Message #1264

Name:	Jenny Kan
Date:	Tuesday October 14, 2008 2:32:27 am MDT
URL:	http://www.yj-art.com
Subject:	Commodity paintings vs. collection paintings
Message:	Commodity paintings vs. collection paintings Recently, I have read some articles written by westerners about Chinese Oil Paintings produced in DaFen, the famous ¡°Oil Painting Village¡± outside Shenzhen city, China. From the same tone adopted by the writers I can easily find their dislikes in this ¡°mass production¡± practice of fine art. I understand their hard feelings especially if they are artists themselves. They believe art should be pure and unique. Unlike other products, the image of artwork should never be destroyed by the scene of crowded painting rooms and sweating ¡°painting labors¡±. On the other hand, they are afraid that their artwork can no longer sell at a decent price as before because of those ¡°cheap stuff¡±. However, let¡¯s face it, our world is increasingly changing. Everything that is marketable will sooner or later become targets of businessmen. Fine art is no exception. But I don¡¯t think it is a bad thing. Please look at the whole picture. There is a reason why DaFen can sell $120 million worth paintings each year, and there are some unknown good stories behind too. I want to mention a few points here. Firstly, it is the concept of collection vs. commodity. The DaFen paintings are dubbed as ¡°commodity paintings¡±, meaning they are the middle and low end products in the art market. Like any other products, the market is huge enough to accommodate products of different levels. For cars, some people can buy a Rolls-Roye, but I can only afford a QQ (a low end Chinese car brand). Should the management of Rolls-Roye get upset about QQ? The existence of ¡°commodity paintings¡± should by no means deprive other artists of creating ¡°collection paintings¡± as they are targeting to different customers. Secondly, from the standpoint of most consumers, I am sure they welcome the emergence of ¡°commodity paintings¡± as they will have more choices in the art market. Almost everyone wants to make beautiful decoration on their walls, but not everyone affords to buy ¡°collection paintings¡±. Thirdly, artists in China deserve a living wage for their hard work. It is not easy to make a living for artists in many countries, especially in developing countries. Don¡¯t forget many world-known artists had a difficult time before they became famous; some could only sell their artwork after death. For many Chinese artists, working for an art factory in Dafen offers them living wages. Only when they dress warmly and eat their fill they will have a better opportunity to create better original artwork. Lastly, if you want to blame ¡°commodity paintings¡±, you should first blame the art dealers who have earned the most profits, instead of the art factories. It is the dealer who places an order for the artwork in large quantities. Art factories just paint according to their requirements. Only when there is increasing demand, there is increasing supply in a free market. Of course, having said those above, I don¡¯t mean we should encourage the mass reproduction of artwork and piracy. I also hate spam emails titled ¡°cheap paintings¡± in my mailbox. Yes, art factories in Dafen should focus more efforts in the original artwork. They should help promote Chinese artists that demonstrate originality and creativity. However, let¡¯s face it, our world is not perfect. As an artist, we better find a way to adapt to the changing world; being cynical is helpless.

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