Almighty painter

Chapter 636 The Merchant of Venice

It is difficult for the president of the film festival to completely say that this film festival is entirely his thing.

The same can be said of the curators of the Biennale.

When selecting the shortlisted films, the president of the film festival is also subject to the checks and balances of various societies, organizing committees and even the public media.

The curators of the Biennale, at least when selecting the shortlisted works, can completely follow their own mood.

Don’t say anything else.

This kind of pleasure of having the power of life and death at will is something that is hard to find in other art projects.

Think of this.

Tonks looked excited, feeling that all her hard work these days was not in vain.

Walking on the street outside, he is just a balding, fat, humorless British uncle who is still in the process of divorcing his ex-wife.

He is just like the tens of thousands of ordinary middle-aged men in the world who are bald, fat, lack a sense of humor and are experiencing a midlife crisis.

But here, in this brightly lit modern art center.

He is undoubtedly the boss.

Tonks puffed out her chest and stretched out her arms loosely. If the staff below her looked up at this moment, they would see a bald uncle swaying like a penguin with a protruding belly on the aerial corridor behind the spotlight stand, with an inexplicably strange smile on his face.

It looks pretty creepy.

But in the mind of curator Tonks herself, he is the handsome king of art, opening his arms and embracing his own country.

"Every night in my dreams, I see you, I feel you..."

The theme song of "Titanic" appeared in Tonks' mind at the right time. He turned into Leo, standing on the bow facing the choppy sea, and could shout out the classic line "I am the king of the world" at any time.

The greatest pleasure in the art industry never comes from money, but from influence.

Cultural market, cultural market.

First, culture.

Then comes the market.

Hollywood's annual revenue is only 180 billion US dollars, which is nothing compared to those financial companies or those selling Coke and fried chicken.

But it is this 180 billion industry that has shaped the spirit of the entire American society and has become a powerful engine for exporting Uncle Sam's cultural image around the world. That is why Hollywood is called by scholars as the most American symbol and American-featured "label symbol" that the United States has put in the world since Lincoln.

It has a greater impact than the explosion of the atomic bomb or the Apollo 11 landing on the moon.

Every dollar that the arts industry spends in the spotlight can generate social attention equivalent to ten, fifteen or even fifty dollars in other industries.

How can it not be great to stand on the stage and watch the world revolve around you!

The Singapore government spent tens of billions to build the art center, which cost hundreds of millions to create as a cultural business card. You can decorate it however you want and paint on it however you want. How can you not be happy!

For those painters who wanted to participate in the exhibition, he waved his baton and told them to step on the hydrangeas or jump through the fire hoops. How could they not be happy?

Even if he wanted everyone to step on the hydrangeas and jump through the fire ring, everyone had to -

"...you have come to show you go on..."

Huh?
It's fun, but the soundtrack is a bit too clear.

Tonks glanced down and realized that the melodious BGM was not an imaginary melody in his brain.

Instead, his cell phone rang.

Tonks quickly pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and glanced at the number on it.

He answered the call immediately.

"Hey, yes, yes, we can discuss it... It must be a good core booth, but the booths this year are a bit tight... Oh, is that so? Mr. Chen is also interested in our Biennale? Is he the one I think of?"

"Of course, of course. I am honored to invite Mr. Chen to attend this year's exhibition dinner. It is a good opportunity to consult with all the artists. Many gallery representatives will also be present... Well, yes, ordinary art exhibitions cannot provide the works that a collector with taste like him wants. Everyone will always save the best for the Biennale."

"Excuse me, is he the mysterious buyer who spent 16 million US dollars to buy the entire Spanish National Pavilion at the 4800 Venice Biennale? Oh, what are you talking about? Of course I know that CDX attaches great importance to the confidentiality of customer information. I'm just curious, just curious."

The tone and demeanor of the British uncle at this moment were just like a monkey stepping on a hydrangea and jumping through a fire hoop, waiting for an old man to reward him with a big banana.

Ok.

Tonks had to admit.

In a circus, who is the animal trainer and who is the performer? The relationship between the two is often relative.

You are a curator.

He is a tamer in front of these staff members.

But in front of some intercontinental gallery owners, super-rich people, or top art critics, you still have to be posed in eighteen different poses.

Just like the prostitutes in the brothels.

No matter how self-important you are, or how you sell your art instead of your body, no matter if you are Chen Yuanyuan or Li Shishi, when Emperor Huizong of Song comes to your door with his belt raised, you still have to sell your smile.

Life.

There's nothing we can do about it.

When making a phone call, your tone of voice shouldn't be too polite and your smile shouldn't be too polite.

By then, you'll be poked in all kinds of positions in the comments articles, and you won't have a chance to make people laugh again.

There have been people in history who have wanted to take a tough stance.

But generally speaking.

The ending is not good.

a hundred years ago.

At the Venice Biennale, ruthless people were in power. They felt there was no need to pay attention to the critics' noise and fought with Oil Painting magazine, arguing with each other until the sky turned dark.

To know.

At that time, the boss behind the Venice Biennale and the Venice Film Festival, the actual curator, could be said to be the spiritual godfather of the Axis powers, Mussolini.

A strange historical coincidence.

The heads of state of Germany and Italy during World War II all had some kind of strange artistic interest when they were young.

At that time, the highest award of the art festival was not called the Golden Lion Award like it is today, but was simply called the "Mussolini" Award.

Just by feeling the name, you can probably get an idea of ​​the nature of the Venice Art Festival in that era and how exciting it was.

It was really like they dragged the critic out and shot him just because of a disagreement.

Even in 1934.

In the second year after taking office as the German head of state, the mustache man visited Italy and wanted to pay a visit to his spiritual idol from his youth.

A failed art student wanted to choose a memorable occasion.

The first time he met his idol in his life was at the Venice Biennale.

How “tough” the Venice Art Exhibition was at that time!

now.

"Oil Painting" magazine is still the leader in the critic circle today, while the former ruthless boss of the Venice Art Festival has his body hanging upside down on a telephone pole, and it has been nearly a hundred years since he was killed.

Tonks thought.

Not guilty.

You still have to smile when you need to.

There is really no need to try it out yourself. Is Mussolini tougher or yourself tougher? Come, I will give you a smile, ladies, don't run away. Show six teeth, twelve teeth, or twenty-six teeth, front teeth or back molars, feel free to choose whatever you want.

Don't feel pity for me just because I'm a middle-aged man. I know all kinds of postures and I promise to smile until you are satisfied.

Tonks had previously sent a large number of invitations to Oil Painting magazine, reimbursing the cost of his special plane and five-star hotel travel expenses, hoping that Oil Painting magazine would publish a special interview for his biennial exhibition.

Unfortunately, the one calling now was not from Oil Painting magazine.

At this time, the person on the other end of the phone was the Asian art director of CDX Gallery.

International biennials and prestigious art awards have always asserted their independence.

However, it is always difficult to avoid being caught and having intricate connections with major galleries, various well-known art promoters, and transaction middlemen behind the scenes.

The nickname of the Turner Prize is the "money multiplier".

Double entendre.

This means that if someone wins the Turner Prize, the painter's net worth will instantly double. And if someone gets the inside information in advance and buys that person's collection in the secondary market in advance and sells it at this time, the money will naturally double.

The nickname "capital multiplier" is actually quite neutral.

The nickname of the "Venice Biennale" comes from Shakespeare's famous comedy "The Merchant of Venice", which is even more naked and ironic.

This is a direct hint that even a top art exhibition like the Venice Biennale cannot escape being a "madam" in the art field.

It plays the role of "pimp" between major galleries and various collectors.

Even under the public pressure of "serving money", the Venice Biennale has long announced that it will completely close the "marketing and sales department" under the organizing committee, hoping to use this to prove their purity.

But this is like the ineffective Prohibition in American history - the Biennial is still a place where top galleries compete with each other in the shadows, and various huge art transactions are ubiquitous in private.

VIP open day at the exhibition.

Almost everywhere there were wealthy VIPs invited by major galleries and their art dealers holding IPADs.

Galleries need biennials to showcase their strength, gain prestige, and raise funds.

Curators also need galleries to bring the best art resources and the best exhibitors.

Need each other.

Of course, the top wealthy buyers are hard to come by.

The art director of CDX was not entitled to the "self-service smile ordering" treatment at Tonks like the Oil Painting magazine, but the British uncle was still very service-oriented and automatically showed six and a third of his teeth when answering the phone.

When he heard that CDX wanted to set up an independent central booth in the exhibition area for eight works by three gallery-represented painters participating in the Lion City Biennale, and also requested that the booth display the CDX eye-catching logo to thank the gallery for its generous support for the exhibition.

The smile on Tonks's face shrank to the point where only her four upper teeth were visible.

Let’s not talk about the latter for now.

The gallery is just using this as a means to gain publicity for itself. As long as the other party provides sufficient resource support, they will agree to it.

But a special booth for an independent gallery...this really made him feel a little embarrassed.

The exhibition hall of the Esplanade looks very large, but consider that there will be two hundred participating painters competing for the awards.

Including the loaned works, there will be more than 500 paintings, sculptures and installations of different sizes on display.

No matter how big the exhibition hall is, it will seem small because of this.

Exhibitions like the Venice Biennale are definitely on a larger scale.

But they wish that the entire palace complex could be divided into exhibition areas by the government, rather than just a large exhibition hall. Galleries such as Gagosian and PACE invite collectors and judges to have parties during the exhibition, and they book an entire palace.

After all, Singapore is a city with very limited area and every inch of land is valuable.

Even the exhibition is small and exquisite.

Director Tonks hopes that there will not be any artificial spatial divisions in the main exhibition area.

The audience's sight can shoot from one side to the other unhindered like a bullet.

Use the smallest space to create the most magnificent visual impact.

now.

If we try to arrange a special "CDX" booth, it will definitely be a waste of space.

There are only so many exhibition resources in total, and the number of participating artists that can be accommodated is limited.

If the three painters from CDX enjoy better exhibition space, then this will definitely mean that some people will be squeezed out of the exhibition hall, and three or even five painters will lose the exhibition opportunity that could have belonged to them.

It will definitely not be the guest painter who loses the opportunity to exhibit.

Nor will they be "descendants of famous families" from other big galleries.

The opportunities that are squeezed out and swallowed up are definitely only those of ordinary painters who have passed the auditions, walked through a single-plank bridge among thousands of people, and entered the field stroke by stroke.

They have neither fame nor background.

Tonks herself didn't really care if some unknown person would lose the opportunity to participate in the exhibition, or perhaps lose the chance to change his or her life.

You can't blame anyone else, that's the rule of the game.

Big fish eat small fish, small fish eat shrimp.

Big galleries suppress small galleries, and small galleries suppress small painters with no background.

Even at top art exhibitions, countries collide with each other, and large national pavilions squeeze out small national pavilions.

CDX Gallery is a big player in the Singapore Biennale.

It can make its own demands at will.

If it goes to the Venice Biennale, when super galleries are fighting each other, it may be the target of the reverse squeeze of living space by industry leaders such as Gagosian and PACE.

It is so cruel for an artist to make a name for himself.

It wasn't Tonks who made the rules.

Don't play if you can't afford it.

What he cares about is if he creates a theme booth for CDX Gallery.

This is obviously special treatment, even better treatment than those artists who participate in the exhibition through special invitation channels.

Not to mention the insiders.

Even ordinary viewers can realize that the works on this booth are different.

Wouldn't the jury think that Tonks, as a curator, had a special preference for the works in this booth? Would they vote for it as the best work?

No need to ask if it can be done.

The judges definitely thought so.

CDX Gallery certainly hopes so.

With the publicity resources of such a large gallery and such support, this year's best work award will most likely go to one of the works on this booth.

Even if it is an intercontinental gallery.

It's okay to make him smile.

CDX wanted such special treatment from him right away, but Tonks was still not happy about it.

until--

He heard that the art director of CDX could introduce him to a heavyweight "VIP" client of the gallery.

(End of this chapter)