Q: More and more market-oriented
A: Yes. It greatly links to China’s rapid economic development. Great progress has been made in China’s economy, and people have become wealthy. People not only spend money on clothes and houses, but have been able to raise their cultural quality and aesthetic knowledge. It’s really great. Economic development drives the development of art, so more and more people can connect with the art market, and different people have different tastes. As a result, we have a wonderful environment for the development of art.
Q: In your opinion, apart from different degrees of focus on artistic values, what’s the biggest difference between the domestic market and the overseas market?
A: There is of course great difference between the two markets. I have little knowledge of the domestic market, but I live here now and can understand a little. Western people put too much value on your work quality, conception or your specialty, and if you have your own distinctive characteristics, your works would be recognized. But in China, the human factor accounts for a big part.
Q: This is true of various sectors.
A: This is really because people have little knowledge about art. Foreign art has experienced free development for a long time, but in China, the traditional art has always prevailed. Public art, namely traditional art, imitates too much from the foreign arts. We have little artists who have their own specialty and distinctiveness. But this is a process of self-development and improvement.
Q: Have you shifted your work focus since last year’s Sotheby's auction? What are your future plans?
A: Since last year’s Sotheby's auction, my Chinese complex returned, and I am a Chinese, however long I’ve been abroad. My lifestyle, world outlook and cultural deposits are still oriental, because I had accepted a Chinese education and worked for a period before I went abroad, so I think I should be used to the contemporary Chinese art environment. I’d like to give a lecture at a university, because China has been poor for a long time, and has become prosperous in recent years, and most people hope their works can sell well. To them, a good price means high artistic value. In fact, it’s not like that. Artistic value links closely to the social environment and atmosphere. Our social environment is not quite less than ideal, so a good piece doesn’t imply high artistic value. I’d like to talk with college students and teach them what is art, where art comes from and how art is made. If make artistic creations just for a good price, you will take more market factors into consideration and lose your own distinctiveness. Each artist is an individual and can create works with his or her own characteristics.