The organizers of
the latest incarnation of China's
premier art fair are hoping that
its renewed focus on putting the
needs of visitors first will attract
more casual art fans, and put
to bed the impression that art
appreciation is just for the
purists.
While the art fairs
in Basel, Hong Kong and Paris
attract a lot of attention in
the art world, here in the
Chinese mainland, Art Beijing has
become a quality celebration for
galleries, art organizations and
visitors.
Now in its eighth
year, the 2013 Art Beijing fair has
selected 150 art institutions from 247
galleries and organizations to be the
main presenters in the four-day event
from April 30 to May 3 at the
National Agricultural Exhibition
Center.
Many participants, including
Elms Lesters Painting Rooms and
Halcyon Gallery from London, Toulouse
Antique Gallery from the US,
Ukraine's DARA Art Centre and
Litvak Gallery from Israel, are
attending for the first
time.
Matzo Paris Art Fund,
for example, carrying a reputation of
passing the business through 27 generations
and holding artworks from over 800
artworks ranging from Picasso and Dali
to Paul Cézanne, has brought
many collections from Europe for Art
Beijing.
Push on
classics
Dong Mengyang, director
of Art Beijing, sees the event
as a bellwether, which reflects what
is on trend each
year.
The exhibition includes
two main categories: Contemporary and
classic to cover both modern and
traditional artworks. This year, 80 percent
of the presenters in the classic
category are making their debut in
Art Beijing.
According to Dong,
this percentage suggests that the
development of ink paintings, which is
rooted in traditional Chinese art but
goes beyond the traditions, is growing
fast this year.
Zhao Li,
an associate professor at the China
Central Academy of Fine Arts, told
the Global Times that the number
of galleries working on classical
Chinese art used to be very
limited. Since these galleries gradually
developed, they are able to build
up and promote their brand names,
they have appeared more often at
art fairs.
Increased diversity
is another characteristic. Apart from
paintings and sculptures that we are
familiar with, a multimedia exhibition
themed urban public environment is
also eye-catching.
Named Park-Art
Zone Special Project, the exhibition
draws artistic experience in the urban
landscape through new media and
interactive forms. It encodes and
processes a range of cultural
resources and discusses the possibility
of an artistic, yet ecological system
for international civilization.
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