The purpose of the editorial team for introducing this gallery is to give more weight to the emerging Chinese artists rather than the established ones. Some artists intrigues us for their re-appropriation of mid-1990s Cynical Realism and Political Pop, and their particular focus on figural and women paintings.
本期介紹國王街畫廊的目的在於讓新崛起的藝術家得到更多的關注,而不僅僅只將注意力集中在像 俸正傑和王廣義這些已經成名的藝術家身上。吸引我們編輯團隊注意的是一些新興藝術家重新運用了90年代中期的玩世現實主義和政治波普藝術的元素,另一些則著重在人體和女性的藝術創作。
Situated in the gallery hot spot in Chelsea, the Kings Road Gallery was founded by Tanya Baxter in 1998, three years after its launch in Hong Kong (1995). It has achieved a global reputation for exhibiting exciting European and Asian contemporary artworks on the International stage by both well-established blue chip artists with auction records as well as young emerging artists on the scene. Among the long list of artists represented by this private gallery, there are similar amounts of artists from Europe, Asia and India, while Chinese constitute the majority (21 of them). This is surely because Tanya Baxter has realized the growing popularity and value of Chinese art in the world, and because she has worked with the rising stars of Chinese contemporary art since the mid nineties when the Gallery was based in Hong Kong. In 2011, the gallery organized an exhibition of Cynical Realist artist Ling Jian at the Saatchi Gallery, and between 2011 and 2012, it hosted a touring exhibition of Zeng Chuanxing, regarded as one of the most important Realist artists in the world. Zeng’s auction records are instantly catching up with his contemporaries such as Zhang Xiaogang and Yue Minjun.
1995年,坦雅•巴克思特(Tanya Baxter)女 士於香港創立首家國王街畫廊(Kings Road Gallery)。三年後,她在英國畫廊聚集地切爾西地區(Chelsea)開設了分館。該畫廊在世界藝術舞台上展出了振奮人心的歐洲和亞洲當代 藝術作品因而聲名大噪。這些藝術作品均出自擁有作品拍賣交易的潛力藝術家和新興藝術家之手。國王街畫廊擁有數量相當的歐洲和亞洲 藝術家,其中中國藝術家占了絕大多數,有二十 一位,這必定是因為巴克思特女士察覺到中國 藝術在世界各地受到了越來越多的關注。在90 年代中期,當畫廊進駐香港之時,巴克思特女士已經與中國當代藝術的新興藝術家合作。2011 年,畫廊在薩奇畫廊(Saatchi Gallery)策劃了 玩世現實主義(Cynical Realism)藝術家凌健的個人畫展,以及在2011年和2012年,舉辦了 世界著名現實主義藝術家曾傳興的巡回展。曾傳興的作品拍賣紀錄已經飛速地靠近同輩藝術家張曉剛和岳敏君的紀錄。
In addition to arrange exhibitions at a two-level space of around 16 x 36 feet, the gallery also offers an art advisory service and consultancy on building corporate and private collections of contemporary art. Tanya Baxter, the founder and director of the gallery, managed to secure art sponsorships from Virgin, Standard Chartered Bank, Barclays Wealth and many other financial institutions. In the meantime, the Kings Road Gallery offers consultancy to many corporate bank collections in Asia. Its reputation and expertise in the International art market, and collaborations with very sought-after and successful artists, has made the gallery a very prominent and reliable organization for seeking advice and providing a platform to get into the fascinating contemporary art field.
國王街畫廊擁有兩層各16×36尺(約173平方米)的展廳 ,除了舉辦展覽 ,畫 廊同時也提供藝術咨詢、策劃國家或私人藝術收藏的咨詢服務。創辦人巴克思特女士成功取得維珍集團(Virgin )、渣打銀行(Standard Chartered Bank)、巴克萊財富(Barclays Wealth)和許多財政機構的贊助,同時國王街畫廊為許多在亞洲的銀行藝術品收藏提供策展建議,其專業的水平享譽世界藝術市場。展館常常與許多受熱捧的成功藝術家合作,從而在藝術咨詢方面取得卓越的成就,成為打入當代藝術領域値得信賴的踏板。
Artists
For instance, Liu Fenghua and Liu Yong (born in 1956 and 1971 respectively) recently created a series of ceramics, namely “New Terracotta Warrior and horse” series ‒ around 60 centimeters high – coloured in acrylic that play with multi-layered recognizable icons from ancient to contemporary times. While at the first sight their sculptures clearly evoke the unearthed terracotta army of the Emperor Qin Shi Huang‒ which date back to China’s first dynasty from 221 to 206 BC – the colourful motifs covering their whole bodies recall today’s celebrities from the political, intellectual and artistic world, such as Chairman Mao Zedong, Barack Obama, Marilyn Monroe, Mickey Mouse, the Queen Elizabeth II, Duke and Duchess of Cambridge̶Prince William and Kate Middleton, and so on. The mingling of ancient heroism and theatricality embodied through the images of Emperor Qin’s soldiers, pop art icons, and formal features such as abstract forms or indigenous designs ascribe to Liu’s soldiers an entirely new dimension yet inscribed in past references. One may argue that Liu’s soldiers are equipped with funny modern touches that recall members of the Red Guard in the Culture Revolution almost more than 30 years ago. Therefore, the tragic heroism reflected on the young faces of the soldiers seems to tell a story of its own.
旗下藝術家
劉楓華和劉勇(分別出生於1956年和1971年)創作了一系列陶器作品“新兵馬俑”,以丙烯酸作色,約六十厘米高,以古今中外的顯赫人像作為創作元素。咋眼望去便會發現刻畫的是秦始皇的兵馬俑雕 像,其歷史可追溯到公元前221至206年中國的首個皇朝。色彩斑斕的兵馬俑身上覆蓋着許多當今政壇、文學和藝術界的名人像,分別有毛澤東主席,美國總統奧巴馬,美籍明星瑪莉蓮夢露,米奇老鼠,英女皇伊麗莎白二世,英國劍橋公爵威廉王子和公爵夫人凱特密道頓,等等。劉楓華和劉勇所創作的兵馬俑雕像集名人畫像和抽象本土創作於一身,既保留了兵馬俑原本的歷史形態,同時也呈現出了嶄新的藝術形體。這一系列的兵馬俑雕像似乎帶著幾分現代幽默的風趣,讓人回想起三十多年 前文化大革命的紅衛兵。換上年輕新面孔的兵馬俑似乎一一在講述著個人的英雄事跡。
Li Guijun, born in 1964 in Beijing, explores through his oil painting the dynamics of women in a photo realistic fashion. Li graduated from oil painting at the Central Academy of Fine Art (CAFA) in Beijing in 1988. Then he continued his education and received his MA in 1995. He learned his signature realistic oil painting technique from Professor Jin Shangyi and Yang Feiyun at CAFA. In the portrayal of figures, the young, almost teenager like woman has been one of his main subject. He uses his brush to create a very sensitive, pure and fragile atmosphere surrounding his thin and delicate women. The light and plain background makes the figures not only surpass the metaphorical space that has been created in the paintings, but also stand out in front of viewers’ eyes. One may link Li’s painting with the traditional Chinese aesthetics of ‘Sick Beauty’, such as Daiyu in the Dream of the Red Chamber. The delicacy of the women’s gestures and facial expressions in Li’s paintings may also evoke the elegance of fairies. The artist may have found an intimate space in his paintings. His women always seem to have some sort of thinking, maybe about her life or her lovers. The artist’s intention is to deliver a sense of vitality behind these grieved and cold women. The paintings successfully capture the beauty and the vigour of a specific moment in one’s life.
李貴君,1964年生於北京,通過擬真的油畫創作 專研女性性格和形態的多樣性。李貴君於1988 年由中央美術學院油畫專業畢業後繼續進修,於 1995年取得藝術碩士專業學位。在中央美術學院 勒尚誼和楊飛雲教授的指導下,李貴君摸索出了個人獨特的現實主義油畫技法,以創作年輕的肖像畫為主。他筆下創作的女性均俱有敏銳、文雅、 嬌弱的氣質。淡雅的背景凸顯了畫中的人像,使人物姿態更加脫穎而出地呈現在觀眾的眼前。李貴君的畫作或許會讓人聯想到中國傳統病弱美的審美觀,就像《紅樓夢》里的林黛玉。李貴君創作的女性的姿態和面容就像仙女般那樣優雅,他似乎在畫作中找到屬於自己的私密空間,他筆下的女性仿佛都若有所思,或許在思考着人生,或許在惦記著戀人。藝術家希望通過創作悲傷、冷漠的 女性來帶出另一種生命力。李貴君的創作恰到好處地捕捉到了人生充滿活力的美麗瞬間。
Tips 小貼示
Contact:
436 Kings Road, Chelsea London SW10 0LJ
+ 44 (0)20 7351 1367 / 07961 360 407
http://www.kingsroadartgallery.com/
tanya@kingsroadgallery.com
