226 hong kong tatler. september 2017
LIFE | ART
Contemporary Chinese art is only a few
decades old, but a major exhibition about
to open at the Guggenheim in New York
puts it in historical perspective—and
within a global context—for the first time.
Marianna Cerini discovers how IMAGES: JIANG ZHI, OBJECTS IN DRAWER, 1997, COURTESY OF THE ARTISTLIFE | ART
GLOBAL
REACH
he art world might be fickle, but
if there’s one trait that’s defined
it over the past decade, it’s its
obsession with contemporary
Chinese art. Since the late 2000s,
the genre has experienced a buying frenzy, both
internationally and in China itself, that continues
its upward trajectory courtesy of blazing auction
house sales, major worldwide exhibitions, hot
press coverage, the avid attention of prominent
collectors and the contributions of Ai Weiwei
and others of his ilk, hailed as some of the
greatest living artists of the 21st century.