Shenzhen vying for the coolest art city in China?
(Cityweekend)
Updated: 2005-09-23 10:40

When the first stop on last winter's tour of 265 never-before seen in Asia Picassos was announced as being not Beijing or Shanghai but Shenzhen, some in China's art scene expressed mild indignation.

Though the rolling Picasso exhibit did eventually make its way to the cities considered more art savvy, the fact that their first public viewing in China was at Shenzhen's He Xiangning museum announced loud and clear - to the dismay of some, and delight of others - that Shenzhen had designs to be seen not merely as a city of high finance, but as one of art and culture as well.

Eight months after the Picassos left Shenzhen, I head back to the city on an early morning ferry from Hong Kong to the burgeoning art scene of China's richest and youngest city. I am looking to answer a burning question that may change the face of Chinese art: "Is Shenzhen vying for the title of coolest art city in China?"

The first stop on the Shenzhen whirlwind art tour is the He Xiangning museum in fashionable OCT (or Overseas Chinese Town). During the Picasso exhibit, Liu Yingjiu, the museum's suave and art savvy curator, alerted me to the fact the exhibit's opening in Shenzhen had more to do with promoting real estate than culture, as many of the Picassos wound up being seen by potential condominium buyers before the general public. During the exhibit, Liu quipped that while Shenzhen people might not be the nation's "greatest art appreciators," they were definitely "China's most voracious art consumers."

But behind his practiced - and no doubt necessary - veil of cynicism, Liu is a man who definitely understands the connection between a city's art scene and its character. "As a city, Shenzhen is still very much a work in progress," Liu says. "Artists play a huge role in development of Shenzhen's character." Earlier this year, Liu was instrumental in bringing three of China's trendiest artists to Shenzhen to create long, canvas-spanning murals for the opening of the Metro station closest to the museum. Unfortunately, for reasons best summed up as bureaucracy, politics and confusion, Fang Lijun's Song of Joy, Zhang Xiaogang's Large Family - Metro and Wang Guangyi's Hello World never made it to the subway platforms. The paintings instead wound up on display at the museum.

Two young women look at one of Picassos' works at the Beijing Picassos Arts Exhibition on March 26, 2005. [Beijing Daily Messenger]

Beginning in September, the He Xiangning Museum will be hosting a major exhibition, one appropriate for a young museum in a young city. Running until the October 12, Fresh Eyes: Painting Graduates '05 will feature work from 37 artists from the graduating classes of the creme de la creme of China's most important art academies. This is a pivotal exhibit for the Shenzhen art scene as a whole because it promises to lure a fair number of talented visual artists - artists just looking to begin their careers in the art world - to the city. Though not an explicit goal of the exhibition's coordinators, it is hoped that some of these artists might decide to stick around to pursue their crafts in Shenzhen. Of course, as with most endeavors in Shenzhen, real estate sales are somehow involved. "The exhibit is being sponsored by a local real-estate company, and it's likely that some of the better art work will be purchased for their properties after the exhibit is over," says curator Liu in a tone best described as blas?sarcasm.

After the HXN, I stroll over to the Overseas Chinese Art Terminal (better known as the OCAT). On the way, I pass by the massive neighborhood park that takes up a lion's share of the OCT neighborhood, and was able to get a feel for the somewhat odd collection of three dimension pieces on display. In an effort to dispel Shenzhen's former reputation as a "cultural wasteland," the local government has been supportive in setting aside public space for sculpture. The result is a rather unique sculpture park, with highlights including pieces like Fu Zhongwang's Earth Gate, a gothic looking locked iron door buried in the ground, and French Sculptor Bernar Vernet's post-modern 230.5.

The newly opened OCAT, like Shenzhen's art scene (and the city itself), is a work in progress. Currently between installations, the space was mostly empty. Luckily Ma Chu, curator of the factory-turned-gallery space is an artist in his own right and made use of the museum while it awaits the next round of masterpieces. As I admired a work of his - a surrealistic oil painting depicting a peasant riding a bicycle through a dreamy, sand swept landscape - he saliently comments on Shenzhen's art scene.

"Artistically speaking, Shenzhen is definitely an interesting place to be now. Not only is a lot happening locally, but Shenzhen's nature as a city of immigrants makes it artistically more open to new, or maybe more avant-garde, types of work," says Ma. "Any artist who chooses to live and work in Shenzhen is by definition a Shenzhen artist, no matter where they were born."

The sculptures that surround the gallery, like the ones in the park, are testaments to the all-welcoming, non-exclusive character of Shenzhen. Though the stone Tai Chi statues out front were created by Taiwanese sculptor Ju Ming, and the massive Bat Plan installation (depicting the hewn tail of the American spy plane that crash landed on Hainan island earlier this decade) out back was created by Fujian native Huang Yongping, both are now integral parts of Shenzhen's artistic landscape.

Leaving the OCAT, I head over to a working class neighborhood in the Futian district to visit with artist Yang Yong. Yang's medium is photography and his subjects, by and large, are people in Shenzhen with the streets as both stage and background. The artist, though approaching 30, is of slight build, with an adolescent, slightly mischievous face, making him look almost like a high school student. When asked why he decided to come to Shenzhen, rather than Beijing or Shanghai, the artist just sighs deeply.

"I must've been interviewed a hundred times, and every single writer starts with that question. I always tell them that I got on the wrong airplane."

Yang's work has been written up in dozens of magazines and art journals, including Flash Art and Art in America. It's clear by looking at his portfolio that the work he does could only be done in Shenzhen, as the city is not merely the photographer's subject, but the canvas itself. His photos tend to be stationary film noir, with some shots depicting beautiful, slightly disheveled women posing in gritty underground tunnels while others show shirtless workmen standing amidst scenes of manic construction that defines the Shenzhen spirit.

Heading back to Hong Kong the next day after an evening spent smoking cigars and eating with Yang and friends, I meditate on the question whose answer I'd come to find, and conclude that Shenzhen is as likely to usurp Beijing as China's art capital as Seattle is to seize the title of "America's art hub" from NYC. But if you're looking to gauge which city is likely to attract cooler artists in the coming decade, I've learned it is whichever place has cheaper rent, more room for art and a less pretentious art scene that wins out every time. For these reasons alone, I'll take Shenzhen hands down.

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