Contemporary art, how many gaps in understanding are there in ridicule?

Some people go to art exhibitions and enjoy "pretending"; others go to art exhibitions and deconstruct the appearance of the works, and "act" very briskly.

Liang Kegang, a professional curator known as the "Tucao Emperor" of Art Basel Hong Kong, became popular for his exaggerated and joking language to ridicule contemporary art works. Art Basel, characterized by "de-modernization", has always represented the latest global art trend. Many contemporary works such as paintings, installation art, photography, and videos are avant-garde and bold in style, and the understanding of the level of imagery is quite brain-burning. As a result, these works whose meaning cannot be discerned at first glance have become artistic resources for Liang Kegang's light deconstruction.

At last year’s Art Basel in Hong Kong, Liang Kegang’s more than 100 on-site interpretations quickly occupied social media and triggered self-media reprinting by major art institutions. As a result, before the opening of this year, many fans have been looking forward to it for a long time. As soon as every article comes out, the circle of friends is flooded with reposts. However, apart from "making people laugh", what is the value of Liang's complaints? In the view of art critic and curator Zhu Qi, “these ridicules are not based on the artistry or academic rationality of the works, but take advantage of the viewing distance to capture the curiosity of the spectators and use Internet language to attract people’s attention. That’s all”.

In recent years, "creations" that interpret art superficially have emerged one after another. The "virtual fire" is flourishing here, which exactly reflects the lack of popularization and interpretation of art to the public. Wang Yuan, a professor at the Fine Arts Department of East China Normal University, believes that being sought after for "complaining" about contemporary art is a kind of aphasic carnival. Behind it lies the deep shortcomings of the public who are curious about "contemporary art" but cannot understand it.

The confusion of “plausible” interpretations

As one of the powerful forms of expression of contemporary art, installation works are what Liang Kegang made fun of the most while walking around. A humanoid puppet made of resin-like material and the same height as an adult man. Its neck was tied deeply with a metal rope and hung from the ceiling, with its legs dangling in the air. Liang Kegang made a short comment: "It is said that this was the largest buyer last year..." This sentence already made people laugh. Facing another set of installations: an elk standing in a golden haystack, with grand and dense branches above its head. He interpreted it this way: "When I was a child, I watched "The Adventures of the Braggadocio". In it, the baron ran out of bullets while hunting one day, so he put the cherry pit he had just eaten into his gun and shot a deer. This is probably the specimen of that deer. "The side quotes are very humorous. Some netizens commented: "I just love to see his 'venomous tongue', and it is very enjoyable to read."

From the works to the exhibition, from the owners of the participating galleries to the various tourists, they are all within the scope of Liang Kegang's banter. Inside. However, "from his interpretation, I can't read the vision of a professional curator at all, which is regrettable." Zhu Qi said. At the Art Basel Hong Kong that just concluded this year, many works were called rare masterpieces by critics, including the more well-known works of Yoshitomo Nara and Yayoi Kusama. But for Chinese people, contemporary art as a whole is still a field of expression that is difficult to understand and understand. It is always difficult for contemporary art to become a new independent stage, such as the dividing line from realism to formalism, which is recognized by academic circles. The overlapping of characteristics makes it difficult to completely separate expressions such as Dadaism and Popism from contemporaryism. The combination of various factors has indeed led to the "mysterious and mysterious" standards of appreciation.

“Contemporary art is a flowing concept and an expression of time. Whether it is today, tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, it only lives at that appropriate point in time. Artists can express it in a modern or traditional way , but the angle must be current.” In addition to abstract concepts, Wang Yuan gave more concrete examples, “For example, mobile phones are a unique product of the Internet era; television is an expression of the 1970s and 1980s. Perspective. Beyond this physical level, there is also a kind of philosophical thinking and characteristics of the times that express changes in people and the environment."

It is not a bad idea to use commercial power to promote contemporary art

Art Basel, founded in Switzerland in 1970, first started as a modern art salon exhibition and expanded its scope from the 1980s. , incorporating contemporary works of art. Even if contemporary art still cannot be accurately defined in Western academic circles; even if contemporary art is still a slightly niche field; even if people can understand Leonardo da Vinci, Manet, and Picasso, there is always a dilemma between love and hate for contemporary art. , but contemporary art is still strong because it represents human beings’ desire to break through the past—to create an era that is different from the past.

Judging from the audience’s acceptance of contemporary art, there is currently a lot of confusion in understanding. The audience is more willing to evaluate something that is understandable. Because of the cultural proximity, they prefer to praise retro. This is where the artistic value of “contemporary art” itself becomes controversial. Both experts believe that the value of contemporary art works does not lie in the "now", but in the "future". This is why its artistic value has never been able to compete with older works.

As the art market continues to heat up in recent years, when it comes to contemporary art, many buyers do not care about value but only price, and many have suffered losses and been deceived. However, there are also some collectors who continue to learn and grow through stumbles, and finally get started, become knowledgeable, and even have a certain say in the industry. On the other hand, commercial promotion is also one of the effective ways for contemporary art to reach the public.

In fact, taking Shanghai as an example, the contemporary art exhibitions launched in various commercial real estates have a wide range of titles and are also excellent works. They have the effect of "moistening things silently" to fill the gap in the public's understanding of contemporary art. .