Animamix Biennial – an alternative biennial pushes aesthetic of comic art – interview curator Victoria Lu

ANIMATION ART BIENNIAL

The Animamix Biennial is unique. The first was held in 2007, organised by Victoria Lu, an experienced curator and the Artistic Director of the Museum of Contemporary Art in Shanghai. This years show, also curated by Lu, spans four galleries: the Museum of Contemporary Art (Taipei, Taiwan), the Museum of Contemporary Art (Shanghai, China), Today Art Museum (Beijing, China) and the Guangdong Museum of Art (Guangzhou, China).

Animamix Biennial, 2009-2010, MOCA Shanghai

It presents art that develops or embodies the Animamix aesthetic, artwork that combines the styles of animation and comics.

The term “Animamix” was actually coined in 2004 by Lu when she became aware of the emerging stylistic trend while curating Fiction.Love at the Museum of Contemporary Art in Taipei, Taiwan.

Fiction.Love, 2004, MOCA Taipei

Animamix is now entering the mainstream, pushing the artists who have developed this style into the spotlight, artists such as Takashi Murakami (Japan), mixed-media visual artist Trenton Doyle Hancock (U.S.A.) and Brazilian painter Oscar Oiwa. As the style encompasses a broad range of mediums, and is often brightly coloured with bizarre narratives, it has an inherent ability to attract attention.

Animamix Biennial, 2009-2010, Guangdong Museum of Art, China

Always interested in exploring emerging trends, Art Radar Asia spoke briefly with curator Victoria Lu about the Biennial:

On Animamix as an artistic trend

The Animamix Biennial was inaugurated in 2007. Since then, has this art direction become more recognisable to mainstream audiences or does it still sit on the fringes?

This answer is rather difficult to define. If I judge by the growing numbers of Animamix direction artworks in the international art fairs, I can say yes. The Animamix direction is growing internationally.

Is this style popular internationally (for audiences, dealers and buyers) or is the popularity restricted to the Asian region?

There is more Animamix kind of artworks available in Asia market for the moment, so I believe Animamix art is more popular in Asia. But there are more and more artists in Europe working [with an] Animamix direction.

On the Biennial

Why did you want to start this Biennial?

I am tired of the current international biennials. There are a group of curators [which have been] leading the conceptual direction for too long. You will find [that] very similar artists list no matter where you go. So I want to try something new, something different. My concept for the Animamix Biennial is an ongoing evolution of art exhibitions and activities. This kind of biennial can really reflect the local art scene.

Would it be fair to say this Biennial is an Asian-initiated event focussing on an art trend that is becoming more globalised?

International biennials were started in Europe in the early last century. Now biennials are becoming more and more popular in the Asia, starting from the beginning of this century. Many cities in Asia are competing for the exposure of their art and culture.

Generally, how has the exhibition been received by critics and museum patrons?

My Animamix shows are very well received by audiences. So far we have also been well received by the critics.

Which artists have been well received by critics and audiences? Are there any “stars” of the Biennial?

I cannot say who the stars are. They are all important to me.

Animamix Biennial, 2009-2010, Today Art Museum, Beijing

The final leg of the Animamix Biennial, Dazzled and Enchanted – New Age Animamix, is now showing at the Guangdong Museum of Art in Guangzhou, China. The show will close on 28 February 2010.

KN

Related Posts:

• A Perspective on Asian art Biennial 2009 – January 2010
• Top 17 Asian artists 2009: Art Radar’s most searched artists – January 2010
• Top 5 sites for Japanese contemporary art news by Matthew Larking – June 2009
• New York’s first major show of Anime, Manga and Video Games KRAZY! Japan Society – February 2009
• Takashi Murakami’s one of a kind art fair Gesai grows in size – September 2008

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Fresh evidence contemporary art price rise is structural says FT

 

 

 

 

 

 

Source: Financial Times

MARKET NEW BUYERS MORE BUYERS The huge wealth from oil and mining in the Middle East and Russia is flowing into fine art, with a rush of new buyers entering a market that was already booming. 

The arrival of Russian, Middle Eastern and emerging market collectors has given fresh evidence to those who believe that the powerful rise in the price of artworks is structural rather than cyclical – reflecting a long-term shift to a truly global market supported by growing numbers of millionaires and billionaires.

 

Last high 1990 surpassed in 2007

Last year, the art market – as measured by proceeds for the top 100 artists sold at auction – in nominal terms surpassed the previous high set in 1990, according to data from Art Market Report. After a decade in the doldrums the market recovered sharply in 2003-04 and has been on the upswing ever since. The rise in the contemporary market has been especially strong, with prices up by 300 per cent in the past three years, according to Art Market Report’s Contemporary Art 100 index.

 

Doomsayers wrong so far

Doom sayers have been predicting a fall in art prices for the past two years. The high level of nervousness about the market was revealed last November, when shares in Sotheby’s plummeted 28 per cent in a day. The reason? The auction house had failed to sell a work by Van Gogh at its sale the night before. The share price has not recovered.

Many respected dealers and collectors believe the market has reached its peak. Eli Broad, the Los Angeles-based billionaire collector, has said several times that he does not believe prices will continue to rise.

One bearish New York-based dealer says: “Mark my words, the Russians will turn out to be the Japanese of the early 21st century.” During the last art market peak, Japanese property developers were famously among the biggest buyers, snapping up Impressionist works – they were especially fond of Van Gogh – only to offload them at much lower prices just a few years later when the Tokyo asset bubble burst.

 

Customer base from more countries now

The underlying support for today’s art market does appear to be much more broadly based. 

Sotheby’s points out that five years ago, its buyers who spent more than $500,000 on an artwork came from 26 countries. Today, buyers spending that level or more come from 58 countries. Last year, 21 per cent of buyers at its sales were new, the auction house says. Since few buy at auction only once, that means an influx of customers. Helena Newman, vice-chair of Impressionist and Modern art at Sotheby’s, says: “The whole make-up of buyers has changed beyond recognition from 10 years ago. Now we have a far bigger global reach. We are also seeing far greater demand for the very best works. Our big challenge remains the sourcing of works.”

Simon de Pury, who heads the Phillips de Pury auction house, echoes that trend, saying: “Five years ago, the market was concentrated in western European and American collectors, a small group of art cognoscenti. The Contemporary market was dominated by three countries – the US, the UK and Germany. Now we can see the change just in our website: the hits are coming from Brazil, Turkey, China, India, Indonesia, Korea.”

 

Change accelerated 2 years ago

Mr de Pury says the change accelerated two years ago. He predicts that Contemporary art will continue to grow in buyer popularity, in part because the sheer number of buyers means that demand for works from previous eras cannot be met. “It is a question of availability. If you have unlimited money, you can no longer buy the best Old Masters collection in the world. But you can buy the best collection of living artists. For that reason Contemporary art will be the most significant market for the next 20 years.”

 

New museums adding to demand

He adds: “In China, every new [top-end] real estate complex being built has an art museum. All these spaces need to be filled and that will keep demand high.”

Most Middle Eastern nations are likewise building art museums, with both a Guggenheim and a Louvre destined for Abu Dhabi, for example. These museums will start accumulating works to fill their vast spaces later this year. In the US, the home of most of the world’s billionaires, there is a growing trend for rich art-lovers to build their own museums rather than donate works to existing museums as used to be the practice.

 

More millionaires 

There are far more rich people in the world and they are simply far more likely to buy artworks. The number of millionaires in Brazil, Russia, India and China grew by 19 per cent last year, according to the World Wealth Report, released this week by Merrill Lynch and Capgemini. The top 10 collectors in the world now include Victor Pinchuk, a Ukrainian steel billionaire, Carlos Slim, the Mexican telecommunications tycoon, and Qatar’s Sheik al-Thani, according to ARTnews magazine, which this week released its annual list of big spenders.

Art is also seen as a socially desirable channel for the wealth resulting from the 20-year growth in financial services. US hedge fund managers such as Steve Cohen have emerged as big Contemporary collectors. Ben Crawford, the chief marketing officer of MutualArt.com, says: “It starts with the wealthy and then there is a trickle-down effect. Look at the beginning of the century – who bought designer clothes? Tiny numbers of high-society people – but once they became available to more and more people, the buyers didn’t go back. The art buyers won’t go back to putting Star Wars posters on their walls.”

Image details: Eli Broad, art collector

See:

• Billionaires from Russia Middle East new in top 10 art collectors 
• How Russians, Asians are changing the art market

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