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Art for all hearts and homes
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THE 2015 Shanghai Art Fair is a great opportunity for people looking for art to decorate their home, says fair director Gu Zhihua.
The four-day show opened yesterday to the public at ShanghaiMART and exhibitions cover 240,000 square meters. This year’s fair has attracted around 150 galleries from 17 countries including the US, France, Italy, Canada and Japan. The range of art work includes everything from oil paintings to traditional Chinese ink-wash, prints, water-colors, photos, installations and ceramics.
The fair, established in 1997 in Shanghai, is one of the biggest of its kind in Asia. Around 1,000 works will be showcased, including ceramics by Picasso.
Large sculptures are traditionally placed as a greeting to visitors at the entrance and in recent years there were replicas of Rodin’s “Thinker” and Caesar’s “Thumb.” This year the feature will be an installation named “Rong” created by Chinese female artist Li Yirong. The installation consists of 57 chairs and is said to be inspired by the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank. The bank has 57 members.
Compared with ART021 that will be held next Thursday at Shanghai Exhibition Center, the Art Fair promises to have wider appeal for ordinary local residents who appreciate art and active collectors.
Many art lovers might still remember the first international art fair held in town, the SHContemporary, which was established by BolognaFiere Group in 2007. It was held at the landmark Shanghai Exhibition Center, a grand and iconic venue for an art fair. The center was built in 1955 as a Sino-Soviet Friendship collaboration and the design draws heavily on Russian and Empire style neo-classical influences with Stalinist innovations.
ART021 is this year taking over from SHContemporary which has succumbed to the prospect of rent increases and a license issue.
While art aficionados are holding judgement on whether ART021 can thoroughly replace SHContmporary, not only in venue, but also in quality as an international event, it is business as usual for Shanghai Art Fair.
The fair organizer is quite clear on wanting to attract more local buyers rather than top collectors from around the world. It will therefore offer products that target the potential purchasing power of the emerging middle-class, as well as meet the needs of the usual professional collectors.
“Many Chinese families have bought new apartments in recent years, but sometimes they forget to use art when decorating their home,” says fair director Gu. “Many people are spending a lot of money on electronics, furniture and decorating materials. We hope more people will come to this art fair, whether it’s to invest in art or to decorate their home.”
But for most people, investing in art is more difficult than buying stocks or property. Investment requires profound knowledge of what happened in the past, the current market and what will likely happen in the future. Perhaps for some, buying their first piece of art at Shanghai Art Fair is like stepping into a new world.
“I come to Shanghai Art Fair every year, and I don’t always purchase art items unless they impress me and touch my heart,” said Jay Wu, a 40-something white collar worker. “The prices of some art has risen sharply in recent years so it is almost impossible for me to buy works created by the big names. But that’s not my purpose,” Wu says.
“I just need something special, at least in my eyes, to please myself when I come home. Sometimes I will check the background information of the artist on the Internet and read more books on art. Once you are in, you will improve your knowledge,” Wu adds.
Gu says he wants to encourage people to “fill their blank walls with art.”
“The blank walls refer not only to homes but also offices,” he says. “This is the first step in nurturing a future collector. Many have the false impression that a collector has to be very rich. Once you have a passion for art, you can also decorate your home with your favorite items.”
Date: Through November 15, 10am-5pm
Address: ShanghaiMART, 99 Xingyi Rd
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