The Re-Nationalization of Chinese Culture?
by Cathy Barbash
Just received word that Julia Colman and Ludovic Bois have shuttered their 13-year old Chinese Contemporary galleries in Beijing, London and New York. They could not get the right stock anymore, because “The Chinese were finally taking over their market with museum curators, galleries and strong influence in the best art fairs.” Per Chinese contemporary art maven Phil Tinari, they are being “cut out by Chinese galleries who have access to the better artists, and these Chinese galleries have become the ones to sell works to foreigners. . . . There is less and less of a position to be held by Western galleries with little real authority to wield in the actual Chinese sphere.”
In the music world, international agents still control the cultivation and management of Chinese classical music stars. The usual pattern sees the young Chinese making their way to the premiere educational institutions in the U.S. or Europe, then being snapped up by the big dogs of the management world. Some say this won’t change until there is a strong domestic Chinese market for classical music. My guess is that it has to do with the amount of money to be made. I suspect that even Lang Lang in his best year would not make as much for his agent as Zhang Xiaogang, Yue Minjun or Zeng Fanzhi would make for theirs. When the money to be made seems worth the effort, we’ll see the rise of Chinese management companies.