"I'll have two Starry Nights, three of the Demoiselles d'Avignon..." (Monday 18 July 2005)
compiled by Mary Garboden
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| Zhang Libing in his studio; image held here |
Think a van Gogh would jazz up your den?
A strange and controversial industry has started to boom in China. Young art-school graduates are mass-producing painted copies of Western masterpieces and selling them in the States. One such artist, Zhang Libing, 26, estimates that he's painted over 20,000 copies of van Gogh's work. While this is not deemed illegal, due to the fact that none of the sellers is claiming authenticity, surely it leaves a funny taste in the mouths of many art lovers who can't help but wonder, what about the complex expression of personal emotion bit? the whole interpretation of a world that cannot be expressed by everyday means of communication thing? How can these elements exist in the creation of a copy?
Of course questions like these were asked when photography first made an entrance into the art world, and today Ansel Adams and Cartier-Bresson have firmly established places in major museums. Unlike photography, however, this assembly-line art appears not to aim at any form of creativity whatsoever; the goal is to produce something as close to the original as possible (sans Warhol- or Lichtenstein-ian irony).
So what makes these paintings from China any different to a poster of van Gogh's Sunflowers for sale in a museum gift shop? Well, precisely. That's what makes the phenomena so strange: isn't it missing the point if people feel that they are buying something closer to the masterpiece - due to the fact it's an actual painting - when it's as far from the 'genius' of the original artist as it can be while still maintaining a direct connection to the work?
Considering this trend's popularity, however, it won't be long before guys on street corners of New York will be opening trunks full of Picasso's, assuring eager customers that the "Made in China" tag on the back is so small that no one will know the difference. Move over, Prada.
source: http://www.nytimes.com/2005/07/15/business/worldbusiness/15paint.html?hp&oref=login
