来自艾可画廊的王欢或中国当代生产时代

Reporting from Shanghai: Adrian H.Wang from AIKE or the age of Chinese Contemporary Production – 来自上海的报道:来自艾可画廊的王欢或中国当代生产时代

On the occasion of the art week in Shanghai in November 2018, Cristina Sanchez-Kozyreva met with Adrian H. Wang who took over the direction of AIKE last summer. He shares his coming to the art world and what it means to him to be a gallerist.
2018年11月,在上海举办的艺术周之际,克里斯蒂娜·桑切斯·科兹列娃会见了去年夏天接任艾可总监的王欢。他和大家分享他来到艺术界的经历,以及成为一名画廊老板对他意味着什么。

Cristina Sanchez-Kozyreva: Please could you tell me more about your background, and how you came to the arts?
克里斯蒂娜·桑切斯·科兹列娃:请你告诉我更多关于你的背景,以及你是如何来到艺术界的?

Adrian H. Wang: I come from a different field, very different form the art world. I studied biology in Shanghai. After graduating, although I liked research, I also had a very wide range of interests. I thought I better follow only one of them as a career. I didn’t chose to follow biology. I got an offer in 2009 from a local art book distributor and I worked with them three years distributing international art books, for publishers such as Thames & Hudson and Hatje Cantz, mainly about western art history, and breakthrough artists such as Caravaggio, Rothko, and other post-war artists.
Considering the very wide information and the content I was exposed to, and from talking with clients from libraries and art schools, some artists, some designers, it seemed to me the gallery was the best platform to follow my passion for the art world.
In the beginning of 2013, Roberto Ceresia, the founder of Aike gallery, approached me. He believed I was ready and a solid person to do the operations at the gallery. We had a chat and decided to work together. I was already familiar with a few artists. At that time, I had a few watercolour pieces but mainly I was a regular gallery visitor.
王欢:我来自一个不同的领域,与艺术界截然不同。我在上海学生物。毕业后,虽然我喜欢研究,但我也有很多兴趣。我想我最好只追随其中的一个。我没有选择学生物学。2009年,我从当地的一家艺术图书发行商那里得到了一份报价,我与他们合作了三年,为泰晤士和哈德逊、哈特伊坎茨等出版商发行了国际艺术图书,主要是关于西方艺术史的书籍,以及卡拉瓦乔、罗斯科和其他战后艺术家等突破性的艺术家。
考虑到我所接触到的信息和内容非常广泛,以及与图书馆和艺术学校的客户、一些艺术家、一些设计师交谈,在我看来,画廊是跟踪我对艺术世界的热情的最佳平台。
2013年初,艾可画廊的创始人罗伯托·塞雷西娅来找我。他认为我准备好了,是一个在美术馆做手术的可靠的人。我们聊了一会,决定一起工作。我已经熟悉一些艺术家了。当时,我有一些水彩画作品,但主要是一个普通的画廊参观者。

Cristina Sanchez-Kozyreva: The scene in China is very dynamic at the moment, and because of the specific political and economical rise of China, Chinese artists emerge with particularly interesting voices and subject matter. What do you think of that energy? How do you see current Chinese production? How do you think artists react? Do you think they speak to the market? Do they speak to their own stories?
克里斯蒂娜·桑切斯·科兹列娃:目前中国的局势非常活跃,由于中国特定的政治和经济崛起,中国艺术家以特别有趣的声音和主题出现。你觉得那种能量怎么样?你如何看待目前的中国生产?你认为艺术家的反应如何?你认为他们会对市场说话吗?他们讲自己的故事吗?

Adrian H. Wang: For the artists I think it’s very challenging. The world is flat at the moment, you can get any information you want and gain deep knowledge about very narrow territories. For the creative sides it is challenging for each artist because the margins to move forward are very narrow. For example for painting that’s very clear, it is hard to be outstanding in their generation.
The offering is very diverse at the moment. For Chinese collectors, they read a lot, visit museum shows and art fairs worldwide, meet artists in their studio. They collect from a wide range, from Giorgio Morandi and Amedeo Clemente Modigliani to very contemporary artists.
王欢:对于艺术家来说,我认为这是非常具有挑战性的。目前世界是平的,你可以得到任何你想要的信息,并获得关于非常狭窄地区的深刻知识。对于创意方面,每一位艺术家都具有挑战性,因为前进的空间非常狭窄。例如,对于绘画来说,这很清楚,很难在他们这一代人中脱颖而出。
目前的产品种类繁多。对于中国的收藏家来说,他们读了很多书,参观世界各地的博物馆展览和艺术博览会,在他们的工作室里会见艺术家。从乔治·莫兰迪和阿米迪奥·克莱门特·莫迪利亚尼到当代艺术家,他们的收藏范围很广。

Cristina Sanchez-Kozyreva: Since last summer you are more at the forefront of the gallery, moving from co-ownership to an even more active role at the gallery. What kind of gallerist did you become since 2013, now that it has been five years later?
克里斯蒂娜·桑切斯·科兹列娃:自去年夏天以来,你就更站在画廊的最前沿,从共同拥有转变为在画廊中更为活跃的角色。你从2013年起变成了什么样的苦役犯,现在已经是五年后了?

Adrian H. Wang: It is kind of dramatic. In the beginning I wasn’t really prepared. After first working with Roberto, late in 2014 I got another offer, I talked to Roberto about it, and ended up accepting to move to White Cube in Hong Kong. I worked there two and half years. I gained a different experience. We remained good friends with Roberto and I would often visit the shows, I still loved Aike’s artists. Eventually, he invited me to be a partner of the gallery, it was important for him to have a local face to also representing the gallery locally. I knew the artists very well. In the beginning, I made very intuitive decisions.
I really enjoy working with artists, and I really like working with collectors, so it seemed like becoming a gallerist was a good career choice.
王欢:这有点戏剧化。一开始我还没准备好。在第一次和罗伯托合作之后,2014年底我得到了另一个提议,我和罗伯托谈了此事,最终接受了搬到香港的白立方。我在那里工作了两年半。我获得了不同的经验。我们仍然是罗伯托的好朋友,我经常去看演出,我仍然喜欢艾可的艺术家。最后,他邀请我成为画廊的合伙人,对他来说,有一张当地面孔也代表着当地的画廊是很重要的。我对艺术家很了解。一开始,我做了非常直观的决定。
我真的很喜欢与艺术家合作,我真的很喜欢与收藏家合作,所以成为一名美术馆馆长似乎是一个很好的职业选择。

Cristina Sanchez-Kozyreva: Now in the gallery you choose artists from your generation?
克里斯蒂娜·桑切斯·科兹列娃:现在,在画廊里,你选择了你这一代的艺术家?

Adrian H. Wang: In order to build something strong, I believe I need to work with artists from my generation (he’s 31). It is about building up a culture for their market, for their career.
王欢:为了建立一个强大的东西,我相信我需要与我这一代的艺术家(他31岁)。这是为他们的市场和职业建立一种文化。

Cristina Sanchez-Kozyreva: How do you see that environment?
克里斯蒂娜·桑切斯·科兹列娃:你如何看待这种环境?

Adrian H. Wang: I believe the gallerist input in building, and cultivating that culture is very important. Chinese contemporary is quite young, it only started since the 80s. There are a lot of things that need to be developed still. I want to be part of the discourse of the art scene.
China has a long history, Contemporary art can represent the nature, the identity of that. It has a unique DNA. It is a very diverse country, too diverse even, the politics, the economics, contribute to so many layers of content. So many are yet to be discovered.
王欢:我相信画廊在建筑方面的投入,培养这种文化是非常重要的。中国当代人还很年轻,从80年代开始,还有很多事情需要发展。我想成为艺术界讨论的一部分。
中国有着悠久的历史,当代艺术可以代表自然,认同那一点。它有一个独特的DNA。这是一个非常多样化的国家,甚至太多样化了,政治、经济,贡献了如此多的层次内容。还有这么多有待发现。

Cristina Sanchez-Kozyreva: Do you feel like you are still peeling off the layers?
克里斯蒂娜·桑切斯·科兹列娃:你觉得你还在剥皮吗?

Adrian H. Wang: Yes, absolutely.
王欢:是的,当然。

Cristina Sanchez-Kozyreva: In your day, let’s say in percentages, what is the part of your work that is about discovering, maintaining, working with artists, working with collectors, how can you describe your job?
Cristina Sanchez Kozyreva:在你的时代,让我们用百分比来表示,你的作品中关于发现、维护、与艺术家合作、与收藏家合作的部分是什么,你如何描述你的工作?

Adrian H. Wang: Good question… I work with artists for the programme, going deeper, keeping in exploring their recent practice, that amounts to around 40%. It represents about 5 to 6 shows a year at the gallery, and 5 to 6 art fairs (Art Basel Hong Kong, and a few local fairs in Chengdu, Beijing, Shenzhen, and this year West Bund and Art 021 in Shanghai). Around 40% of the time I work with collectors. The rest is admin.
王欢:好问题……我和艺术家们一起为这个项目工作,深入研究,不断探索他们最近的实践,大约占40%。它代表了大约5到6个展览在画廊一年,和5到6个艺术博览会(艺术巴塞尔香港,和一些地方集市在成都,北京,深圳,今年西部外滩和艺术021在上海)。大约40%的时间我和收藏家一起工作。剩下的是管理员。

Cristina Sanchez-Kozyreva: How is it to sell in China, what affects you?
克里斯蒂娜·桑切斯·科兹列娃:在中国的销售情况如何,对您有什么影响?

Adrian H. Wang: Economics affect us. For the kind of medium artists use, I don’t really care what it is, works can be powerful in every medium.
王欢:经济影响着我们。对于艺术家使用的媒介,我并不在乎它是什么,作品在每一种媒介中都是强大的。

Cristina Sanchez-Kozyreva: What do you think is a good artist?
克里斯蒂娜·桑切斯·科兹列娃:你认为什么是好艺术家?

Adrian H. Wang: It is a very big question and it is very personal. I think good artists appear all the time in art history, and when you open up their profiles you can find very different personal stories and backgrounds. What contributes is a very outstanding technique for their generation, and also a deep knowledge that enable them to understand the human kind and the culture surrounding them. In general, but also from the point of view of literature, philosophy, science, within this blooming modernism. How artists explore it, how they dig deeper into how art can deal with it.
Great artists are brave, they are not afraid to do something people cannot understand. Maybe they are thinking beyond this generation and century, into the future. I strive to find true artists in our generation in Asia.
王欢:这是一个非常大的问题,也是非常个人化的问题。我认为优秀的艺术家总是出现在艺术史上,当你打开他们的档案,你会发现非常不同的个人故事和背景。对他们这一代来说,贡献是一种非常杰出的技术,也是一种深刻的知识,使他们能够理解人类和周围的文化。总的来说,也是从文学、哲学、科学的角度来看,在这个蓬勃发展的现代主义之中。艺术家们如何探索它,他们如何深入挖掘艺术如何处理它。
伟大的艺术家是勇敢的,他们不害怕做一些人们无法理解的事情。也许他们正在考虑超越这一代人和世纪,进入未来。我努力在亚洲找到我们这一代真正的艺术家。

Cristina Sanchez-Kozyreva:  Do you want to represent mainly Chinese artists?
克里斯蒂娜·桑切斯·科兹列娃:你想主要代表中国艺术家吗?

Adrian H. Wang: We also have artists from Hong Kong and Japan. Maybe in the future we will represent artists from Taiwan, Singapore, Malaysia. We look at Chinese in Asia, and Asian artists.
王欢:我们也有来自香港和日本的艺术家。也许将来我们将代表台湾、新加坡、马来西亚的艺术家。我们看看亚洲的中国人和亚洲艺术家。

Cristina Sanchez-Kozyreva: If you were to recommend a work of literature to understand Chinese culture better, what would it be?
克里斯蒂娜·桑切斯·科兹列娃:如果你要推荐一部文学作品来更好地理解中国文化,那会是什么?

Adrian H. Wang: The book I’d really like to recommend is “My Country and My People” by Lin Yutang, who wrote it in English in 1934. Lin really captures the essence of Chinese culture and character.
王欢:我真正想推荐的书是林语堂的《我的国家和人民》,他在1934年用英语写了这本书。林语堂真正抓住了中国文化和性格的精髓。

Reporting from Shanghai: Adrian H.Wang from AIKE or the age of Chinese Contemporary Production - 来自上海的报道:来自爱克的王德良或中国当代生产时代
Adrian Wang. AIKE Gallery
王欢。艾可画廊

Reporting from Shanghai: Adrian H.Wang from AIKE or the age of Chinese Contemporary Production - 来自上海的报道:来自爱克的王德良或中国当代生产时代
Lui Chun Kwong: Forming Dusty Clues, Installation view, AIKE Gallery, Shanghai
吕振光:《尘埃线索的形成》,安装图,艾可画廊,上海

Reporting from Shanghai: Adrian H.Wang from AIKE or the age of Chinese Contemporary Production - 来自上海的报道:来自爱克的王德良或中国当代生产时代
Lui Chun Kwong: Forming Dusty Clues, Installation view, AIKE Gallery, Shanghai
吕振光:《尘埃线索的形成》,安装图,艾可画廊,上海

Reporting from Shanghai: Adrian H.Wang from AIKE or the age of Chinese Contemporary Production - 来自上海的报道:来自爱克的王德良或中国当代生产时代
Lui Chun Kwong: Forming Dusty Clues, Installation View Work:Landscape No.ML01, 2015, AIKE Gallery, Shanghai
吕振光:形成尘土飞扬的线索,安装视图作品:景观编号ML01,2015,艾可画廊,上海

Reporting from Shanghai: Adrian H.Wang from AIKE or the age of Chinese Contemporary Production - 来自上海的报道:来自爱克的王德良或中国当代生产时代
Aike Dellarco gallery Shanghai
艾可德尔拉科画廊上海