China's contemporary art draws spotlight

Tremendous appeal

Clark said: "If you look at it over a 20-year period, the growth of the contemporary Chinese art market has been extraordinary-it's like nothing else. But I think that in the past year or so, it has cooled off a little bit."

John Tancock, a historian and adviser to Chambers Fine Art, told Bloomberg that decades ago China was just opening up to the West and the economy was booming.

"A handful of artists started producing work that was of tremendous appeal to Western collectors," he said.

"Today, that is no longer the case, and there's no longer quite the interest in China as a sort of unknown phenomenon."

Clark said: "But it's not a bad thing, because it just means that it's not going insane the way it was-the interest is still incredibly strong and is still growing. My guess is that it will pick up again at some point because it is reasonably new if you think about art in historical terms."

Cui, from the Beijing Contemporary Art Foundation said, "As well as galleries and private collectors, we've also seen an increasing number of prominent museums overseas starting to collect contemporary Chinese artworks.

"That's more important for the artists' long-term development, as well as academic research."

Cui added that at the same time, more international museums and institutions are starting to work with contemporary Chinese artists on commissioning, where they request the creation of a certain work by the artists.

"In that way, the international community will have a better and deeper understanding of contemporary Chinese art, and cultural exchanges will be promoted at the same time," Cui said.

Lorenz Helbling, who moved to China from Switzerland in the mid-1980s and founded the ShanghART gallery in Shanghai more than two decades ago, said great development has taken place in Chinese art. While there is still a lot of work to be done in the country's contemporary art field, there is also great potential, Heibling said.

"Chinese artists are now much more a part of the international art world," he said at this year's Armory Show. "I think artists in China have things to say, which could also be important for people in New York."

China is developing an encouraging social environment for the art industry, Helbling added.

The country hosts about 20 leading art fairs annually, most of them dedicated to contemporary art from China and overseas.

Since it was launched in 2014, Shanghai Art Week, held annually in November, has been one of China's major art events. It features two art fairs, Art021 and the West Bund Art and Design Fair, which respectively attract galleries representing younger artists and galleries from the West.

Last year, more than 80,000 people visited the two art fairs and over 200 galleries exhibited works.

Helbling said, "I think the public in China is very curious and very open," adding that Chinese are eager to see what people from other countries, cultures and eras have created. "I think that's a good sign," he added.

Zhang, the former Sotheby's vice-president, who has worked with contemporary Chinese artists for more than a decade, said, "I think the Chinese market still has a bright future."

Compared with previous years when contemporary Chinese art, supported by a hot market and active investment, experienced exceptional growth, Zhang thinks the artists are "cooling down a little bit".

"There is introspection taking place in the industry as artists take in influences from other countries and explore their own paths to the future. I think Chinese artists will continue to create great pieces," Zhang said.