Shanghai focus for major UK art contest
- Source: Global Times
- [09:19 August 19 2010]
- Comments
Tian Zi Mountain (left) by Zhang Wei's and Peach Blossom Epigraph by Zhang Zhenxue, two of the prize-winning works at the John Moores Prize in Shanghai. Photos: Courtesy of Shanghai Gallery of Art
"The unusual (possibly unique) characteristic of the John Moores Prize is that the judging is done anonymous-ly," said judge Lewis Biggs.
"Most of our judgments about art are made on the basis of what we know rather than what we see. We are influenced by knowing that an artist's work commands high prices in the sales room, been shown in a prestigious museum, that it has been reviewed favorably (or not) by a famous critic. Anonymous judging renders irrelevant all these factors," he added.
The jury for the Shanghai competition included: chair-man of the Liverpool Biennial, Lewis Biggs; artist and winner of the John Moores Prize 2008, Peter MacDonald; art critic Peter Jenkinson; and art-ists Gu Wenda and Zeng Fan-zhi who is currently exhibiting his own work at the Rockbund Art Museum on the Bund.
Mathieu Borysevicz, deputy director of the Shanghai Gal-lery of Art, believes that the award-winning pieces reveal the eclecticism of contempo-rary art in China: "We have a highly realistic narrative about industrial waste; we have a naive, albeit modern rendering of a giant airplane that is remi-niscent of traditional ink brush painting; we have a traditional ink brush painting; a heroic, almost tortured abstract expres-sionistic landscape; and we have an airy, almost timeless, flower painting."
It remains to be seen whether the John Moores Prize will establish itself in China to the same extent that it has in the UK. This year's show appears to have been largely successful, though the organizers appeared a little sketchy on certain details, such as what prizes will be offered to the winners.
In the UK edition, the prize-winning piece is automatically bought by the Walker Art Gallery, a famous British art gallery that houses the extended John Moores collection.
"In China we have seen an extremely strong response, considering we only put out the call to artists three or four months ago. At this stage the prize is not going to be a monetary one, though we are working out plans for in-kind rewards in terms of exhibition and studio exchanges in Eng-land," said James Moores.
"The competition has always been a celebration of the creative spirit and is very much an arts prize for artists. I sincerely hope that the artists exhibiting today will come back and resubmit in 2012," he added.
It may be wondered why Shanghai University, who pro-vided the initial motivation for bringing the competition to China, felt the need to import a competition from abroad, rather than establish some-thing homegrown.
Borysevicz suggested that importing an established competition from outside the Chinese contemporary art scene could help "to reinforce the neutrality and authenticity of such an event and make it even more reliable."
Chinese art prizes, such as the Quanguo Meizhan (China National Exhibition of Fine Arts) do not typically attract the attention of the interna-tional art community in the same way as more established competitions like the John Moores Prize.
"China has various other institutions that play similar roles and I imagine that, as the art world expands, there will be more and more," Borysevicz added.
Date: Until August 30, 11 am to 9 pm
Venue: Shanghai Gallery of Art
沪申画廊
Address: 3/F, Three on the Bund, 3 Zhongshanyi Road East
中山东一路3号3楼
Admission: Free
Call 6321-5757 for details
