2000年以来，中国当代艺术界逐渐发生了很大转变，即原来前卫艺术与意识形态的对峙被当代艺术与商业的结合所取代，显著特征表现出三个共存的艺术版块。一是以国家美术系统为代表的主流艺术。二是以拍卖行和画廊代表的艺术市场的力量。三是不断涌现的艺术家群落。它们之间相互依存、相互渗透、相互对峙，形成了对话、交流、协商的中国艺术的特殊景观。
中国当代艺术市场从2005年开始爆发，令世人瞩目。正是由于经济发展，带动了艺术收藏的投资信心。实际上，艺术市场在某种意义上是反映经济好与坏的晴雨表。像伦敦金融时报(Financial Time, December 2, 2006, P.3) 所指出的那样，“中国与印度的艺术家和收藏家正在掀起当代艺术市场的革命”（Chinese and Indian artists and collectors are revolutionizing the contemporary art market.）。尽管这是一种乐观的预言，但它仍有许多令人反思之处。
对于艺术与商业之间的关系，这并非中国艺术所独有，欧美也如此。二者的关键区别在于，欧美除了美术馆、拍卖行、画廊、经纪人、收藏家之外还有艺术基金会、独立的艺术批评和自由的媒体，而目前中国恰恰真正缺乏的就是艺术基金会、自由而独立的艺术批评及开放的专业杂志，由于缺少这三个方面（艺术基金会、自由而独立的艺术批评及开放的专业杂志）的支撑，艺术也就易于失去其独立和自由的品质，也就丧失了对艺术“价值”的有效监督。西方当代艺术界长期以来一直保持着严肃的学术原则和独立的批评立场，也就是说，在西方艺术内部一直延续价值协商的传统。与之形成对比的是中国的商业繁荣把人带入拜物教的境地。面对这种险境，我们需要理性思考：如何建立起艺术市场与艺术批评的有效制衡关系，以防止市场化对艺术价值判断的过多干扰。
随着中国经济的不断升温，几乎所有与艺术相关的人都卷入艺术市场之中，艺术家似乎把拍卖行的拍卖作品数字变成了争夺艺术家位置排次的平台。但实际上画廊在艺术潮流中的影响不可忽视，60年代西方各种艺术流派的崛起显然与画廊和收藏家的推动分不开。与之相似的是，画廊在今天中国当代艺术的发展中所起的重要作用是有目共睹的。如90年代中期香港汉雅轩画廊的张颂仁先生和荷兰友人戴汉志分别以画廊方式把中国当代艺术推向了国际。难以想象，今天在中国的画廊已成为全球当代艺术市场的焦点之一，这些代表性画廊是：北京阿拉里奥画廊、意大利常青画廊、长征艺术中心、香格纳画廊、北京公社、U空间、唐人当代艺术中心、尤伦斯当代艺术中心和伊比利亚艺术中心等。
艺术市场对艺术家的创造性来说具有双刃剑意义。一方面艺术市场可以给艺术家产生积极的创作作用，另一方面艺术市场可以给艺术家造成负面影响，他们把市场的成功当作艺术的成功，不断复制自己的风格。
在“惊喜发现”中，我通过选择艺术家来强调展览观念的两个重点：一是再现当代艺术的实验性与先锋性，它是对艺术市场的方向与判断的引导和超越。一是表现当代艺术的自由和独立精神，在上海双年展并行期间，这种自由和独立构成了与双年展体制的协商。因此，“惊喜发现”既丰富了上海当代艺术博览会多样性，又呼应了动感的亚洲当代艺术潮流。
BoD_China Curator - Huang Du
Momentous changes have taken place in the contemporary art of mainland China in the past decade. Following the Chinese contemporary art market boom in 2005, collectors’ confidence has soared. The adversarial relationship between avant-garde art and ideology has evolved into the co-existence of contemporary art and Chinese commerce. The obvious manifestations include the fact that contemporary art has been bought by state-owned art institutions, the strength of the domestic art market, and the increasing number of artist groups, whose dialogues, exchange and consultation have led to the development of a spectacularly lively Chinese art scene.The artists chosen to represent China in Best of Discovery are experimentalists, whose work is both one step ahead of, and yet transcends the direction and judgment of the art market.
The artists are Beijing-based Chen Wenling, Wang Zhiyuan and Zhu Jinshi, Shanghai artist Shi Yong and Wang Luyan, and, who lives in China and Australia.Although the sculptures of Chen Wenling resemble objects of pop culture, they uniquely exemplify the post-Pop phenomenon. In his works using the image of a pig—a symbol of wealth and desire in Chinese society—Chen critiques China’s transition into a materialistic consumer society. Chen’s The God of Materialism (2008) is a combination of the faces of a pig and of a man. This animal-human figure is a fable of genetic science, making fun of technology while criticizing social trends.
Zhu Jinshi is another artist whose work involves unusual fusions. In his installation Accordion in the Air D08-1 (2008), the artist rethinks the possibilities of art from the perspective of non-art. Zhu transforms an aerial work platform into an accordion wrapped in purple canvas; a five-meter-tall tree stands on the lift’s platform. The resulting sculpture is a complex organism, part nature, part machine.
Shi Yong also takes on two roles, positioning himself as sociologist and artist. In the video Think carefully, where have you been yesterday? (2007), Shi analyzes human emotions, conducting interviews with people from different social classes and infringing upon the interviewees’ private memories and experiences, thus evoking deeply held truths. Shi filters the stories, revising and editing them into entirely new narratives.
Wang Luyan emphasizes both the independence of expression and social criticism.In his painting W International Wristwatch (2008), the face of a watch is depicted in graphic style. The watch’s gears are visible and each is colored with a different country’s flag. The interrelations of the gears are metaphors for war and social relations, as well as the relationship between man and nature.
Connecting grand themes with ordinary objects, Wang Zhiyuan’s The Object of Desire (2008) is a sculpture of female underwear created with massproduction techniques. Referencing sexual pleasure, moral taboos and the fear of AIDS,Wang’s sculpture and the others in his series tell stories about individual desire.
The five Chinese artists in Best of Discovery express the free and independent spirit of contemporary art prevalent in China today. The art market is a double-edged sword to artists, playing an active role in art’s creation, but also distracting artists with the lure of success, which often leads to self-mimicry. Avant-garde artists play an essential role in maintaining the vitality of China’s art scene against a rising tide of commercialism.
Translated by Jin Hua
Reprinted by permission of ArtAsiaPacific
