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Finding art in some surprising new places
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WHEN Shanghai’s two major public art museums moved from the center to the outer ring of the city more than two years ago, many artists and art lovers lamented what they called the demise of the downtown art scene.
While some might stick to that opinion, the vacuum is being filled by surprising new art settings — big shopping malls.
Whether it’s last year’s Monet exhibition in the K11 shopping mall on Huaihai Road or this year’s Van Gogh show at Xintiandi, art is not far from downtown.
Big developers have latched onto this concept as a way of promoting their malls and lifting their personal prestige. It’s also been a good marketing gimmick during a stretch when mall revenues are dropping.
“Last year, we organized a Monet exhibition at the K11 mall that featured 40 of his original canvases on loan from the Paris Marmottan Monet Museum,” says Xie Dingwei, director at Tix Media, an exhibit organizer. “We were really surprised that nearly 7,000 visitors came to the show during the first weekend.”
Despite the location in an underground level and the comparatively high admission fee of 100 yuan (US$16.13), more than 60,000 people booked tickets prior to its opening. Lines grew so long outside the trendy mall that one scalper was offering a spot at the front of the queue for 150 yuan.
“I thought that the biggest winner of the Monet exhibition was K11 mall,” says Xu Jiahe, a local art critic. “It provided a free venue, and for that, it got huge crowds and favorable publicity.”
The Van Gogh show at Xintiandi is still going on, and coming in September and November are two exhibitions of Dali works, one at the Bund 18 and the other at K11.
Art exhibitions in commercial buildings aren’t exactly new in the world.
The most impressive example is the Mori Museum in Tokyo. Its top floor is home to one of the world’s most prestigious private museums.
Venue is important, says art critic Xu. When it comes to the lighting, security and ventilation, it’s hard to duplicate the ideal environment of a well-run museum.
“An organizer has to provide a comfortable environment that caters to visitor enjoyment and guarantees the security of the artworks,” she adds.
Indeed, K11’s 3,000-square-meter underground “art” level has drawn some public complaints about poor ventilation, especially when a popular exhibition like the Monet show attracted large crowds.
The “Van Gogh Alive — The Experience” exhibition, presented by Australia’s Grande Exhibitions, in Xintiandi is being held in a giant tent, and its gimmick of presenting images of art but not actual artworks has drawn controversy.
More than 3,000 high-definition images of Van Gogh paintings are projected on walls, columns, ceilings and even floors, allowing visitors to “walk through” images of famous works such as “The Starry Night” and “Sunflowers.” There’s not an original Van Gogh work to be seen.
And the admission is not cheap: 110 yuan for workday, 130 yuan for weekend and 160 yuan for holiday.
The exhibition has been derided by Shanghai’s serious art community.
“If you are a student from an art academy or a professional artist, then you might as well save your money and skip this exhibition,” says Zhu Zhechi, a local artist. “This is a purely commercialized act. There is not a single original canvas of Van Gogh. The huge difference between an original work and a projection image is obvious. When standing in front of the original canvas, one can feel the master through his brushstrokes and hues, and admire post-impressionism. This exhibition mode isn’t worth the ticket price.”
Of course, an increasing number of so-called art exhibitions in China and the rest of the world rely on a bit of name-dropping when original canvases can’t be had. That often leaves visitors feeling cheated.
“I was really disappointed in the Van Gogh show,” says Jay Wu, a 35-year-old white-collar worker. “The ticket cost me 160 yuan, and the moment I stepped into the tent, I thought it was worth only 20 yuan.”
According to an industry insider who declined to be identified, Xintiandi provided a free venue for the Van Gogh exhibition, and there were no royalties to pay because copyrights to his works have long expired. Although the show will continue through the end of August, it has already been a commercial success.
Shopping malls tend to favor modern, prolific artists like Andy Warhol or Salvador Dali. It’s easier to get their hands on works or credible copies of their works.
“During the last 10 years of Dali’s life, he produced too many copies of his works, including sculptures and prints, in order to keep up a luxurious lifestyle with his wife,” Xu says. “His works are easily found in many art locales. To me, the Dali Museum in Spain is the only showcase of the best of his works.”
An Andy Warhol show is now on display at Mosaic Mall, a recently renovated shopping center on Nanjing Road E. But it’s not expected to equal the Warhol exhibition staged several years ago at the Power Station of Art in Shanghai, which included representative works from different periodsof the artist. “It took our professional team several years to mount that show,” says Xiang Liping, one of the organizers at the contemporary art museum.
Ordinary people rarely can distinguish between representative and poor works from a given artist, which plays into the hands of shopping mall exhibitions.
“I always believe the ‘best of the best’ can be found only in museums,” says artist Zhu Chechi. “For example, if you want to see the canvas of an impressionist, you would go to the Musee d’Orsay in Paris. And Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night’ should only be seen at the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam. Ticket prices for the museum, of course, are much cheaper.”
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