Asian artists overwhelm Artprice list of top ten artists under thirty

EMERGING YOUNG ASIAN ARTISTS

The “Alternate-Friday Top Series” is a series of lists, produced fortnightly by Artprice, which provide artist ranking on various themes. The September 10^th edition lists the top ten artists aged under thirty that have achieved the highest auction results in the first half of this year. Asian artists overwhelm artists from other areas and we name them here.

Artprice has listed ten artworks by eight artists, Peng Si and Kao Yu appear twice in the list, and of those ten, nine have been created by artists from Asia. The number one spot, however, goes to an artwork by American Dash Snow.

As Artprice summarises, “What do these artists from such different backgrounds and cultures have in common? They have all managed to carve a place in the art market before reaching their thirtieth year, have all exhibited their work in numerous exhibitions … and all have plenty of potential to continue their artistic careers.”

Peng Si (ranked 2 and 3 out of 10)

Peng Si, a Chinese artist based in Beijing, holds second and third ranking, with Portrait of a Man in Red (2006) and Portrait of a Man in Yellow (2006) which sold for USD51,359 and USD48,791 respectively at Christie’s May 2010 sales in Hong Kong (Asian contemporary art). Peng Si produces oil paintings that have a dreamlike quality, mixing classical Chinese imagery, while equally expressing a unique modern value.

Peng Si, 'Portrait of a Man in Red', 2006, oil on canvas, 188 x 118 cm. Image taken from artnet.com.

Erinç Seymen (ranked 4 out of 10)

Erinç Seymen, a Turkish artist who lives and works in Istanbul came fourth. His Untitled (2010) fetched USD32,306 at Sotheby’s in London in April’s sale (2010). The work combines car paint, aluminium, steel and fibreglass and represents a pink butterfly with a body in the form of a grenade. Untitled (2008) and Civilian (2006) bear the same pink tonality.

Yang Na (ranked 5 out of 10)

Chinese artist Yang Na’s Gold Coined Hibernation (2008) (acrylic on canvas), sold under the hammer for USD31, 381, at 33 Auction in Singapore in May, 2010.  Yang Na is part of the new wave of artists that grew up during rapid economic expansion in China, becoming exposed to a technological world of new media. The art communicates the artist’s experience of this technology and media.  She often creates simplified characters, with exaggerated features that lie between the metaphysical and irreality.

Yang Na, 'Gold Coined Hibernation', 2008, acrylic on canvas, 150 x 150 cm. Image taken from artnet.com.

Kao Yu (ranked 6 and 9 out of 10)

Chinese artist Kao Yu, takes third and ninth place in the rank, Love Tear Gas (2004) fetched USD30,217 in June, 2010 at the Shanghai Hosane Auction Co. and Ultimate Taste of Capitalism (2009) fetched USD23,038 in April, 2010 at Phillips de Pury in London.

Zakaria Ramhani (ranked 7 out of 10)

Zakaria Ramhani, a Moroccan artist holds seventh place with Faces of the Other (2008) that fetched USD30, 000 at Christie’s April, 2010 sale in Dubai. Living and working in Tangier and Montreal, he uses his mother tongue and the language of the Other, French. Moving between speaking the two languages  inspired him to create visual and audio portraits. The portraits explore human identity, investigating issues of self and other by establishing a dialogue between painting, writing and sound.

Zakaria Ramhani, 'Faces of the Other' (2008), acrylic on canvas, 240 x 200 cm. Image taken from http://www.menasart-fair.com.

Noriko Yamaguchi (ranked 8 out of 10)

Noriko Yamaguchi, a Japanese artist, holds ninth position in the rank. The three telephone girls Keitai girl suit 3 (old model) Keitai girl suit 4 (silver) Keitai girl suit 5 (white and red) fetched USD25 679 in Christie’s Hong Kong in May, 2010. The “Keitai Girls” are futuristic archetypes that explore the future development with the human body and its interaction with technology.

Ariadhitya Pramuhendra (ranked 10 out of 10)

The final artist on the list is emerging Indonesian artist Ariadhitya Pramuhendra. Memorable 2 (2008) fetched USD21,827 in May, 2010 at Christie’s in Hong Kong. The charcoal portrait on canvas reflects his continual questioning of his religious, social and art world identities.

AN/KN/HH

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Is globalisation of the art market slowing down? The Economist reports

GLOBALISATION CHRISTIE’S ART AUCTIONS

Globalisation in the art market may be slowing down according to an article published recently in The Economist. In spite of the growing numbers of artists and buyers from locales ranging from Africa to Asia, May sales in New York were dominated by American artists.

The article states:

“At the Christie’s sale, the first of the two main evening auctions, three-quarters of the buyers were American”.

With the prices of work by top Asian artists still lagging behind big-name American contemporaries, it may not come as a surprise that Asian artists are sometimes underrepresented in main and evening sales abroad. That is not to say that Asian artists do not fair well in Asian markets. In Artprice’s Top 100 Hammer Price List, only seven Asian artists crack the top 50. Not surprisingly, all were Chinese artists with sales in Beijing or Hong Kong. Numbers such as these suggest that there is still some preference for homegrown artists.

The Beijing sale of Chen Yifei's 'Thinking of History at My Space', 1979 landed him at #69 on Artprice's Hammer Price List

Even so, the unusual dominance of American artists at Christie’s New York sales this past spring did not go unnoticed.

“This is the most significant post-war and contemporary art collection ever sold at auction,” Christie’s Amy Cappellazzo said afterwards. “It was a quintessential American sale.”

We at Art Radar Asia wonder if this is really so surprising? There are few Post War Asian artists represented in these sales because Asian artists have only received attention in the last twenty years. For contemporary artists it is a different matter. While there is no doubt that some Asian artists, and those from other emerging countries, are now well known, their prices still lag behind those of top contemporary American artists. And, of course, main sales, and evening sales in particular, feature only the very best, usually most expensive, works.

Read the full article here.

EH/KN

Related Topics: business of art, collectors, market watch – auctions, market watch – globalisation

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• Contemporary art market in Asia now bigger than US for first time says Artprice – November 2009
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