www.artron.net, April 19 2016, Headline Special

[Ten Years of Contemporary Art] Globalization, Marketization, and De-politicization, the Ten Years of Chinese Contemporary Art

Author: Pei Gang

Introduction: In 2005, Sotheby's spring auction brought Chinese contemporary art to the international auction world. From then on a new standard other than the art evaluation criteria appeared. Dr. He Guiyan, the director of Institute of Contemporary Art of the Sichuan Fine Institute, told Artron.net in an interview that Chinese contemporary art has entered into a "phase of high-speed marketization, capitalization and de-politicization" during 2005 to 2015. In the meantime, the organization and system of biennales, museums, galleries and auction houses and so on are continuously improving. The legalization of the contemporary art has been initiated. Both the government and the mainstream ideology are keeping a relatively open mind. Meanwhile, in the premise of "de-politicization", both the official and unofficial, inside-system and outside-system, political appeal and market orientation, have reached a tacit understanding.

According to this, Chinese contemporary art has experienced ups and downs for ten years from 2005 to 2015. Chronologically 2005 is the first year of the high-speed marketization and capitalization. At that time Contemporary artworks that depicted symbolic images such as the political pop has become the representative of the art ecology. From 2006 to 2009, the market of Chinese contemporary art showed a rapid development trend. After 2008, when the consequences of the American subprime crisis gradually emerged, "confidence was defeated". Having experienced the fluctuations of market under the background of globalization, Chinese contemporary art has shown an increasing trend to return to the noumenon of art. Individualization is integrated with diversification, and the oriental language is blended in the international context, gradually. Globalization, marketization and de-politicization seem to be the keywords of the ten years.

In this decade, we can see the dramatic change of Chinese contemporary art in the global market, as well as the acceptance and promotion of contemporary art by the system. We can see Chinese contemporary art has become more and more international, and the rising private art museums have become an important influence of contemporary art. "How can the contemporary be recorded as history", perhaps we cannot make final judgment for contemporary art at this point, but this decade will be a sample of history in the future.

The Change of Contemporary Art Environment in the Decade

Dr. He Guiyan, the director of Institute of Contemporary Art of the Sichuan Fine Institute, said in the interview with Artron.net, that Chinese contemporary art has entered into a "phase of high-speed marketization, capitalization and de-politicization" from 2005 to 2015. In the meantime the system of biennales, museums, galleries and auction houses and so on are continuously comprehensive. The legalization of the contemporary art has been initiated, to which both the government and the mainstream ideology are keeping a relatively open mind. Meanwhile, in the premise of "de-politicization", both the official and unofficial, inside-system and outside-system, political appeal and market orientation, have reached a tacit understanding.

Dr. He roughly divided the development of contemporary art into three decades, 1980s, 1990s, and 2000s. In the 1980s, the basic logic of contemporary art's development was a game between the grassroots, folk, non-systemic, modernistic discourse and the mainstream, official ideology, in order to accomplish the modernization of language and style. In the 1990s, the emphases of contemporary art turned to "China experiences" and cynicism, the goal of which was seeking to enter the western exhibition system and collection system. There is an inner logic, which is to let the art of local, Chinese, regional, and socialist ideological have a real impact in the context of western, international ,"post-colonial" discourse.

"From 2003 to 2006, the Chinese contemporary art market went through a period of fermentation and transformation. When 'SARS' ended, the 'four trillion to stimulate the economy' policy, as well as the 'hot money' from the west, and a better environment after the 2008 Olympics, were all joint forces for facilitating the integration of the Chinese contemporary art into the globalization and commercialization. Directly or indirectly, it has created favorable conditions for the contemporary art market." To Dr. He, these complex political and economic environments inside or outside the contemporary art world added up to the marketization of contemporary art.

Be International or Be Within the System, A New Decade of Chinese Contemporary Art

In 2008, Cai Guoqiang became the art effect director of the opening and closing ceremony of the Beijing Olympic, whose 29 big footsteps in the sky was called "the footprint of history". A year later, Cai served as the fireworks director of the 60th anniversary of the National Day. When the contemporary art appears in the national events so frequently, it symbolizes that the contemporary art has been accepted by the national system gradually.

The following events reflect something more of the relations between contemporary art and the system: on November 13, 2009, the Chinese National Academy of Arts held a grand ceremony for the Contemporary Art Academy of China, announcing the foundation of the first academic institution specialized in contemporary art since the founding of New China. On August 14, 2013, China National Academy of Painting (CNAP) held a small ceremony, celebrating the appointment of Fang Lijun as the director of its Contemporary Art Center. Fang was awarded appointment letter from the executive vice-president of CNAP Mr. Lu Shunyu. With the changing context, contemporary art and the system are heading for harmony from the opposite direction step by step.

In the decade of being accepted by the system, Chinese contemporary art also gradually found its diversified directions in a globalization era. In the same year of Beijing Olympic, Cai Guoqiang's retrospective exhibition "I Want To Believe" was held in the Guggenheim Museum in New York. Also in that year, the returning artist Xu Bing started to create his "Phoenix". The "Phoenix" became the cultural phenomenon of 2010, and then it travelled abroad to the MASS MOCA and the New York St John's Cathedral in USA. By 2015, the new version of the "Phoenix", a more "fierce" one, was invited to the Venice Biennale and became a unique landscape in Venice.

On the other hand, recognition from art museums overseas also mirrors the discourse power and development of Chinese contemporary art itself. In the decade, Chinese contemporary artists took wings in major overseas art museums and held their solo exhibitions there, especially in 2014 and 2015. In 2014, Wang Jianwei's solo show "Time Temple" was held in the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum. In the same year, Zeng Fanzhi brought his "From 1830 Till Now" to the Louvre. Wang Gongxin's solo exhibition "Wang Gongxin: Video Artist" opened at National Gallery of Victoria in Australia...  In 2015, Song Dong’s solo exhibition was on view at Netherlands’ Groninger Museum, and the next station was Kunsthalle Düsseldorf in Germany. Yokohama Museum of Art presented Cai Guoqiang's solo exhibition "There and Back Again". MAC Museum of Contemporary Art in Coruna, Spain, presented Wang Guangyi's "Relics Believers". Xue Song and Wei Guangqing's exhibition "Chinese Pop" appeared in Pacific Heritage Museum in San Francisco. Yang Fudong's "Filmscape" appeared in Auckland Art Gallery...

Chinese contemporary artists have received awards from overseas, which also reflects the trend of internationalization: On October 23, 2012, a formal ceremony of the 24th Praemium Imperiale Awards was held in Tokyo, Cai Guoqiang was the first Chinese artist who won the prize of the so called "Nobel Prize in the art world". In 2013, during the Hans Christian Andersen festival in Denmark, the award of "The Nightingale" was given to Yue Minjun. Li Xiangqun was awarded the Taylor Prize at the Salon d’Automne in Paris. In 2015, Xu Bing received the U.S. Department of State Medal of Arts. And most recently, the German Wolfgang Hahn Prize was given to Huang Yong Ping... The appearance of Chinese contemporary art on the international stage has exceeded its one dimensional limit, and moved towards a plural art language.

Art Museum Fever: the Dual Track System of Public Art Museum and Private Art Museum

In 2006, the new Suzhou Museum designed by I. M. Pei has been built, in which there is an exhibiting area specially prepared for contemporary art. Xu Bing's artwork "In Story Behind" appeared in the opening exhibition of the Suzhou Museum. In 2007, Hubei Museum of Art opened, which led to the second "Documentary Exhibition of Fine Arts", which has become a brand of the museum from then on. "We should face the contemporary. Through exhibition and research of the contemporary art, we'll expand our museum's collection." said Fu Zhongwang, the director of Hubei Museum of Art. It means this youngest "key national art museum" will focus on contemporary art. They have set up the triennial system of "Documentary Exhibition of Fine Arts", and have introduced many important exhibitions including Wei Guangqing's "Plus or Minus Zero". The public art museums' promotion on contemporary art has become a feature of this decade.
   
Back in 2008, Cai Guoqiang's solo show was held in the National Art Museum of China. The acceptance by National Art Museum speeded up the chemical reaction between public museums and the contemporary art as well. The double triennial in Shanghai and Guangzhou pushed forward the improvement of the public art museum in the field of contemporary art in this decade. In 2012, the establishment of Museum of Contemporary Art of Shanghai made it the first public contemporary art museum in mainland China. In 2015, based on Guangzhou Triennial, Guangdong Museum of Art set up the first Asia Biennale. While Wang Huangsheng was appointed by China Central Academy of Fine Arts, and Li Xiaoshan was appointed by Art Museum of Nanjing University of the Art, the academic power of contemporary art have been strengthened in academies and museums.

If the public art museums' promotion represents the recognition and research from the official system, then the rise of private art museums indicates the maturity of the private capital and the important role that civil forces play. In this decade, in core cities like Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Shenzhen, private museums such as Today Art Museum, Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Himalayas Art Museum, Long Museum, Yuz Museum Shanghai, Minsheng Art Museum, OCAT and so on have been an significant driving force for contemporary art. The statistic shows that private museums have accounted for 1/3 of the total number. According to the "private art museum report" released by Artron Art Market Monitoring Center and Larry's List, China has the world's fourth largest number of private museums with a total of 26, and in the list of the top ten nationalities of artists whose works are collected by art museums, Chinese nationality ranks 6th globally with a percentage of 18 and the 1st in Asia. All these data underlines that Chinese contemporary art has caught the fancy of private art museum's collection worldwide.

According to the report, this phenomenon can relate to the government's support to the culture and art industry in the process of the economic structure transformation. For example, the art museums founded in the west bund of Shanghai, including Long Museum West Bund and Yuz Museum, are very relevant to the policy support by Shanghai government. Deputy director of the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA) Yu Yang agreed with it, "China is going through a rapid transformation phase of social and economic structure. In this era, the government, the real estate developers, and the audiences, all have an unprecedented demand to build art institutions."

There is another important trend. The private art museums has exceeded the range of core cities - Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou, and entered into other first and second-tier cities rapidly. Such as Nanjing Sifang Art Museum, How Art Museum (Wenzhou), Yinchuan Museum of Contemporary Art, OCAT Xi'an Museum. The contemporary art oriented museums have sprung up everywhere.

Dr. He Guiyan believes that a key subject of art institutions is to build up the art museum system, to maintain sustainable development, and more importantly, to obtain government's support through legislation. "Both official and private art museums need strong support." In artist Zhu Wei's words, "The more private art museums, the better. As we know, The Metropolitan Museum of Art, Whitney Museum of American Art, MoMA New York, Guggenheim Museum, are all private museums. Their collections are superior to national or state art museums, which means the people in that country love life, love art, love artists, more than love money."

Behind the Commercial Movement

As an artist, when observing the overall change of Chinese contemporary art in this decade, Zhu Wei thinks it can be considered as only one stage, a stage of rapid marketization and commercialization. He said, "Three-generation artists are involved or stressed to be involved in the commercial tide, as if it were a movement. In the 1989 China Avant-Garde exhibition, the curator stood on the stairs in front of the National Art Museum of China, declaring to the world that Chinese artists had finished the journey of contemporary art that the western artists spent a hundred years on, in only ten years. Now we used another ten years to get to the end of marketization. The 2005 Sotheby's auction put everyone off their stride, which also was, frankly speaking, a new evaluation standard to the artists' creation. The current dynamic commercial movement is nothing less than the Great Leap Forward in Iron and Steel in 1957. Every Chinese has learned investment and finance, buying real estates and stocks, studying Candlestick Charts...falling over each other, being afraid of lagging behind. In fact, it's a normal economic behavior that even foreign pupils know how to do, but artists' rushing to the frontline is abnormal. As a footnote, the earliest Chinese contemporary art auction should be the Christie's London auction in 1998. Maybe it was not the right time, the result of that auction was not ideal. After that there had not been Chinese contemporary artworks in international auction houses, until 2005."

For artist Shang Yang, facing the "the gradually increasing erosion on culture performed by commercial and financial capital from implicit to explicit" in this decade, after he finished his "Dong Qi Chang Project", an experiment of culture rebuilding, he has refocused attention on people and reality. In Shang's "Remnant Mountain" and "Remnant Waters", the "Remnant" refers to the landscapes kidnapped by "power and capital" that Shang painted with intense sorrow. The "remnant mountain and waters" are no longer the same mountain and waters in Chinese spiritual hometown. Concerning about the deteriorating ecological problems, Shang Yang has created the "Remnant Mountain" series to take this theme deeper and further. From this series on, he began to introduce more ready-made products and mixed media into his works. For example, in "Remnant Mountain II", those tore, collage, detached, and dangling horsehide, metal and cloth make the painting look sculptural and arbitrary. The expansion of medium is not unexpected. Shang Yang said, "Although I used to have the idea, it was not until in the Suzhou Museum exhibition in 2003, when I converted one work into 'Remnant Mountain I', it was realized. In 2013, as a continuation, 'Remnant Mountain II, III & VI' were completed. The 'Remnant Mountain' series was taking the steps along the path of 'Remnant Mountain I', connecting with space more. Those violent tearing and dangling and for example, the directly collage horse skin in 'Remnant Mountain VI', are different from my 'Dong Qi Chang Project'."

At the same time, Shang Yang found a new expression of visual language - from two-dimensional to two-and-half-dimensional. To Shang, "it is a small step forward for me."

From perspectives of art creation, every artist's creation language has changed a lot since nineteen eighties and nineties. Fang Lijun, the famous contemporary artist who had many documental exhibitions and new work exhibitions over the past few years, and whose works cover extensively the areas of Chinese ink painting, oil painting, print and sculpture, told Artron.net's journalist in an interview, "after twenty or thirty years of work, which was tremendous and hard, and a particular stand must be insist, now I'm inclined to add more factors that can make myself happy and joyful while doing the things I has been engaged in. Another reason is that after such a long time, I'm skillful in this field like a duck to water, and people are accustomed to my works, thus I want to add something not so blue, not so serious into it. It will be good for my life and my health. That's the main clue. Thirdly, it was been too long for me to emphasize an important reason to work. Actually, now I don't have to telling people these, but to say something lighter, something makes people think you are sentimental or very humorous, very funny. The situation is like this, so I probably won't be one track-minded in creation or in other things any longer. Of course what I'm saying is my wish, whether it can be presented in the end may still need hard work."

After Subprime Mortgage Crisis, Western Collectors Backed Out

Back to 2009, in an interview with Artron.net, artist Zhang Xiaogang talked about how he faced the changed circumstances. He said, "When the economy is getting better, the creation of artist should be easier and freer. However, I found the cost is much higher than before. The studio is a little bit larger, and the costs of my works in this exhibition are quite high. For example, the cost of an oil painting could be hundreds, or thousands. The material is different. Such as steel plate, which was unimaginable ten years ago, is no problem now. The effect always come the first. I changed these sculptures again and again, wasting a lot of materials. I think the market economy should be a good thing. In a market economy, the artists should pursuit a freer way, instead of taking it as a burden. Maybe I'm a person who has always been taking creation as a habit, and my habit might change with environment."

The influence of U.S. subprime mortgage crisis from 2007 has gradually spread to China in 2008. In 2011, the famous collector Ullens began to withdraw from China. It affected the ecology of Chinese contemporary art as well. Art critic Dr. He Guiyan said, "In 2008 the global economy experienced a downturn. However, because of the success of Beijing Olympic and all the positive signals sent by the Chinese government, combined with the fact that China's economy depended mainly on the expansion of domestic demand at that time by investing in infrastructure projects that belong to industries less internationalized - in other words, because China's economy is a self contained system - the consequence of subprime mortgage crisis in China is not immediate right way. But by around 2010, the weak economy, the overcapacity problem, the withdrawal of the western 'hot money', the booming real estate market, and the rising inflation, all directly or indirectly had impact on the ecological environment of the Chinese art market. 2006-2009 was a blowout stage for Chinese contemporary art market. If we use the same logic as 'subprime mortgage crisis', it can be said that the blowout has overdrawn at least ten years' future development. The leaving Ullens is inevitable and occasional at the same time. The impact of auction 'The Ullens Collection–The Nascence of Avant Garde China' on Chinese contemporary art is mainly a loss of confidence. At that time a popular belief is that the western contemporary art collector were selling off Chinese contemporary art."

Voice of "Back to Art Noumenon"

Recently Zhu Wei found that art critic Lu Hong and Pi Daojian both expressed an opinion that artists should buckle down to concentrate on creation. "I think most people still keep a clear head. They are appealing for the future and sustainable development of Chinese contemporary art. It can be said a collective and conscious introspection. Even the most blamed country in the world won't evaluate an artist by how much money he earns, or evaluate an entrepreneur by how well he can paint, because their standards are not the same."

From 2012, the voice of "back to art noumenon" is louder and louder. The reasons of such phenomena are manifold. He Guiyan considered that superficially it's an issue of art noumenon, but if we explored it deeper, it was to provide a legitimate basis for "de-politicization". Furthermore, it indicates that the creation method or strategy of the cynic "Political Pop" rising since the 1990s began to wear off. In terms of commerce, the so-called "back to noumenon" artworks are happen to be the most popular artworks in the market, which is certainly not a coincidence.

From 2012, exhibitions of the Small Fresh, Contemporary Ink, New Ink and so on came on stage successively. Through lateral comparison in the history, we can find that in recent years many kinds of phenomena and trends appeared frequently, just like flashes of some young artists' performance in the market. Artist Zhu Wei said, "There are two art phenomena, the 85 Art Movement and the Post '89. The Stars Group prior to them, strictly speaking, is an ideological enlightenment of civil Democratic consciousness. What they mainly aimed at was not art, or not entirely art. And the concept of New Ink and so on after that are merely market practices."

Dr. He Guiyan pointed out directly that "since it is called 'New', there should be some historical context in the art history. That is to say, 'New' should be in contrast to 'Old'. However, in what manner is the 'New' reflected? Is the language or rhetorical device new? Is the creation methodology or medium concept new? Is the way of viewing or aesthetic taste new? Or is the reality orientation or cultural connotation new? If the above questions are not answered, this 'New' will not be established. Of course in the field of contemporary ink painting and meticulous painting, there are still some representative artists in recent years, but they haven't formed a trend." To He Guiyan, the "Small Fresh" is only a tendency of "de-politicization".

Comparing these trends and phenomena, Dr. He Guiyan believed that in addition to commercial considerations, the return of abstract art mainly benefited from its own development and accumulation. Since the mid 1980s, abstract has been an important part of contemporary art, but from the beginning it was marginalized. There were many reasons.

In the past decade, phenomenon of artists using the same language or concept to create didn't emerge again. Dr. He Guiyan reasoned that the linear and dualistic-antithesis development way of Chinese contemporary art since the 1980s and 1990s has ended. Today the narrative of fine art history is moving away from grand narrative consciously, and shifts toward microscopic, fragmented, and diversified development. The diversified development of young artists is not only influenced by the context of the art history, but also related to their knowledge structure, survival experience, and today's multicultural value orientations.

Artist Zhu Wei thinks that the diversification of art creation indicates the society has become relatively stable, and themes are not so centralized. Artists in most of the countries in the world are like this. Now we integrate with the world. Everyone stands on the same starting line. Before that Chinese contemporary art basically took the introspection of the Cultural Revolution as the coordinates, took the distance away from the Cultural Revolution as standard of chronology, and took how many symbols of the Cultural Revolution were used as artistic feature. The 85 Art Movement and Post 89' appeared like so. For a period of time, artists had a lot of similar themes to reflect, which from another point of view indicates that the country was not normal. The young artists nowadays catch up a golden era. They are not limited in the same theme to do the assigned job, not like army of thousands of men cross a single-log bridge, but showing their own special prowess. The chances of success are much more than before.

Conclusion

Although the ecological environment has undergone tremendous changes in the past three decades, especially in the latest decade, like what have been written in this article, there is something unavoidable. Let's review the preface of Art Criticism in the 20th Century by Shen Yubing, the professor and supervisor of Ph.D. students in Zhejiang University, "Today the Chinese art is taken to two hopeless extremes. At one extreme, art becomes a mere playing with brushstrokes to amuse oneself, a literati's recreation or a craftsman's stuff that is irrelevant to the present sensibility. At another extreme, what has spread rapidly and feverishly like pandemic virus since 1990s is the postmodernism. Being different from the risk of cultural conservatism, the risk of Chinese postmodernism is not becoming a plaything or decoration irrelevant to the present, but becoming a pure idea irrelevant to any laws of art forms and visual quality."

雅昌艺术网二零一六年四月十九日头条专稿

【当代艺术十年】全球化、市场化、去政治化，中国当代艺术的十年之变

作者：裴刚

导言：2005年，蘇富比春拍将中国当代艺术引向国际拍卖，从此出现了一个在艺术评判标准之外的新标准。 四川美院当代艺术研究所所长何桂彦博士在接受雅昌艺术网采访时，认为中国当代艺术在2005年至2015年间进入“高速市场化、资本化，以及‘去政治化’的时期”。与此同时，双年展、美术馆、画廊、拍卖等机构与机制也在不断完善。当代艺术开启了合法化的进程，官方与主流意识形态保持了相对开放的态度，同时，官方与非官方、体制与体制外、政治诉求与市场取向，在“去政治化”的前提下形成了默契。

　　按照这个线索，2005—2015年，中国当代艺术走入跌宕起伏的十年。如果按照时间区隔，2005年是进入高速市场化、资本化的元年，这一时期中国当代艺术以政治波普等具有图像符号特征的作品成为艺术生态的代表。2006—2009中国当代艺术市场呈现井喷状态。2008年之后逐渐开始显现美国“次贷危机”的后果，遭遇“信心上的挫败”，经历市场波动之后，在全球化的大背景下，中国当代艺术显现回归艺术本体的趋势，个人化合多元的态势以及东方性语言融入国际化语境都正在发展中。全球化、市场化和去政治化，似乎成为2005—2015这十年的当代艺术关键词。

　　这十年中，我们可以看到中国当代艺术在全球市场中的跌宕起伏，更可以看到体制对当代艺术的接纳和推动，中国当代艺术走进国际化语境，崛起的私人美术馆亦成为中国当代艺术的重要力量。“当代何以成史”，或许在当下我们无法给历史一个定义，但这十年将成为历史的样本。

　　十年间当代艺术生态之变

　　四川美院当代艺术研究所所长何桂彦博士在接受雅昌艺术网采访时，认为中国当代艺术在2005年至2015年间进入“高速市场化、资本化，以及‘去政治化’的时期”。与此同时，双年展、美术馆、画廊、拍卖等机构与机制也在不断完善。当代艺术开启了合法化的进程，官方与主流意识形态保持了相对开放的态度，同时，官方与非官方、体制与体制外、政治诉求与市场取向，在“去政治化”的前提下形成了默契。

　　他就当代艺术的发展分析，认为可以以十年为界，大致划分为1980年、1990年、2000年以来三个时期。1980年代，当代艺术的基本发展逻辑是，以草根、民间、非体制、现代性话语与主流、官方、意识形态博弈，完成语言、风格的现代转型。1990年代的当代艺术强调的是“中国经验”、犬儒意识，目标是寻求进入西方的展览制度和收藏体系。内在的逻辑是以本土的、中国的、地域的、社会主义意识形态的艺术在西方的、国际的、“后殖民”的话语中生效。

　　“2003—2006年是中国当代艺术市场化的酝酿与变革期。‘非典’结束、国家的‘四万亿’的经济刺激、西方来的‘热钱’，以及2008奥运会所营造的良好的语境，都为当代艺术融入艺术全球化、艺术商业化形成了合力，直接或间接的为当代艺术市场化创造了有利的条件。”在何桂彦博士看来这些复杂的来自当代艺术内部和外部的政治、经济大环境共同造成了当代艺术市场化的结果。

    国际化与体制内，中国当代艺术的新十年

　　2008年，北京奥运会担任开闭幕式的视觉特效艺术总设计时，呈现于天空中的29个大脚印被称作“历史的足迹”，一年后，蔡国强还担任了国庆60周年的焰火总设计。当代艺术如此频繁出现在国家事件中，成为当代艺术逐渐被国家体系接纳的标志。

　　随后的一系列事件更表明当代艺术与体制的关系：中国当代艺术在2009年11月13日，中国艺术研究院中国当代艺术院(CAAC)举行隆重典礼，宣告了新中国成立以来第一家专门研究当代艺术的学术创作机构的正式成立。2013年8月14日，国家画院当代艺术中心为方力钧举行了小型的聘任仪式，画院常务副院长卢禹舜向其颁发了聘书，受聘为中国国家画院当代艺术研究中心主任。随着语境的变迁，当代艺术与体制，逐渐从对抗走向了共生。

　　在体制接纳的同时，这十年间，中国当代艺术也在全球化背景下逐渐找到自己多元方向。在北京奥运会当年，蔡国强的回顾展《我想要相信》在纽约古根海姆美术馆开幕。同年，归国的徐冰开始制作《凤凰》，2010年《凤凰》一亮相，就成为当年的文化现象，随后凤凰还漂洋过海到美国MASS MoCA和纽约圣约翰大教堂展出。到2015年，新版本的《凤凰》更是受邀参加威尼斯双年展，这只“更凶猛”的凤凰成为威尼斯的独特景观。

　　另一方面，海外美术馆对中国当代艺术的认同，也反映出中国当代艺术的话语权和自身发展，中国当代艺术家在海外重要美术馆的个展在这十年来也进入“快车道”，尤其在2014年和2015年进入”井喷“，2014年，汪建伟个展《汪建伟：时间寺》在所罗门.R.古根海姆美术馆举行。同年，曾梵志的《1830年至今》走进卢浮宫，王功新的个展《王功新：影像艺术家》在澳大利亚维多利亚国家美术馆开幕……2015年，宋冬的个展在荷兰格罗宁根博物馆举办，随后又到德国杜塞尔多夫美术馆巡展，蔡国强也在横滨美术馆举办个展《归去来》，王广义的个展《信仰者的遗产》则在西班牙科鲁尼亚MAC当代美术馆亮相，薛松和魏光庆的双个展《中国式波普》也出现在旧金山太平洋亚洲美术馆，杨福东《电影中的风景》在奥克兰美术馆开幕……

　　中国当代艺术家在海外的奖项也从一个侧面反映了当代艺术国际化的趋势：2012年10月23日，第24届“高松宫殿下纪念世界文化奖”(Praemium Imperiale)在东京举办授奖大典。该奖被誉为“艺术界的诺贝尔奖”，蔡国强是首位获得此奖的中国艺术家。2013年，岳敏君获得丹麦安徒生”夜莺“唯一大奖，李象群获得巴黎秋季沙龙泰勒大奖，到2015年徐冰获得美国国务院AIE艺术勋章，再到最近黄永砯获得德国”沃尔冈罕奖“……中国当代艺术在国际舞台上的亮相已经不再是单一面貌，而呈现出多元的艺术语言。

    美术馆热：公立美术馆和民营美术馆的“双轨制”

　　2006年，苏州博物馆新馆建成，由贝聿铭设计的博物馆特别留出当代艺术的展区，徐冰的作品《背后的故事》也出现在苏州博物馆的开馆展览中。到2007年，湖北美术馆建成开馆，直接促成了第二届“美术文献展”，从此成为这家公立美术馆的品牌展览，“我们只能面向当下，通过对当下艺术的展示与研究，扩充自己的收藏。”  湖北美术馆馆长傅中望表示，这也意味着给这家最年轻的全国重点美术馆一个定位，着力于当代艺术，打造了“美术馆文献展”的三年展制度，并且推出了魏光庆《正负零》等一系列当代艺术家的重要个展，公立美术馆在当代艺术上的推动成为这十年的特色。

　　如果把时间再拉回2008年，蔡国强的个展在中国美术馆举行，国家美术馆对当代艺术的接纳也促进了公立美术馆与当代艺术的化学反应。在这十年间，上海、广州的双三年展更是直接推动了公立美术馆在当代艺术领域的完善，2012年上海当代艺术博物馆成立，是中国大陆第一家公立当代艺术博物馆，2015年广东美术馆在广州三年展的基础上又建立首届亚洲双年展。而王璜生和李小山等进入央美、南艺等学院美术馆，更是加强了学院美术馆对当代艺术的学术梳理。

　　如果说公立美术馆的推动代表了体制对当代艺术的认同和研究，民营美术馆的崛起则预示了民间资本的成熟，形成了对当代艺术推广的民间力量。十年来，今日美术馆、尤伦斯当代艺术中心、喜马拉雅美术馆、龙美术馆、余德耀美术馆、民生美术馆、OCAT等美术馆在北上广深等核心城市，已经崛起成为当代艺术的重要推动力量。数据显示，民营美术馆已经占到美术馆总量的三分之一。雅昌艺术市场监测中心和Larry’s List发布的《私人美术馆报告》显示，中国以26座私人美术馆的数量排名全球第四，在馆藏十大艺术家国籍的排名中，来自中国的艺术家以18%的比例排名第六，且在亚洲国家中排名第一，这说明在全球当代艺术领域中，中国的当代艺术是私人美术馆收藏非常看中的版块。

　　报告认为，这与中国政府在经济结构转型过程中对文化艺术产业的支持导向有着一定的关系，比如在上海西岸形成的美术馆群：龙美术馆(西岸馆)以及余德耀美术馆的先后成立，就与上海政府对文化艺术在政策上的支持有着很大的关系。尤伦斯当代艺术中心副馆长尤洋对这一观点表示赞同：“中国正处在社会经济结构飞速转型的阶段，这个时代下，无论从政府、地产开发商还是观众，都对艺术机构的兴建有着空前的需求。”

　　另外一个重要的趋势，民营美术馆在这十年间已经突破了北上广深这样的核心城市，南京的四方美术馆、昊美术馆温州馆、银川当代美术馆、OCAT西安馆等定位于当代艺术的民营美术馆，在十年间快速进入一二线城市，让当代艺术真正呈现一种遍地开花的态势。

　　何桂彦认为，如何建构美术馆这个系统，如何可持续的发展，更重要的是，国家如何通过立法来支持美术馆的建设，成为艺术机构的重要命题。“不管是官方的，还是民间的美术馆，都需要大力支持。”用艺术家朱伟的话说：“私人建的美术馆更多一些。这是好事。我们所知道的美国大都会博物馆，惠特尼美术馆，纽约现代艺术博物馆MOMA，古根海姆美术馆，都是私人美术馆，其藏品都优于国家或州立的美术馆，说明这个国家的人民热爱生活，热爱艺术，热爱艺术家，超过热爱钱。”

　 在这场商业运动的背后

　　站在艺术家的角度，观察十年间的中国当代艺术的整体变化时艺术家朱伟认为这十年只有一个阶段，同样认为是中国当代艺术快速市场化，商业化的十年。他说：“老中青三代艺术家都被卷入或者胁迫进入商业洪流之中，仿佛是一场运动。就像八九年当代艺术大展，策划人站在中国美术馆的台阶上向世人宣布，中国的艺术家用了十年的时间，就走完了西方艺术家们一百年的当代之路。现在又用了十年时间把市场化之路走到了头。2005年蘇富比的拍卖。让大家乱了阵脚，也乱了方寸。说白了对艺术家创作来说其实是又出现了一个新的评价标准。这场轰轰烈烈的商业运动，不亚于五七年大练钢铁那劲头，每个中国人都学会了投资理财，买房炒股，看K线图，争先恐后都怕落在后头。其实这套囯外小学生都会，很正常。不正常的是艺术家不应该冲在前面。补充一句，中国当代艺术拍卖其实最早是在1998年，伦敦佳士得。可能时机不对，拍卖非常不理想，此后再无中国当代艺术作品在国际拍卖行出现，直到2005年。”

　　对于艺术家尚扬而言,面对十年间"商业和金融资本对文化的侵蚀、覆盖逐渐地加强，由隐性的向显性的发展。"他在完成了《董其昌计划》系列对文化重建实验之后，重又回到对人和现实的关注中来。《剩山图》、《剩水图》中的“剩”是尚扬所痛切表达的那个被“权力和资本”绑架的风景或山水，“残山剩水”已经不再是中国人精神故园中的那山那水。对日益恶化的生态问题的关注，使尚扬在《剩山图》系列的创作过程中，不断地深化了这个主题。由《剩山图》系列开始，他开始把更多的现成品和综合媒介引入作品的制作。可以从《剩山图2》中观察到那些通过撕扯、拼贴而脱落、悬置的马皮、金属和布，画面上呈现某种“雕塑感”和“随意性”。表现方式的拓展，并非是突然显现，尚扬说：“虽然以前的画面中曾经想采用，直到2003年苏州博物馆的展览把一张作品改造成为《剩山图之一》才实现这个想法。从2013年这个作品完成以后，延续了《剩山图之二》、《剩山图之三》和《剩山图之六》。《剩山图》系列顺着《剩山图之一》这样做下来，慢慢的跟空间发生了一些联系，作品画布上很暴力的撕扯、悬垂，比如在《剩山图之六》直接拼贴动物的皮，跟《董其昌计划》相比有了一些变化。”

　　尚扬同时在语言的表达上，开拓了一个新的视觉表达方式——从二维走向了“二维半”。对尚扬而言：“这对我来讲是小小的前进了一步。”

　　从每位艺术家的创作角度看，与上世纪80、90的创作语言方式都产生了很多的变化。这几年文献展、新作品展不断，国版油雕全展开的著名当代艺术家方力钧在接受对雅昌艺术网的访问时说：“其实经过这二三十年的工作，第一个做了大量的工作，这种工作也挺辛苦的，必须要强调自己的立场和看法，我现在更倾向于能够多加进去一些让自己有幸福感和喜悦的因素，然后去从事以前已经在从事的这部分工作。另外一个是经过那么长时间，这部分的工作自己已经很熟练了，有一点驾轻就熟的意思，别人也都已经习惯了。所以我想加入一些不那么愁眉苦脸或者是不那么板着面孔去工作的因素在里边，这样的话对于我的寿命，对于我的健康情况都会有一点好处。所以说主要大的线索是这样的。第三，是已经太长时间强调某一个自己认为重要的工作的原因了，现在其实我就没有必要再反复地跟别人强调这些。我可以说一点比较轻描淡写的或者说让人觉得你也是一个充满感情或者说很幽默、很好玩的人，是这样的一个面貌。所以可能不再会像过去那样是一个单线条的、一根筋的做事或者是创作的状况。当然这是我希望的，到最后是不是能够把这些呈现出来，可能还是需要努力工作。”

　　次贷危机之后 西方藏家退出

　　艺术家张晓刚2009年在接受雅昌艺术网采访时，讲过自己如何面对不同境遇的变化。他认为：“你说经济好了以后，对艺术家的创作应该是更轻松、更自由。但是我发现成本也比原来高了很多，工作室也开始大了一些，像我这些展览的作品成本都很高。像一张油画的成本可能几百、几千块钱，现在像用钢板做的，因为材料的不同，要在十年前可能想都不会去想，就是不会用这种材料，现在就不会去想这个问题了，反而以效果为第一。像那些雕塑改了又改，我浪费了很多材料，我觉得市场经济来了应该是好事，艺术家在市场经济下面，我个人的观点应该是追求一种更自由的方式，而不是变成更多的包袱。可能我是这样一直这样过来的人，创作已经变成了你的生活习惯，那么你的生活习惯和可能是跟着环境在变。”

　　2007年开始的美国次贷危机，在2008年逐渐影响到中国。2011年著名收藏家尤伦斯开始退出中国，在这一系列大事件的背景下中国当代艺术生态的遭遇，逐渐开始作用于当代艺术生态。如批评家何桂彦博士所言：“2008年全球经济陷入了低谷。因为中国“奥运”的成功举办，以及官方各种话语的正面引导，加之当时中国的经济投入主要还是扩大内需，以基建为中心，而这些行业的国际化程度并不高。换言之，因为中国的经济体自成体系，所以，‘次贷危机’在当时的影响并不是立竿见影的，但是，到2010年前后，经济的疲软、产能的过剩、西方“热钱”的撤离，楼市的火爆，以及不断上升的通胀，均直接或间接地影响中国艺术市场的生态环境。2006—2009是中国当代艺术市场井喷的时期。如果用“次贷危机”的逻辑，可以说至少透支了当代艺术未来十年的发展空间。尤伦斯的退出有必然性，也有偶然性。‘破晓’的专场拍卖会以后，对中国当代艺术的影响，主要还是信心上的挫败。那个时期，一个流行的说法是西方藏家开始抛售中国的当代艺术品。”

　　“回归艺术本体”的声音

　　朱伟最近看到批评家鲁虹老师和皮道坚，都在提出艺术家们要沉淀下来潜心创作。“我想保持清醒的人还是大多数。他们是真的在为中国当代艺术的未来以及可持续性在呼吁。这可以说是一次集体有意识的反省。这个世界上再混蛋的国家也不会以挣钱多少来衡量一个艺术家是否优秀，也不会以会不会画画来衡量一个企业家是否是优秀的企业家。因为衡量他们的标准不一样。”

　　对于2012年开始“回归艺术本体”的声音就越来越多的现象，而原因是多方面的。何桂彦认为表面看这是一个艺术本体的问题;稍微深层的考虑却是为“去政治化”提供了合法化的依据;再深层的原因，说明了1990年代以来那种犬儒的、“政治波普”的创作路径，抑或说策略开始失效了。如果从市场的角度考虑，所谓回归艺术本体的作品，也恰好是市场最流行的作品。这些现象肯定不是巧合。

　　从2012年开始，小清新、当代水墨、新水墨等等形成的同时或交叉发生的展览等热潮，从历史的横向比较可以发现近几年频繁更迭的种种现象和潮流，如同市场中快速闪现后就消失的青年艺术家的表现。艺术家朱伟说：“八五美术运动，后八九，两次艺术现象。之前的星星画会严格的说是一次民间民主意识的思想启蒙，他们主要针对的不是艺术问题，所以说不完全是艺术现象。之后的新水墨等概念是市场需求和操作。”

　　何桂彦博士直接指出：“既然是说‘新’，那就必然会有艺术史的上下文关系，亦即是说要与‘旧’形成对比。但‘新’又以何种方式体现出来呢?是语言、修辞方式之新?创作方法论、媒介观念之新?观看方式、审美趣味之新?或者作品的现实指向与文化内涵之新?如果不能回答上述的问题，这个“新”就不能成立。当然，在当代水墨、工笔领域，这几年仍然有一批艺术家具有代表性，但他们并不能形成潮流。”在他看来“小清新”只是“去政治化”中的一个倾向。

　　这几个潮流现象比较起来，何桂彦认为抽象艺术的回归除了有商业的考虑外，主要还是得益自身的发展历程与历史积淀，1980年代中期以来，抽象就是当代艺术的一个重要组成部分，但从一开始就很边缘化。这种局面的形成同样也有很多原因。

　　近十年间，没有再出现共同使用一种语言符号，一种观念方法创作的群体现象。何桂彦博士分析，认为1980年代、1990年代中国当代艺术线性的、二元对立的发展方式已经结束了。今天，美术史的叙事是自觉地远离宏大叙事，开始向微观化、破碎化、多元化发展。年轻艺术家的多元化发展既受到大的美术史的上下文影响，也与他们的知识结构、生存体验，以及今天多元文化的价值取向有关系。

　　艺术家朱伟认为艺术创作多元化，说明社会的相对稳定，题材不那么集中，世界上大部分国家的艺术家都这样，和国际接轨了，大家站在同一个起跑线上。在此之前中国当代艺术的创作基本是以对文革的反思为坐标，以距离文革的远近为断代标准，以挪用文革符号多少为艺术特征，八五美术运动，后八九是这么出现的。在一段时间内，艺术家们有很多要集中反映的题材，从另一个角度来看，说明这个国家不正常。现在的年轻艺术家其实是赶上了好时候，大家不止限定在同一个题材，做命题作文，千军万马挤独木桥。而是八仙过海，成功的机会其实多了。

　　结语

　　尽管当代艺术三十年间，尤其是近十年间的生态环境发生了巨大的变化，但如前文所呈现的方方面面的现象之下的问题那样，总有些事情是绕不过去的。让我们重温浙江大学教授、博士生导师沈语冰在《20世纪艺术批评》前言，文中所阐述的：“今日中国艺术走向了两个毫无希望的极端。在一极，艺术成了一种单纯的笔墨游戏与自娱自乐，一种与当下感性毫不相关的文人雅玩或匠人的玩意儿。另一极，是在90年代以后以发烧似的热度迅速传播的流行性病毒：后现代主义。与文化保守主义的危险不同，中国式后现代主义的危险并不在于它与当下感性全然无关的形式玩物与装饰，而是走到了另一个极端：即不顾一切形式法则与视觉质量的纯粹的观念。”

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