai Weiwei make their mark on the Los Angeles city pavement. The most politically controversial Chinese contemporary artists have their iconic outdoor sculptures exhibited in Miracle Mile at the ACE Museum and LACMA. Although their politically dissident work has made them blacklisted in China, they continue to speak their minds about the government and the complex problems associated with New China. The power behind their artworks transcends countries and cultures.

Miss Mao Trying to Poise Herself At The Top Of Lenin’s Head

Two weeks ago a gigantic bust of Vladimir Lenin has popped up at La Brea and Fourth St. right in front of the ACE Museum. This particular Gao Brothers installation has been traveling the world for the last two years, making its first stop at the 2010 Vancouver Biennale, then traveling to the Kemper Museum in Kansas City. This monumental stainless steel sculpture showcases the artist duo’s sarcastic sense of humor in addition to their commentary on communist China.

Zodiac Heads

Ai Weiwei is no stranger to controversy and was detained for over a month earlier this year in China for so-called tax evasion. Although he has been released, the activist is now under house arrest and cannot leave Beijing but continues to speak his mind through online channels. TIME magazine honored him with the prestigious award of Person of the Year 2011 for his activism in China.

The year of the OX

This is one stop on the world-wide tour of the Zodiac Heads installation and it stays in Los Angeles till February 2012. The original Zodiac Heads were designed by two European Jesuits during the 18th century. During the Opium Wars the Yuanming Yuan was ransacked by French and British troops and the Zodiac Heads were pillaged. Ai Weiwei’s reinterpretation of the heads refocuses attention onto questions of looting and repatriation in regards to antiquities in addition to his concept of FAKE.

LA Curbed: ACE Museum
Facebook: Gao Brothers
LACMA: Ai Weiwei Zodiac Heads
Zodiac Heads World Tour website

Faurschou started off as a gallery with spaces in Copenhagen and Beijing but now Luise and Jens Faurschou have turned their energies toward creating the Faurschou Foundation. Over the years they have built an impressive collection of Chinese contemporary art and now they want to focus on the collection’s development. Their collection will be shown in both spaces with curatorial themes. The current exhibition showcases important works from Ai Weiwei and Liu Wei.

Liu Wei, Don’t Touch, 2011

Liu Wei is one of China’s most promising post-70s generation artists. He is not only well known for his large installations but also his cityscape paintings. Don’t Touch is Liu Wei’s largest work to date from his sculpted dog chew aka OX hide series. This specific work was the centerpiece for this years ART HK art fair.

Ai Weiwei

The main room of the gallery is filled with three important Ai Weiwei works. There is a large pile of Sunflower Seeds from his recent show at the TATE Modern in London. The list of names behind the pile of Sunflower Seeds is the namelist of the students that died in the Sichuan Earthquake. The list has been collected by citizen investigation volunteers. The government has listed an approximate number of people who died but has never taken the time to properly examine whose lives were lost.

Ai Weiwei, Map of China, 2004

Map of China is made from wood that the artist has collected from dismantled Qing Dynasty temples. This work comments on modern China’s ambivalence towards its own history and culture. These artifacts are given new context and meaning through Ai Weiwei’s reappropriation of the materials.

Faurschou Foundation

Art Basel Miami Beach 2011 just concluded last week. Although sales were strong, there was very little Chinese contemporary art exhibited at the fair and only three Chinese galleries present. The three galleries are Long March from Beijing, ShangART from Shanghai and Vitamin Space from Guangzhou. The other galleries exhibiting Chinese contemporary art works were top Western galleries: Gagosian, Galerie Urs Meile and Mary Boone.

Zeng Fanzhi at Gagosian Gallery

The original Art Basel began in 1970 in Switzerland and has now become the leading art fair in the world with its sister fair taking place in Miami at the end of each year. Recently Art Basel bought the majority stake in ART HK, the leading art fair in Asia.

Ai Wei Wei tree at Galerie Urs Meili

There were a few important works from international superstar dissident Ai Wei Wei at the fair. Since his incarceration his artwork’s prices have steadily increased making collectors and galleries very pleased. Galerie Urs Meili had a large tree by Ai Wei Wei created from driftwood pieces collected from the mountains of Southern China.

Ai Wei Wei at Mary Boone

Mary Boone had a major work by Ai Wei Wei that sold for approximately $400,000 – $500,000. There was also a shortage of Chinese collectors at the fair, instead their consultants were present. Sales were strong even though the market is lagging.

Art Basel Miami Beach Official Website
NY Times: Asian Art Fairs
Asian Appeal Bringing Beijing to South Beach
Miami Herald: Art Basel Focuses on Art
Vogue: 10 Things to Look Forward to at Art Basel Miami Beach

Part of the Post 80s generation and cartoon movement, Chen Fei 陈飞 is one of Star Gallery’s hottest rising talents. The Stranger opened last weekend at the Today Art Museum 今日美术馆. Although many of the works are created this year most of them are already sold. The catalogue boasts several famous collectors.

Miracle, 170cm×130cm, Acrylics on Flax Canvas

Viewing Chen Fei’s works are like going on a trip through his imagination. Most of his paintings feature his girlfriend and dog in fictional situations that are heavily influenced by Western pop-culture. In this exhibition you will still see this theme but the works are taking on stronger narratives and they are generally sweeter than his earlier series.

Stranger, 240cm×190cm×2, Acrylics on Flax Canvas

Star Gallery is one of the more professional Chinese galleries in Beijing. Their artist represent the top of the Post-80s generation cartoon movement. In addition to Chen Fei, they represent Chen Ke and Gao Yu. They have brought up all three artists and the latter and now commanding extremely high prices.

Go Home Early From School, Diameter 130cm, Acrylics on Flax Canvas

When asked about the exhibition, out of all the works, Chen Fei likes Go Home Early From School the most. This work is more representational of the darker side of his imagination but he understands that this might not be as easily palatable to the general public.

Star Gallery
Today Art Museum

UNMASK group is made up of Liu Zhan, Kuangjun and Tan Tianwei. They all met while students of the sculpture department at the prestigious Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing. Since 2001 and three artists have been working together in this collective. Popular in both the East and the West, UNMASK have strong design elements to their sculptures and installations.

Flash Memory No. 8, 140×80×100cm, stainless steel, 2011

Their works are constantly evolving and each series is different from the previous but still showcases UNMASK’s signature composition style. Over the years they have experimented with several different mediums and this exhibition shows their aesthetic development. Under the watchful eye of Mr. Han Tsungwoo, owner of H.T. Gallery, the collective are creating less works each year and each work is of higher quality.

Flash Memory No. 9, 240×120×170cm, stainless steel, 2011

UNMASK’s new works from the Flash Memory series are beautifully rendered in stainless steel and marble. This is the artists’ first foray into marble and creating works centered around animals. To truly appreciate the works, one must walk around them to see every curvature, line and detail. The stainless steel works are seamless and fluid.

Flash Memory No.6, 60×40×40cm, marble, 2011

H.T. Gallery opened in 2009 and we welcome this relative newcomer to the neighborhood. Mr. Han Tsungwoo works with several young stars in the Chinese contemporary art scene and although his gallery is not the largest on the block, his shows are quality. If you like UNMASK please do not miss this opportunity to see their new works.

H.T. Gallery Beijing

Lu Fei Fei’s solo exhibition GAZE opened last week in Vision Art space in 798. Although Fei Fei is not a new artist on the Chinese contemporary art scene, she has not shown in 798 for years. This exhibition shows her earlier works dating from 2006-2008 and provides background for her new works which will be shown at a Contemporary Art Museum in Italy late this year.

Her works are filled with social commentary on the current state of modern China and how the economic rise of China is in turn affecting the youth. In this series, the youths have their eyes closed and are wearing school uniforms. This was taken in her hometown of Jinan and the child is standing next to slogans speaking about the aging population which is one the biggest factors that will limit the growing GDP.

Although beautifully rendered, the photographs make you think beyond what you see. Sometimes her works are more straightforward and sometimes the meaning is more cryptic. Either way, Lu Fei Fei takes a bold stance and gives us something to think about.

Lu Fei Fei and The Gao Brothers

Two of her supporters are the infamous Gao Brothers and she has shown with them at several international exhibitions. GAZE is actually Vision Art’s first exhibition and we welcome this new space that is willing to take risks in order to show the truth to 798.

Visual Art Space

Xiang Jing, who is China’s most established female sculptor, currently has a solo show at the Today Art Museum that showcases her foray into storytelling. The exhibition is titled Will the World be okay? and consists of 14 new works under the themes of Acrobatics and Animal Expression.

Xiang Jing is known for her realistic portrayals of a woman’s body and how she uses this form as a medium for thought and contemplation. In Acrobatics she has created several large scale sculptures of young women and men contorting themselves for the performance. Although beautifully crafted, their contorted bodies are unnatural and one thinks about how young these performers are when they begin to train their bodies.

large installation at front of exhibition

In the second hall, to-scale large animals fill the exhibition space. Her ability to sculpt animals with human characteristics is remarkable. The audience is saddened by the solemn eyes of the elephant as if he is wondering Will the World be okay?

Today Art Museum
ArtzineCHINA: Xiang Jing
CAFA: Xiang Jing