Almighty painter

Chapter 545 Miao Angwen?
The photos on the large projection screen behind him kept changing. Mixed in among a bunch of old guys in strange clothes and with white hair and beards, the figures of Miao Angwen and Gu Weijing, both wearing Dulwich school uniforms, looked like two mismatched plastic figures that came with the KFC children's meal mixed in among a pile of old Burmese tree root carvings.

In order to meet the requirements of the film crew.

When filming and showing it to the audience, it’s best if it’s not just a dry reading of the script.

There were some fancy moves on the podium.

This kind of small production certainly can't be like the Venice, Cannes, or Oscar ceremonies, where countless cameras are set up at the venue to instantly capture the facial reactions of every candidate.

Just at the director's suggestion.

The staff also made a very down-to-earth "Lucky Star" simple applet that many companies use when giving awards at annual meetings.

The personal photos of all candidate members flashed quickly one by one.

The moment you press the mouse.

The program will freeze on the face of the lucky person whose name you set.

Listening to the host reading out the commentary that seemed to be his own, but also seemed not to be his own, the two people now clearly knew that the final answer was to choose one of the two, and their reactions at this moment were different.

Only the tension is similar.

A smug smile of victory seemed to appear on Miao Angwen's face, but the fists clenched tightly under his sleeves secretly revealed the expectation and tension in his heart.

On the other side of the auditorium.

"Oh oh oh, look if it's you?"

Old man Gu was already holding his grandson's hand, looking forward to it excitedly.

No matter how much he reminded himself to stay calm, at this critical juncture, Gu Weijing's heartbeat couldn't help but accelerate rapidly.

“Now, we welcome the new members of the National Artists Association to the stage to express their feelings.”

The female host extended her hand to the audience with a smile on her face.

"His name is——"
-
"It should be Miao Angwen. I don't think there is much doubt."

The clock went back to one hour and twenty-five minutes ago.

Internal meeting room.

Dark heavy-back chairs are placed next to the IKEA-style minimalist floating conference table with invisible legs, which is fixed to the wall by L-shaped alloy brackets.

In front of each seat there is a printed name card of the artist member of the Artist Association, mineral water and a microphone.

The style here is obviously much more formal than that in the tea room.

The participating members also look much more ordinary than the candidate members who are all dancing in chaos.

If you want something cooler, you can try Ralph Lauren's Purple Label POLO shirt, a casual breathable shirt that is a single-weft and double-warp blend of cotton and silk or cashmere and silk.

A more formal option is a custom-made dark blue linen two-piece suit.

On the contrary, at first glance he looks more like a normal person.

The documentary director who is currently following the most important artists in this country even thought that he should take two sets of large photos for the candidate members, the core directors, and the president and vice president of the Artists Association.

Finally, we took it outside to the traffic light and randomly grabbed passers-by to make the judgment.

Everyone may think otherwise.

Those weird candidate members are the real senior management of the Art Association.

It seems that Gu Tongxiang and his talents are more like those of great artists.

This result is not surprising.

In Yangon, Mandalay, and even the entire country, the group of people in front of him have climbed to the top of the art society's contempt chain.

They have reached the top, and there is no higher.

Even interviews have become a normal part of daily life.

For Gu Tongxiang, he needs to rely on some tricks to deceive the camera lens. After returning home, he might even excitedly cut out the few seconds in which he appeared in the documentary, and play it on a loop in front of the big TV in his own small art shop to deceive customers.

I've become so familiar with these people in the small meeting room that I'm numb to them.

So, return to basics.

They no longer need to rely solely on appearance to bring out their style.

Pretending to be cool is tiring and requires a lot of emotional investment.

At least.

When a local TV station wants to make a documentary, and it is only 30 minutes long, and it is not broadcast during prime time, and most importantly - the protagonists are not themselves.

No need.

After local artists have finally made it into the National Artists Association, those who still have some aspirations and ambitions for their career development will try every possible means to get more places to participate in exhibitions.

The rest often like to pursue something other than art.

Develop personal hobbies or something.

For example, Vice President Li, who only likes to talk and gets spiritual satisfaction by pretending to be cool, can be considered to have a relatively "light" personality.

For example, Director Ruan who is speaking now.

He is tirelessly seeking a breakthrough in power.

Director Nguyen's mother is from Mandalay and his father is from Hanoi.

Among these Southeast Asian countries, Vietnam's economic development level is definitely not as good as Thailand's.

But according to the usual evaluation standards, it is still much better than the current situation in Myanmar.

Even so, many years ago, when faced with a life choice, Director Ruan still focused his career on Myanmar.

Without him.

In places like Vietnam and Thailand, the art industry is already relatively mature.

The current state of Southeast Asian art industry is actually somewhat like the Dongxia art market of the past, which has been a very competitive red ocean market in recent years.

Don't look down on Southeast Asia and think it has no soil. This is a stereotype.

They can also produce some top-notch painters.

For example, the painter Li Pho (yes, that is his name, he is a very important painter in Southeast Asia), who is proficient in both oil painting and silk painting, has frequently appeared in auctions in Hong Kong in recent years, and his transaction volume has repeatedly set new records.

The transaction price record for a single work has begun to approach the HK$2000 million mark.

It’s not bad compared to Tang Ning’s Hong Kong photo shoot this year.

The price is completely that of a top international painter. In Vietnam, Director Nguyen is just one of many good painters.

It’s hard to say whether it can be ranked in the top ten, but it definitely won’t be in the top five.

But in Myanmar.

But he has a great chance of becoming No.1, the most unique one.

Director Ruan feels that although Myanmar is in chaos, it is because of this chaos that there is less competition. As a country located at the intersection of East Asia, its population is not inferior to that of Britain and France.

Once people's lives can become stable and happy, the potential for market development will definitely not be small.

It is because of this ambition.

He was nominated as vice president several times, but he gave up all the opportunities.

He wanted to be the boss and disdained to be put on a pedestal and become a vice president who had no benefits other than a big name and many speeches.

If you want to be one, aim to be the president.

If you can't be the president, then just give it a rest.

He is a powerful director and has complete control over the preparation and planning of the Yangon Art Exhibition and other local exhibitions of all sizes.

Don’t think that Xiao Zhan has little power. Chairman Ruan used to travel in a Mercedes-Benz.

These few years.

Local art exhibitions are not given much attention, but there are many international medical emergency exhibitions. Is this some kind of black humor?
Director Ruan's mind became active again, and he began to hope to find a job in the government's cultural department.

If you excel in your studies, you will become an official.

There are precedents that the bosses of the cultural systems in many European countries, and even the ministers in charge of art in the cabinet, are artists, scholars or museum directors.

At least we have to get a senior consultant who is both clean and expensive.

exactly.

A big shot who had connections in both the underworld and political and business circles found him, and the two hit it off immediately.

The other party helped him get a position as a senior consultant in the government's cultural field.

And he.

He just needed to do something that seemed insignificant to him.

"He is a local born and raised here, and he is full of talent. He is a young man worth looking forward to. Has anyone seen his album Dream of a White Elephant? To be honest, it really moved me."

Commissioner Ruan has a bit of the histrionic personality common among artists.

He took a sip of the small-leaf Burmese tea in the cup.

It seemed that at this point, the young man's work touched the softest part of his heart.

The eye circles are slightly red.

Commissioner Ruan wiped away the nonexistent tears with his fingers and said in a nasal tone, "When I was a child, I often saw elephant keepers riding elephants to collect wood in the primeval forests deep in the mountains. The logs were so high that they were piled up like a mountain. The elephants carried them with steady steps without even a tremor. At that time, I felt the shock brought by the primitive, natural, and wild vitality."

"This kind of emotion is hidden in Miao Aung Win's painting, which almost hits my heart. It is hard to imagine that this is a work drawn by a child. Of course, although the child who can draw such a work is only 18 years old, we can't just treat him as an ordinary child."

"It's not that we choose whoever draws the most original painting. If we use this standard, the people sitting here for the meeting today should be a group of monkeys. Monkeys are the wildest."

Someone at the table spoke in a sinister voice.

The atmosphere froze for a moment. Some people had complicated expressions, while others were silent.

"Ahem, monkeys and elephants are both very cute." Vice President Li, who is soft-hearted and a bit of a goody-goody on the left, doesn't want the atmosphere to be too tense when his colleagues are making noises at the conference table. He thinks it's time for him to start living. "You may not know, a few years ago, I went to Europe to participate in an exhibition--"

"Okay, Lao Li, let him speak. I'm never afraid of people speaking. This is how democratic discussions should be, with everyone being able to speak freely."

Vice President Li had just started to show off his skills when he was immobilized by a big control from Director Ruan.

Director Ruan, who was presiding over the meeting, looked in the direction where the voice came from with a very calm expression.

"But I must say that Myo Aung Win has met the hard criteria for membership this year. He is the same as any of us. You say he is a monkey, I do not accept this opinion."

"Any candidate on this list who can be presented to us has met the strict requirements for joining the organization—"

"Okay, I know you want to recommend Lao Sang who is doing urban murals in Naypyidaw. Lao Sang is your college classmate, right?"

"Director Ruan, what do you mean by that? Stop slandering me. I said you were pushing Miao Angwen, but who knows if you have secretly accepted benefits from him?"

The opponent slammed the table, seeming to be a person with a bad temper.

"Please be patient. I am not accusing you of intentional fraud." Director Ruan stretched out his palm and pressed down. "It is normal to have emotional bias. There is no such thing as no emotional bias in the art industry. I can honestly say that Lao Sang is not only your college classmate, but he and I have also collaborated many times in local art exhibitions. Our relationship is no worse than yours. But since we can sit in this position, we should talk less about friendship and more about conscience as much as possible."

"Because we are not only upholding our own conscience, but also the conscience and morality of the entire industry."

He adjusted the collar of his polo shirt and looked at the sky at a 45-degree angle. His expression was very similar to that of Bao Longtu, who enforced the law impartially and with a righteous spirit, or Minister Hake in "Yes, Prime Minister", who received a call from Buckingham Palace and was about to take office as prime minister with a heavy responsibility on his shoulders.

"As for whether I have benefited from Miao Angwin, to be honest, if I have nothing to hide, I can be honest." Director Ruan seemed to be emitting a fair and selfless light. "You can check it out. Please feel free to do so. I am never afraid of investigation. Of course, if anyone thinks that the son of a taxi driver can give me a gift that I will be partial to, then I can only give him a helpless and sympathetic smile."

He shrugged.

"What can he give me, an UBER taxi coupon? I don't hide my preference for him, because his paintings touch my heart. As a director of the National Artists Association, I see such an outstanding junior among our younger generations. If I don't prefer him, who else can I prefer?"

"You can raise your opinions if you want to. I am not targeting anyone here. However, if anyone here feels that in the art industry, it is pathetic that an elder likes a younger person only out of profit or because he has received benefits from someone, rather than out of help based on moral values."

"I pity his insignificance, and I am ashamed to associate with people like him. He is the one who is not suitable to be in this meeting room."

Director Ruan's voice seemed to have great power.

"But he's only eighteen."

"At the age of 18, he had already achieved results that many people in their 80s had not achieved. Some people are still playing in the mud at the age of 18, while some people have become masters at the age of 18."

"I don't have any prejudice against age. Did you sign with an international gallery when you were 18? If not, don't be jealous of others."

Director Ruan also slammed the table, as if he was in a bad temper, and stared at his opponents without giving in.

The two directors of the Painting Association were like two angry old bulls, about to butt their horns together.

The photographer in the corner was so surprised that his mouth almost opened wide. He had never expected that the scene when these artists met would be so heated.

Just out of shot.

Out of sight of the cameraman, the two men who seemed to be spraying sparks made eye contact for a moment.

seem……

Giving a knowing smile?

(End of this chapter)