Almighty painter

Chapter 720 Award Competition
Inspiring sources of inspiration, creative installation art design, a creative direction that proactively caters to the aesthetic preferences of local judges... and an outstanding artist who can turn all of the above into reality.

With them, all the elements for a winning piece of art are perfectly met.

Oh.

It would be best to combine it with a little in-depth thinking on social issues.

The tin powder recycled from 16000 Coca-Cola cans is like two basil leaves added to grilled steak - it is not the main dish, it cannot turn grass-fed beef into grain-fed beef, and it cannot disguise the old buffalo in the home of the snotty-nosed cowherd next door as a Simmental cattle.

It can't change the main taste of the steak.

but.

When the quality of the meat and the chef's cooking skills are both up to standard, it can become the finishing touch that enhances the color and flavor of the dish.

Serving such a dish would satisfy most of the judges of the world's biennials.

In the mouth of an experienced taster, it tastes a little formulaic.

Nowadays, any artist will talk endlessly about environmental protection in his works, just like a chef in a Western restaurant adding basil leaves, parsley and rosemary when frying steak.

But since everyone is using it, it also means... at least it is a good choice in any occasion.

Environmental friendly.

It is the basil leaf in the art industry that can never go wrong in any occasion.

To put it more sharply, the tiny amount of tin powder recycled from 16000 Coca-Cola cans may not be enough to offset the carbon emissions caused by casting this installation artwork.

Too many people are calling for protecting the environment.

Adding this painting probably cannot solve the serious situation faced by the Singapore government, as the already tiny land area continues to shrink as the sea level rises.

It also makes it difficult to find a new home for the polar bears.

But this is a social appeal that all the judges can accept, understand, and empathize with.

This work is like the grilled steak, non-spicy beef bone hot pot or steamed fish head in the culinary world.

The natural aroma of meat as fat melts when it is heated is a natural attractant rooted in the genes of many carbon-based animals.

No matter if you have an Asian stomach, an African stomach, or a European stomach.

Whether your favorite food is hamburgers, dumplings, noodles, canned herring or Stargazing brand pancakes.

It doesn't matter whether you are Teacher Yang who is ready to play with cats, or the Cat King who is ready to beat Mr. Yang.

This stable cooking method is placed in front of everyone, and everyone can eat it comfortably.

There has always been a critical voice in the art world.

It is believed that these large-scale profitable galleries in the capital market are essentially profit-making commercial companies.

They use their wealth to adulterate artworks, and use money to restrict artists' creative freedom, often resulting in only routine creative ideas.

The essence of serious art is to negate commercialism, not the other way around.

“In the 1900s, when the masters of oil painting on the banks of the Seine were creating, they were thinking about expressing themselves bravely. In the 2000s, when the artists were bound by the high-priced contracts of the big galleries, they were thinking about awards and money when they were creating.”

It is doubtful whether the great oil painters of the 1900s never thought about awards and money.

In those days, painters were also keen to show up in official salons, and Picasso, Monet and others were all very happy selling their paintings.

But it is true that painters signed by big galleries are more keen on using the marketing tactics of "winning awards - hype - cashing in".

When art sales agents promote new painters to collectors, especially to collectors who simply regard collecting as a means of "wealth investment".

They can talk a thousand words about Joseph Stella, industrial aesthetics, the ambition of art and power, the implicit landscape experience of symbolism... but it is not as effective as taking out a copy of "Oil Painting" and reading "So-and-so just won the Best Newcomer Award at the So-and-so Biennale, and currently enjoys a two-and-a-half-star recommendation rating in the Buyer's Guide column of "Oil Painting" magazine."

This phenomenon may not be a good thing.

But this is the reality of the art investment market.

Why is “Oil Painting” magazine so powerful?
Why was Sir Brown confident that he could integrate and unify the entire art sales industry in Europe and the United States with a magazine and accomplish a feat that Gagosian in New York and even the Paris Union of Art Supplies Merchants in its heyday had failed to accomplish?

This is because of the accumulation of magazines over the past century.

The current transcendent status of Oil Painting magazine has made it a hub bridge connecting the art world and the capital market.

It can use the simplest way of "counting stars" to condense and quantify the extremely complex aesthetic concepts that have developed over the thousands of years since the birth of the painting industry, as well as the long list of names that make laymen feel like reading a book of incomprehensible and experts feel dizzy.

and.

Relying on the endorsement of the magazine's reputation.

This simple evaluation system can be recognized by art practitioners, galleries, critics, and creators, and can also be passed unimpeded by Russian energy oligarchs or Middle Eastern oil princes who wave their money.

There is a famous saying on Wall Street.

Money is like river water - the closer you are to the main stream, the easier it is to get the water and the greater your power.

The "Oil Painting" is the Suez Canal that connects the Red Sea and the Mediterranean Sea.

What Sir Brown did every day was to move a chair, sit on the canal lock, and watch the waves crashing against the shore like a raging tide.

Even within the evaluation system of "Oil Painting", awards won in previous major biennials are important reference indicators for determining an artist's recommended star rating.

No wonder.

Large galleries have spared no effort in helping their painters win Biennale awards.

exactly.

There are many practitioners in the industry who hope to win an award at the Biennale, become famous, live in a big villa, and drive a small yacht, and they are trying their best to rush onto the single-plank bridge.

The reason why super galleries are named "SUPER" by their peers in the industry is not because old men like CDX founder, Marcel Schneider III, like to wear their red underwear with an "S" on the outside when they appear in public.

But they are super good at this field.

Bukit Timah - This plate of "premium grain-fed veal steak with basil leaves" is the exquisite dish that CDX Gallery served to the judges on a silver tray at the 7th Singapore Art Biennale.

They are well versed in the philosophy of "the golden mean".

Most people, when they go to the table, don't expect to enjoy the feast of the century.

As long as the food tastes good, that’s enough.

The vast majority of judges did not come to the Singapore Biennale with the intention of seeing a world-class exhibition.

Looks good.

That's enough.

If a work of art can be sold for $1 million, then his exhibition must be "wild, cool and awesome" and naturally should cause earth-shattering discussion.

Leading the times is what the critics require of him, and it is also the weight that the industry leader and the absolute monarch of the art world must bear.

Whose total sales have reached $100 million.

same.

He wants to try to do things differently and try to do something unconventional.

Painters should try their best to make breakthroughs in artistic expression in every exhibition, rather than simply adding one or two "basil leaves" and calling it a day.

No breakthrough means compromising oneself.

To this position.

He just has to be "weighty" enough, he has to walk in front of the judges with such a strong aura that everyone feels as if a 230-pound ball of meat just rolled past, or... there really was a 230-pound ball of meat rolling past.

The author of "Bukit Timah", the Maldivian painter named Yovan Phin.

His current recommendation rating in Oil Painting magazine is two and a half stars.

Have a certain fame.

He is definitely a great painter in the Maldives and a top figure in Singapore. However, he still lacks a convincing "anchor" in the international art market, and lacks a sufficiently important award and honor that can push him to the professional status of a well-known international second-tier painter.

What such a painter needs is not an answer sheet that will get one or two judges to give him a score of "90" or even "95", but an answer sheet that most judges are willing to give him a moderate score of "60" or even "65".

If you calculate the total score, it will be enough to achieve something great at the Biennale.

If the gallery behind it can provide certain publicity resources.

Then.

With an additional ten points, the score became "70" to "75", and I got a "good" score, which was not difficult after all.

"Good" works from around the world are often fully qualified for the "Gold Award" when placed in those international biennials that have a shorter history, have only appeared after the millennium, and have only been held a few times.

Anna knew.

"Bukit Timah" is such a work with a score of 75.

Even a little higher.

It is a work with a score of 80, which is not far from "excellent".

The Asian market has been the fastest growing art investment market in the past twenty years.

Asia's biennials are also the fastest growing and the competition is becoming increasingly fierce.

Here... there is no shortage of true grand masters.

There is no shortage of painters like Yovan Phin who are considered good in all aspects.

If she put herself in the position of the organizing committee, she would think that the "Best Artistic Creativity Award" should be given to them no matter what.

Then again.

With the fanfare CDX has created, a small award like the Best Artistic Creativity Award will definitely not satisfy its appetite.

Anna is Anna after all.

As she looked at the glittering tin mountain at the central booth, she realized that this flat hill model, which looked like a metal plate, was not only carrying an excellent work, but also CDX, a powerful new force in the gallery world that had signed Downing, James Westhall, the Turner Prize winner two years ago, and George Walter, the famous sculptor. It was trying to capture the Singapore Biennale crown this year and add another golden trophy to the gallery's wall of honor.

"I heard that there is a rift between the gallery's management and Tangning. The female artist who just set a record in the Hong Kong Spring Auction wants to jump out of her contract and set up her own gallery before the five-year contract expires."

"Looking at how anxious CDX Gallery is now, this news should be true."

Miss Elena thought to herself.

There is no such thing as an impenetrable wall. The century-old red brick building of Oil Painting Magazine is the center of the storm in the art world.

Even if Anna didn't try to find out about the inside gossip of the high-end art industry, she would still hear it through the barking of other dogs.

CDX now actively promotes new talents and places heavy bets on various Asian art exhibitions.

Perhaps he was also planning to make preparations in advance to fill the void in the gallery's Asian market business left by Tang Ning's departure, in order to avoid losing a large number of customers?

Are collectors more loyal to galleries or to the painters represented by the galleries?
It's difficult to give a standard answer.

Generally speaking.

The old-school core group of collectors may be more loyal to the painter himself.

They want to buy paintings by a specific painter, not paintings from a specific gallery.

The gallery is just an intermediary platform.

Collectors who collect for pure investment purposes may be more loyal to galleries.

Because paintings from a particular gallery often have a smoother and healthier appreciation curve than paintings from a particular painter.

Ensuring that the value of the top painters in their own galleries can appreciate steadily at a rate that exceeds inflation and currency depreciation is almost the most important annual business goal of all major galleries, and is also the source of their "golden signboards."

Even for top-tier painters with sales of hundreds of millions, their value will plummet once they break up with their original galleries.

"Anyway, after the auction at the beginning of the year, Tang Ning's worth has already ranked among the top ten female painters in the world, and she is on the verge of being in the top five. Once she leaves CDX Gallery, the turmoil and void left behind cannot be filled by a few Yovan Phins, even if he wins a few Lion City Gold Awards."

"This achievement is at most equal to Tang Ning's from 20 years ago, and he is even older than Tang Ning today."

Anna was thinking about the chain reaction within the gallery once this happened, and whether it would have any impact on Sir Brown's Muse Project.

Do I need to spare some time to meet with the head of CDX's Asia region?
She smelled change.

It was with this keen sense of smell that the Elena family realized long before the Battle of Lützen (note) that the mercenary group that the empire had high hopes for might not be reliable, and that they needed to withdraw from the quagmire of war, watch the fire from the other side of the river, and win the title of the first earl.

It was also with this kind of observation that he advised Prince Karl von Schwarzenberg at his headquarters on the hills of Leipzig to order the dragoon regiment to launch a charge, earning him the title of the second count.

Beauty and long sleeves are good at dancing.

These are the two gifts God bestowed on the Irena family, enabling the family to survive among the mountains of the Alps for six centuries without falling.

(Note: The former was an important battle in the Thirty Years' War, and the latter was an important battle in the Sixth Coalition against France. The former ended with the defeat of Austria, and the latter ended with the defeat of Napoleon.)
Thinking about these things was not difficult at all for Anna. It was as easy and natural as breathing.

Miss Elena thought quietly for a while.

She shook her head again, putting all her thoughts behind her for the time being.

Ms. Katsuko Sakai is right.

Everything at an art exhibition, at least in this exhibition hall, should be related only to the art itself.

As for art itself.

Bukit Timah by CDX Gallery and Cats by DetectiveCat.

The two sets of works are like the classic philosophical problem - the contest between the bucket theory and the longboard theory.

For a painter, is it more important to have a "longboard" that is long enough, or to have a "bucket" in which all the wooden boards are almost balanced?

Discussing sociality, ideological content, and the aesthetic tastes of the reviewers.

undoubtedly.

This painting "Bukit Timah" is much better than Detective Cat's "Cat".

Including exhibition costs.

All the twelve drawings of Detective Cat required were a few sheets of watercolor paper and a few tubes of paint. Even if they were the best paints, the cost of the whole set would not exceed $100.

The CDX exhibition area was obviously very expensive.

The costs of metal sculptures, marble sculptures and plaster sculptures are completely different.

Tin is very soft.

It is easy to carve into shape but can easily deform and damage.

Just the metal exhibition stand at the bottom, which is a 100:1 scale replica of Bukit Timah Hill, would cost tens of thousands of dollars.

"Bukit Timah" has more professional marketing promoters, better publicity sources, and a more central exhibition booth. On the surface, the theme of the work is more in line with the exhibition theme of "Human Noise".

The gallery will continue to make efforts during the exhibition.

There is also greater investment in exhibitions.

Detective Cat is only ahead in terms of painting effects.

Of course.

When the jury votes, the gold medal for this Biennale should be...

Detective Cat's.

That's right!

Even at this moment.

Miss Elena still thinks that the group of "Arahant Cats" is the most outstanding work in the special exhibition area of ​​the center of this Biennale.

It's not that Anna's judgment was clouded by her love for the man.

From a purely artistic perspective, the woman in the wheelchair still believes that the set of simple children's watercolor paintings is better than this set of "Bukit Timah".

The detective cat is really well drawn.

This is an absolute crushing achievement of painting skills.

In all aspects of "Bukit Timah", the scores have reached a level close to excellence.

If Detective Cat's drawing skills were merely excellent.

This lead was not enough for it to turn defeat into victory.

Fortunately.

In the answer sheet that Detective Cat handed in, her watercolor technique was not excellent.

But perfection.

This is not a work that can score 85 or 90 points in watercolor technique.

Judging from the expressiveness of the brushstrokes alone, this level is close to 100 points.

There is only a 80-point difference between an excellent score of 85 and an excellent score of 5.

There is a qualitative difference between an excellent score of 80 and an excellent score of 100.

Even there is a qualitative difference between an excellent score of 99 and an excellent score of 100.

One hundred percent, one hundred percent - it is pure.

“Impurities—it’s a complicated concept. I wouldn’t say the brushwork in this painting is completely flawless. Well, it’s close, but not completely flawless.”

Anna sat in front of the glittering tin mountain at the CDX booth, thinking about how she would write a recommendation for Detective Cat's work.

Out of some subtle avoidance psychology.

The new visual arts manager of Oil Painting Magazine has not yet figured out whether it is ethical for her to write tweets for Detective Cat in her own name in the magazine.

Or should this reporting task be handed over to other editors?

But Anna was very happy even if she just imagined it in her mind.

"What is true flawlessness? Does the concept of flawlessness exist in the art world? It's hard to say. Ferdinand Cierva, the famous Sisyphus in art history, was an ordinary postman in a French countryside. One day when he was 43 years old, he suddenly decided to build his dream of a 'flawless and perfect palace' in his backyard. This palace will have the great qualities of all the great art from ancient times to the present, from the tombs of the Egyptian pharaohs to the naves of Algiers and the Parthenon. All the ancient buildings in the past five thousand years will be revived in his hands... In order to achieve this goal... He collected stones with a mail delivery cart during the day and built the palace in the morning and evening, almost never sleeping..."

"…One man's great project lasted for a third of a century…We all know that Sisyphus, who pushed the stone, could never reach the top of the mountain. Fortunately, the postman who pushed the stone was lucky enough to complete his long-cherished wish…The project started when he was 43 years old and ended when he was 87 years old. It took exactly half of his life to build this surrealist palace from scratch…It was named Ideal Palace, which means the perfect ideal palace…A year after the palace was completed, the postman died with a satisfied heart."

Anna was thinking.

She didn't make any subconscious movements.

She doesn't tap her fingers, stand on tiptoe, or scratch her hair. Koko, who likes to shake her head, show her teeth, sniffle, and hum songs at every turn, is a big taboo in etiquette. A hundred years ago, she would be caught by the etiquette nanny and whipped on her calves.

Not only is it not in line with the Catholic Ladies' Code of Conduct at all.

It also reveals one’s true inner feelings.

My aunt said that the biggest secret for those in a high position to maintain their dignity is to not show their emotions in front of others and to keep all emotions in their heart.

Don’t cry, don’t laugh, don’t be angry, don’t be sad.

In this way, others will not be able to figure you out, thinking you are profound and unpredictable, and thus will not dare to offend you.

On the day her grandfather died, her father still showed up at the table of the gentlemen's club he often visited on time, never leaving a minute earlier or later.

That's decent.

It is also majestic.

Anna was obviously very happy. Kara's matter, Detective Cat's painting... everything made her feel good.

When composing an evaluation.

She still sat quietly in the chair.

like a statue.

Only the eyelashes trembled slightly.

“But are such works really flawless? Perhaps for the postman himself, they are. It may also be true for a group of surrealist artists such as Miró, Ernst, Magritte and Katrina. The Ideal Palace has now become a holy place for surrealist art.”

"But for many people whose aesthetic concepts differ from Ferdinando Cierva's, the palace built with rugged and strange stones is not flawless."

Anna wrote in her mind.

"To the 30 famous artists and architects I can name, and to the 30 billion people on the planet, it's just a weird building."

"So what is a flawless work of art?"

(End of this chapter)