Almighty painter

Chapter 544: Resources of the Artists Association
Vice President Li’s speech for the first half hour was actually a bit boring.

Art associations are also bureaucratic organizations.

Since it is a bureaucratic organization, it is usually not the case that its bureaucratic attributes are replaced by artistic attributes just because most of its members are artists and cultural scholars.

The interior of the small auditorium.

In addition to Vice President Li, a senior member of the Artists Association, and candidate members such as Gu Weijing, there were also other audiences, such as scholars and critics who were attending as auditors, and even student audiences from municipal primary schools.

to be honest.

Today's meeting is not the only topic to assess the qualifications of new members.

The recording team from the TV station nominally came here just for the selection of new members, which is a single shooting content.

Hold a meeting, cast a vote, and finally report the results on the podium.

No matter how much footage is filled in, it is still difficult to support the volume of a short documentary to be broadcast on TV.

The subject of this documentary "Artist's Day" is actually a busy day's work at the National Art Association.

Even if Brother Hao wanted to pave the way for Miao Angwen, he had to find a reason.

When the station leaders approved the recording plan, it was considered a government propaganda activity carried out in collaboration with the television department and the art department.

It’s just that the annual qualification review of new members of the National Artists Association happened to be a very interesting work focus today.

It’s just like an environmental protection documentary, after filming the mountains and rivers, it would be best if there was a lion fight at the end.

A marketing gimmick to attract audience's attention.

First, let’s review and summarize the work in the first half of the year.

Then there are the work arrangements and prospects for the second half of the year, how to carry on the past and forge ahead into the future, how to not forget the power of art in a chaotic environment, how to keep in mind that art is a combination of beauty and power, and can soothe people's inner pain...it's nothing more than these old-fashioned things.

The speech of the fat old man behind the podium was like that of most academic bureaucrats.

Long, repetitive, and downright boring.

Even the little kids, who were happy to participate in group activities as long as they didn't have to go to school, clapped until they were sleepy.

If elementary school students were not prohibited from bringing mobile phones, various game sound effects similar to Fortnite or Minecraft would have been heard from the audience.

Even the fat old man himself seemed unusually uninterested in the story.

Instead, there was sweat on his forehead.

Under normal circumstances, Vice President Li on the rostrum would not show such a mental state.

In fact, he is just like most academic bureaucrats who give reports.

In the past, no matter whether the audience was bored or not, the person giving the lecture on the stage would usually be quite excited.

after all.

The opportunity for scholars to give reports at conferences, or to speak on stage on behalf of the department as vice president of the Artists Association, is a recognition of your personal abilities or social status.

Especially in the art industry, social status is almost equivalent to money.

Vice President Li is an expert speaker within the association, and is well-known for his love of speaking and his eloquence.

He has participated in the Venice Biennale and several other international super exhibitions as a member of the official national delegation.

Although the result was as expected a total loss, there are still many top-tier painters whose paintings can sell for millions of dollars but have failed miserably in such exhibitions.

Who can force him to do anything?

He is just a third-tier or lower international painter, barely reaching the passing line of international painters.

Such reputation may be purely brought by the experience of those international exhibitions.

To be honest, it may not sound nice.

If you pick up an ordinary person who has never learned to paint from the street and throw him into the Venice Biennale, it is considered a top-notch competition unit in both the art and film industries.

Take a stroll, have a look around, and take a dip in the artist's "Dragon Pool".

Even if you don't have the blessing of making the leap from a fish to a dragon, once you achieve enlightenment, your whole family will prosper.

If I return to the pond in the mortal world, I can at least become the Dragon King of the Well worshipped by ordinary people, right?

Even though he couldn't defeat the Monkey King, it was easy for him to destroy the King of the Black Chicken Kingdom.

Here is the biggest benefit of becoming a senior member of the National Artists Association——

Many of the top-notch art exhibitions are often only attended by famous painters, and are almost out of reach for ordinary painters.

And they can do the reverse.

He enhanced his reputation through almost "free" opportunities to participate in art exhibitions and various exchange visits.

Vice President Li's insistence on creating some traditional Asian silk paintings with local elements, and bringing the "Mandalay School of Mural" to the world stage, is itself an act worthy of admiration.

By the way.

Another advantage of participating in the exhibition as a national team is that.

Diplomacy is no small matter.

This often involves issues of international relations and national image.

Large exhibitions like the Venice Biennale often have a dedicated area of ​​the venue.

Similar to the World Expo, each country is allowed to build its own national pavilion.

Dongxia Pavilion, American Pavilion, Saudi Arabia Pavilion and so on.

Even if there are some large exhibitions that do not have national pavilions, or do not have such formal exhibition areas designed specifically for them.

Otherwise don't invite yourself. As long as you are an invited artist of the official team, the booth assigned to you is usually not bad.

More than not bad.

They are even some very good and important booths.

After all, we are all independent sovereign countries, and this kind of thing has nothing to do with the artist's personal worth.

The organizing committee placed the British Empire's booth in the very center and deliberately threw the Equatorial New Guinea's national booth into the toilet. This was arrogant, low, and particularly politically incorrect.

Just wait to be scolded to death.

In the exhibitions that President Li attended, the booths next to him were often occupied by big names whose net worth was dozens or even hundreds of times his. Even if he were a small painter working hard in France, he might not even be qualified to run over and shake hands with them.

It was exactly those experiences.

President Li has seen and experienced a lot. He has a few interesting stories and gossips hidden in his box.

Vice President Li chatted with Lee Krasner's (note) niece for a few minutes, met Sir Brown at an academic seminar, and had the honor of catching a glimpse of Picasso's last living lover from afar in Paris.

(Note: Russian-American female painter, wife of the famous Jackson Pollock. She and her husband may be the most successful couple of painters. In 06, Pollock's work "Number 1948 (also known as 10)" was sold for about RMB billion.)
Whether it is conference reports, research reports, public interviews, or going to universities to give speeches and talk with scholars.

No matter what we talk about.

President Li is good at guiding the topic and choosing a suitable opportunity to talk about it.

The starting gesture often starts with "What you said is a very good point. Once--" or "Well, your point of view is very inspiring. It suddenly made me think of--" with a tactical lean back of "What is an internationally renowned painter.jpg".

Artists are a group of people who are very good at taking advantage of situations.

It's nice to have had some personal connection with these names, no matter how vague it is.

In Myanmar, or I can say, in 99% of the art scenes in the world, it sounds very impressive.

It's not just Old Man Gu who is good at pretending.

Who isn't a bully?

The audience gained a sense of novelty, and he gained admiration and vanity, winning twice.

"But today... today's occasion is not right."

Vice President Li raised his head from his speech and secretly glanced at the camera in the corner.

He quickly glanced around again, and saw the young people sitting in the audience who stood out particularly among the group of candidates whose average age was over 50 years old.

"They are all gods flying high and low~"

Life is not easy, the old man sighed.

The vice president picked up the wrinkled tissue beside him and wiped the sweat from his forehead vigorously.

Not only did he not have any interest in telling interesting stories.

Even the printed speech in my hand felt hotter the more I read it.

Vice President Li began to reflect on his characteristic of being talkative.

It is because of this that, in today's situation where all the old hands are slippery and no one is willing to come out to announce the final result of the membership, which is like a hot potato.

In the end, he was forced to become the villain.

Cao Xuan? Brother Hao?
You can't afford to offend anyone, and you'll offend people anyway.

"Last year, at the invitation of the Winter Olympic Committee, our delegation went to Dongxia to participate in the "Meet in Beijing" Olympic Cultural Festival and the 22nd "Meet in Beijing" International Art Festival, with the theme of "Light of Life", focusing on the Olympic spirit and the spirit of fighting the epidemic... Recommended by the Ambassador and the leaders of the cultural department... Two members of the China Artists Association entered the main competition unit of the Beijing International Biennale... Witnessing the exchange and mutual learning between international art, expressing people's yearning for a better life..."

at last.

Vice President Li finished reading the last speech in his hand.

He didn't even wait for the audience to applaud politely, he just held the attitude of "if you stretch your neck you'll get a knife, if you shrink your neck you'll get a knife too", "it doesn't matter who you are".

Like a broken jar, he turned the last page of the minutes.

"The last item is to welcome the new members of the National Artists Association this year. Please host and announce the results of the admission."

Vice President Li shrugged his head weakly.

The hostess who led Gu Weijing and the others into the auditorium had already walked onto the stage with a stack of things in her arms.

Among them are the approval letter for membership signed unanimously by the president, two vice presidents, and six directors of the Artists Association, a blue-covered certificate of membership of the National Artists Association, a certificate of qualification for special creative subsidies from the local cultural department, and customized commemorative medals and crystal ornaments.

No matter how far away it is from the forefront of international art, no matter how little attention it pays.

The National Artists Association is also the highest-level official organization for artists in the entire country. Becoming its member is the highest recognition of the creative level of all local artists.

Joining the Artist Association is a serious matter.

In such a crazy art market as the United States, artists may not necessarily value the economic benefits that the Artists Association can bring to them. The marketing of a random painting can earn them countless times the subsidy. What they value more is the improvement of their social status and the right to speak in the art industry.

But overall, compared to the world average, artists are still quite poor.

Even though Canada borders Maine and is almost completely undefended and can be easily reached by driving around, it is still considered a "developed country" in the public's impression.

The entire literary and artistic industry in Canada, painters, film directors, including top directors like Villeneuve and Nolan, who are known as the twin stars of Hollywood, in the era when his films "August 8" and "The Last Airbender" were not so famous, the main source of income, including the source of investment in making movies, was actually from queuing up in the national association to apply for government subsidies together with a bunch of artists.

This model makes less money though.

However, once the subsidy is approved, there is almost no further care taken. It is not like the American art society, where curators are highly involved in the creation of exhibitions and producers have many requirements for the subject matter.

The creative freedom is also relatively higher.

Make movies, hold exhibitions, send you to Europe for awards, and send you to Antarctica to shoot landscape art films.

If you can find a way to get approval, you can find a creator who is in the working stage in the Artists Association and have almost all the creative resources you can think of and need.

Just look at the things the host brings on stage.

The level of attention and formality of the National Artists Association is far beyond the reach of a makeshift grassroots organization like the Yangon Painting and Calligraphy Association.

The moment the candidate members saw those certificates, their nostrils flared and their foreheads tilted forward.

It was as if he saw a wild boar running on the African grassland, and a Maasai hunter with a spear in his hand was aroused by his hungry desire to hunt.

"This year, the National Artists Association welcomed a new member. I believe many people were very surprised to see the result of his admission, because there is no doubt that he is a supernova in the local art industry this year. Many members and directors were unfamiliar with his name at the beginning, but when they learned about his achievements, they all recognized his arrival. Because he has undoubtedly met the qualifications to become a member of the National Artists Association. His works have a kind of magic that makes people happy, and more importantly, his creations always contain extremely high ideological and artistic standards."

"Not only do members of the Art Association think so, his achievements have also been widely recognized by his international peers. Not long ago, he successfully signed a contract with a well-known international gallery..."

The female host recited the commentary in her hand with great emotion.

Some people began to feel nervous.

Even more people were secretly criticizing with a hint of jealousy.

Who on earth is this person? He has such a powerful background that the top executives of the Artists Association are licking him so hard.

When hearing the words “widely recognized by international peers and signed with well-known galleries”, most of the candidate members knew that the result this time was destined to have nothing to do with them.

Even if they gild themselves, they can never get into the big international galleries.

cut.

These judges have no opinions at all.

It’s just a signing with an international gallery, can’t you just not care?
but……

I am really envious.

(End of this chapter)