Deconstructivism: 7 Architectural Wonders of the World

What if you took all of the elements of a building, hacked them apart and put them back together again without apparent rhyme or reason? That’s basically the visual effect of Deconstructivism, a school of architecture that explores fragmentation and distorts the walls, roof, interior volumes and envelope of a building in a sort of controlled chaos, sometimes to intentionally create discomfort and confusion.

“We don’t want architecture to exclude everything that is disquieting,” the co-founders of Austrian architecture firm Coop Himmelb(l)au wrote of their aesthetics, essentially defining the postmodern architectural movement that has defied conventions and courted controversy since the 1980′s. The following seven structures, from five architecture firms that were celebrated at the Museum of Modern Art’s 1988 Deconstructivist Architecture exhibition, are among the most provocative structures in the world.

Frank Gehry’s Bilbao Museum Guggenheim, Spain

(images via: wikimedia commons)

When you think ‘deconstructivist’, what’s the first building that pops into your mind? If you’re at all familiar with the term (and not a student of architecture), it’s probably Frank Gehry’s iconic and unforgettable Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Spain. In 1978, Gehry took the steps that would bring him to this point, drastically changinghis own standard, somewhat boring suburban Santa Monica house into the groundwork for an entire architectural movement. He literally deconstructed the house, ripping out sections and reassembling them into an eccentric fusion of traditional and modern aesthetics. By the time he got to the Guggenheim, completed in 1997, Gehry had perfected a shocking new style that dazzled critics and the public alike, although many in the architectural community may disagree on such points as creativity versus functionality.

While Gehry himself shirks the Deconstructivist label, his work – particularly the Guggenheim – has been strongly associated with the architectural style that has been carried forth by a number of other architects around the world. Luminous and shape-shifting, the Guggenheim is hard to pin down, seeming almost to undulate in the sunlight and the dappled reflection of the Nervion River upon which it sits. The wildly original design, as well as construction of the building, was aided to a large degree by the use of Computer Aided Three Dimensional Interactive Application (CATIA). The many organic volumes that make up the whole are covered in titanium panels that resemble fish scales, a tribute to the museum’s location.

Coop Himmelb(l)au’s UFA-Cinema Center, Dresden, Germany

(images via: architizer)

The Austrian firm Coop Himmelb(l)au, which now has offices in Los Angeles and Guadalajara as well as Vienna, is often credited with producing the first realizations of Deconstructivist architecture in Europe. The cooperative’s rooftop law office extension in their home city raised eyebrows when it was erected in 1988 with its parasitic appearance, and its Funder factory building in St. Veit Glan, Austria was certainly eye-catching. In 1998, Coop Himmelb(l)au completed the UFA-Cinema Center in Dresden, Germany, which consists of two volumes: the ‘Crystal’, a massive glass lobby and public square that seems to lean precariously to one side, and the ‘Cinema Block’, which holds eight cinemas with seating for 2600. The firm says that with the UFA-Cinema Center, it aimed to “confront the issue of public space”, saying “By disintegrating the monofunctionality of these structures and adding urban functions to them, a new urbanity can arise in the city.”

Independent of Gehry’s influence, Coop Himmelb(l)au and other international architects who produced important Deconstructivist works were inspired by movements in modern art such as Cubismand Dada, and Russian avant garde architecture of the 1920s.

Peter Eisenman’s Wexner Center for the Arts, Ohio

(images via: wikimedia commons)

New Jersey-based architect Peter Eisenman designed the first major public Deconstructivist building in America, the 1989 Wexner Center for the Arts at Ohio State University. The Wexner Center was something of an experiment in Deconstructivism; it’s certainly not a blank, passive space for the display of art but meant to be a dynamic work of art within itself. It’s a five-story, open-air structure featuring a prominent white gridwork that resembles scaffolding in order to appear intentionally incomplete, in a permanent state of limbo. These very design ideas have caused significant controversy because, in some cases, they interfere with the function of the building, such as fine art exhibition spaces where direct sunlight could potentially damage sensitive works of art. Furthermore, the center has no recognizable entry, with most of the sculptural ornamentation on the sides where no doors exist. The interior spaces are no less eccentric; some visitors even report feeling nauseas because of the ‘colliding planes’ of the design.

Controversial though it may be, Eisenman’s Wexner Center remains among the most important examples of Deconstructivism, bringing abstract ideas and theories to the fore and perhaps elevating them above purpose and practicality.

Bernard Tschumi’s Parc de la Villette, Paris, France

(images via: laurenmanning, mo_cosmo, als0lily)

The Parc de la Villette in Paris is unlike any public park you’ve ever seen, with its strange network of bright red structures designed, according to architect Bernard Tschumi, not for ordered relaxation and self-indulgence but interactivity and exploration. Built from 1984 to 1987 on the grounds of a former meat market, the park contains themed gardens, playgrounds for children, facilities dedicated to science and music and 35 architectural follies, all of which are inspired by the ideas of Deconstructivism. Visually and intellectually stimulating, the steel follies provide a frame for activity, in contrast to the idea of a park as open green space.

In his book ‘Architecture and Disjunction’, Tschumi describes meeting the French philosopher Jacques Derrida to talk about Derrida’s concept of deconstruction, which Tschumi and Eisenman have pulled into their own architectural aesthetics. “When I first met Jacques Derrida, in order to convince him to confront his own work with architecture, he asked me, ‘But how could an architect be interested in deconstruction? After all, deconstruction is antiform, anti-hierarchy, anti-structure, the opposite of all that architecture stands for’. ‘Precisely for this reason,’ I replied!”

OMA/Rem Koolhaas’ Seattle Central Library, Washington

(images via: archdaily)

With famed architect Rem Koolhaas at the helm, architecture firmsOMA and LMN gave Seattle one of the world’s most stunning Deconstructivist buildings in the form of the Seattle Central Library. This groundbreaking structure consists of eight horizontal layers in varied sizes, encased within a structural steel and glass skin which defines additional exterior public spaces. Elevating the library beyond a mere receptacle for books, the design focuses on information as a whole where all forms of media can be accessed, reflected upon and discussed.

Dutch architect Rem Koolhaas, a founding partner of OMA, has largely defied labels, variously categorized as Deconstructivist, Modernist and Humanist by critics. The Pritzker Prize winner may at times be controversial for designs that seem visually disjointed or difficult to actually use, but in the Seattle Central Library he has helped create one of America’s most notable structures, and one of the most important Deconstructivist buildings in the world.

Zaha Hadid’s Contemporary Arts Center, Cincinnati, Ohio

(images via: zaha-hadid.com)

Baghdad-born, Britain-based Zaha Hadid, the first woman to win a Pritzker Prize, has also contributed a number of notable Deconstructivist works to international architecture. One such structure, Hadid’s first design to ever be built, is the 2003 Lois and Richard Rosenthal Center for Contemporary Art in Cincinnati, Ohio. Known popularly as the Contemporary Arts Center (CAC), the building is both blocky and soft, defined by geometric volumes on the facade and featuring an unusual ‘urban carpet’, with the ground slowly curving upward from the sidewalk outside into the building and ultimately up the back wall. A ramp resembling a twisted spine draws visitors up to a landing at the entrance to the galleries.

Daniel Libeskind’s Jewish Museum, Berlin, Germany

(images via: daniel-libeskind.com)

Is Daniel Libeskind’s Jewish Museum in Berlin the best example of Deconstructivism in the world? This zig-zagging structure, clad in thin zinc sheeting punctuated by windows in shapes meant to recall wounds and scars, houses two millennia of German Jewish history. It sits upon a space once occupied by the Berlin Wall, and butts up to an 18th century appeals court which is also part of the museum. Its shape is said to be inspired by a warped Star of David, and its jaggedness is likened to the human condition. A huge void cuts through the form of the museum, symbolizing the absence left by the thousands of Berliners who were killed or deported in the Holocaust.

Says the architect, “I believe that this project joins architecture to questions that are now relevant to all humanity. To this end, I have sought to create a new Architecture for a time which would reflect an understanding of history, a new understanding of Museums and a new realization of the relationship between program and architectural space. Therefore this Museum is not only a response to a particular program, but an emblem of Hope.”

Architectural Innovation

Main Problems of the Chinese Contemporary Art

Since the end of the 1970s, Chinese contemporary art has always been entangled with the western art. In fact, this entanglement started when China began to modernize under the western influence. In this condition, the intellectuals’ attitude towards the local culture swings back and forth between conceit and inferiority, similarly, the attitude towards western changes between admiration and resistance. During the Fine Art New Tide in 1985 when China began to be open to the world after the culture shortage, Chinese people were eager to cure the “disease” with the help of western culture. Therefore, it is evident that Chinese contemporary culture followed the western as an example. Here is a case in point. After the Robert Rauschenberg Exhibition hold in China, many followers appear in China. Though this kind of imitation is immature; it is still an indispensable step in the growth of the Chinese contemporary art. In addition, faced with various western cultural resources, Chinese contemporary artists chose to imitate. The imitation with individual and local experience indicates that the imitation is based on the demand of the local culture. Meanwhile, it is undeniable that there are accidental and blind imitations. Just as what Shang Yang told to me, “Someone came across an idea in a book and felt greatly inspired to practice it and make speeches according to it, thus, others followed and imitate him to create a theory in China. There is a phenomenon from 1980’s to now.” “Actually, it is accidental. If the book is not picked up or translated, it is impossible for the idea in it to develop in China. For instance, a large number of people follow the style of Freud Lucian. What’s more, a common painter, was the most popular one in China and had a great influence on the Chinese art. It is ridiculous.”

In the entanglement of imitation and alienation, as well as admiration and resistance, Chinese contemporary art in 1990s saw the post-colonialism market. Then, a sharp and serious problem arose: which way we should choose to go, returning to the local culture and facing the rigid ideology, strict control and sluggish market, or producing paintings in large quantities to meet the demand of the western post-colonialism. The Chinese overseas artists, on one hand, had no choice but to accept the inferior situation, on the other hand, they tried hard to take advantage of the cultural background and resolve the problem in the perspective of the local culture and on the basis of the local resources (Huang Yangli defined this way as Using Eastern Culture to Win Western Culture). Chinese contemporary art distinguished itself rapidly and degraded itself ideologically so that it is far from resolving the problems of the local culture. Its pioneering quality is fading gradually. At present, indulging in culture thievery is evident and serious. The reason why people feel puzzled about the definition and orientation of art lies in the value of the artists.

Since 2005, a large amount of capital was put into the Chinese contemporary art market. The Chinese contemporary art, once a borderline category, became popular so rapidly that the old artists who are busy to summarize the victory still have doubts and puzzles. First, we have to admit that the Chinese contemporary artists are pride of self-control. The fact that Chinese contemporary art can draw so much attention is closely related to the economic and political development of China. Second, the sudden prosperity of the Chinese contemporary art market has something to do with the non-academic tendency, such as the current financial policy. Third, the price of the contemporary works is soaring. However, the art value is not table. Some people buy the works with the intention of seeking profit by short-term investment instead of collecting. The buyers use a series of propaganda activities to increase the price and then sell them. Nobody wants to be the final owner of the works of the highest price. Because they will lose every cent they invested if the market collapses. Finally, with the increasing of the price, artists become more and more confident. And the western culture which was the model is ignored and despised. Actually, there is no direct relation between the academic value and the market value. If artists can gain confidence because of the price increase, they also can lose it because of the price decrease. It is the truth that the works with the highest price were the ones with a strong sense of post-colonialism created in 1990s. The value of the mainstream of the Chinese contemporary art is not high. (Source: Art Focus; Author: Du Xiyun)

SELECTED WORKS BY ZHANG XIAOGANG

Zhang Xiaogang A Big Family 1995 Oil on canvas 179 x 229 cm

Inspired by family photos from the Cultural Revolution period, as well as the European tradition of surrealism, Zhang Xiaogang’s paintings engage with the notion of identity within the Chinese culture of collectivism. Basing his work around the concept of ‘family’ –immediate, extended, and societal – Xiaogang’s portraits depict an endless genealogy of imagined forebears and progenitors, each unnervingly similar and distinguished by minute difference. Often painted in black and white, Xiaogang’s portraits translate the language of photography into paint. Drawing from the generic quality of formal photo studio poses and greyscale palette, Xiaogang’s figures are nameless and timeless: a series of individual histories represented within the strict confines of formula. The occasional splotches of colour which interrupt his images create aberrant demarcations, reminiscent of birth marks, aged film, social stigma, or a lingering sense of the sitter’s self assertion. Incorporating the aesthetic of traditional Chinese charcoal drawing, Xiaogang’s style wavers between the exaggeration of animation and stoic flatness. Muted and compliant, Xiaogang’s extended family convey individual identity through their unalterable physical features: too big heads, tiny hands, long noses, and subtle alterations in hairstyle give clues to intimate characteristics and stifled emotions. These dream-like distortions give a complex psychological dimension to Xiaogang’s work, heightening the tension of regulated claustrophobia, and initiating suggestive narrative readings.

Zhang Xiaogang Bloodline 2005 Oil on canvas 200 x 260 cm

Through his expansive clan of replica characters, Xiaogang questions notions of otherness, difference, and perception. In Bloodline, Xiaogang’s two sitters stare out from the canvas with piercing neutrality, confronting the viewer with an alien gaze worthy of their own unnatural presence; the Asian conception of oneness a stark contrast to the western value of individuality. In this portrait, a father and daughter are represented with perturbing similarity, their expressionless androgyny giving them a futuristic air of superiority that can be read as either spiritual enlightenment or malice.

Zhang Xiaogang My Dream: Little General 2005 Oil on canvas 200 x 160 cm

Xiaogang’s figures, with their same-same appearance and expression, allude to a disturbing mass psychology. In My Dream: Little General Xiaogang’s image of a boy, dressed in military uniform and naked from the waist down, exemplifies the anxiety between public veneer and private vulnerability, official doctrine and personal conscience. Rendered with a patina aura, Xiaogang’s painting is both dreary and heroic, encapsulating the optimism of a bygone era and its hind-sight failures; the child a nostalgic emblem of corrupted innocence, trapped between the romantic aspiration of the model citizen ideal and its unattainable reality.

Zhang Xiaogang Untitled 2006 Oil on canvas 200 x 260 cm
Xiaogang’s Untitled series magnifies uniformity to uncanny proportions. His paintings of faces, executed in monumental scale, are strangely macabre and dehumanised.

Zhang Xiaogang Untitled 2006 Oil on canvas 200 x 260 cm
Framed with the mug-shot candour of extreme close-ups his figures lack any definitive features; they are the generic archetypes to which all Xiaogang’s figures aspire, triumphs of socially engineered conformity, interchangeable and anonymous.

Zhang Xiaogang Untitled 2006 Oil on canvas 200 x 260 cm
With their visages masked in soft shadows and rendered slightly out of focus, Xiaogang heightens the sense of inconsequential identity; only the eyes are fully illuminated, hollow and clone-like, perfect identikit transplants hallmarking the succession of ductility over will.

Zhang Xiaogang Comrade 2005 Oil on canvas 130 x 220 cm (Diptych)
Often restricted to a black and white palettFF

Why is Chinese Contemporary Art Important to Collect Today? An Interview with Larry Warsh

NEW YORK, NY.- AW Asia is a private organisation founded to promote Chinese contemporary art in the United States. In this original Art Radar interview, we gain insight into the aims of the organisation and founder Larry Warsh provides expert opinion on contemporary Chinese art.

For more than 25 years, Larry Warsh, founder of AW Asia, has been involved in the art world. An enthusiastic collector of fine art for many years, Warsh possesses an extensive professional background within both Western and Chinese contemporary art.

Warsh has focused on collecting and promoting contemporary Chinese art since 2000. Since then, he has made it his public mission to support and advance contemporary Chinese art and in 2007, AW Asia was founded. AW Asia is a private organisation, dedicated to promoting contemporary Chinese art through institutional loans and museum acquisitions, curatorial projects, publishing, and educational programs.

Tell us about your background and how you became involved in art?

I have been involved in the art world as a collector, publisher and advisor for more than 25 years. I started to collect Western contemporary artists, such as Jean-Michel Basquiat, Keith Haring, and Francesco Clemente, during the 1980s and 1990s.

How did you become interested in Chinese art? When did you start to collect Chinese art?

I began collecting Chinese contemporary art in early 2000. The market was in the early stages in the USA, having had earlier activity in Europe (such as the Netherlands, Italy, France, and Switzerland). At that time there were very few serious collectors of Chinese contemporary art. I had a chance to meet many of China’s leading artists and I was extremely impressed with the integrity and vision of these artists, so I began collecting their work before the market for Chinese contemporary art became an international focus.

What kind of Chinese art did you begin to collect? How has the collection evolved?

The first work of Chinese art that I acquired was a 1990’s Wang Jinsong oil painting and this work is still in my collection. I started with oil painting and later expanded into photography, sculpture, and prints.

What is AW Asia? What does it do?

AW Asia is a private organisation in New York City. What it does is it exclusively promotes Chinese contemporary art through institutional loans and museum acquisitions. But also through curatorial projects [and] publishing as well as educational programs.

We also provide special resources such as our online database, Chinese Contemporary Art in Museum Collections. This original database represents over forty Chinese artists and over 55 domestic and international museums and institutions in 14 foreign countries including China, America, Japan, Australia, France, England, Italy, Brazil, and Canada.

Can you tell us the story of how AW Asia began? What inspired you to start AW Asia?

After years of collecting Chinese contemporary art I realised that I wanted to start a business that would help people to understand this dynamic field of contemporary art, so in 2007 I founded AW Asia.

How is AW Asia different? What is unique about it?

The AW Asia mission is to bring Chinese contemporary art to a wider global audience through our engagement with the field as a whole. We are not a commercial gallery and we do not represent individual artists, however, we are in collaboration with several of China’s leading contemporary artists.

What is the biggest challenge for AW Asia as an organisation?

Our challenge has always been to help Chinese contemporary art maintain its proper place in the history of art.

Who buys Chinese art in the United States of America?

American collectors of Chinese contemporary art buy a range of work, from oil painting to photography, sculpture, print-making, and installations. There are several notable collections of Chinese contemporary art in the hands of American collectors such as Kent and Vicki Logan, Agnus Gund and others. The number of American collectors interested in this field seems to be growing as auctions in the US and around the world are reporting continued strong sales of Asian contemporary art and Chinese contemporary art.

What kinds of Chinese art are popular in America now? Why?

“I believe that the ‘first generation’ of Chinese contemporary artists are still popular in the U.S.. Among these artists are names like Ai Weiwei, Xu Bing, Gu Wenda, Hai Bo, Hong Hao and Rong Rong. But also Sui Jianguo and Qiu Zhijie. These artists play a significant role. They will maintain their value and importance in the canon of global contemporary art.

People collect for many reasons, but the financial and psychological aspects of collecting always play an important part. I think the American buyers of Chinese contemporary art are those who have been collecting contemporary art. They see the beauty, significance and power of the Chinese artist.”

How often do you visit China? Which cities and how often?

I visit China every several months. I normally visit Beijing and Shanghai, although sometimes my business takes me to other cities such as Chengdu.

When talking about the local art scene, how does AW Asia contribute to the Chinese contemporary art scene?

Although AW Asia does not necessary contribute to the local art scene per se, I like to think that our efforts to promote the field in the West has a positive affect on the field as a whole, thus encouraging collectors to pursue Chinese art in China and around the world.

Does AW Asia have links with any American museums?

Yes, AW Asia has relations with a number of American museums. We work with these institutions to coordinate acquisitions, loans and curatorial projects.

What are the museums interested in? Which kinds of works have you placed with them? Which museums are most interested in Chinese art and what kind of Chinese art?

In the last few years AW Asia has sold (and facilitated the sale of) collections of Chinese contemporary photography to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York, the Museum of Modern Art in New York (artists Hai Bo, Zhang Dali, Weng Fen, Zheng Guogu, Hong Hao, Hong Lei, Zhang Peili, Sheng Qi, Rong Rong, Ai Weiwei, Huang Yan) and The Getty Museum in Los Angeles (artists Wang Qingsong, Hai Bo, Song Yongping, Rong Rong). There are more and more museums who are incorporating Chinese contemporary art into their exhibition planning….

Do you know any interesting up and coming exhibitions of Chinese art in the United States?

Contemporary Chinese photography is becoming increasingly prominent in the field of international contemporary art. Right now The Metropolitan Museum of Art and The Museum of Modern Art in New York are both exhibiting Chinese contemporary photography alongside significant Western artists.

Last year AW Asia facilitated a collection of Chinese contemporary art to be placed with the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. Among the contemporary Chinese artists whose photography is now represented in the Met’s permanent collection are Hai Bo, Song Dong, Sheng Qi, Hong Hao, Weng Fen, Wang Qingsong, Zhang Huan and Xing Danwen.

At The Museum of Modern Art in New York, photography by Chinese artists Ai Weiwei and Zhang Dali are being featured. The photographic works by Ai Weiwei and Zhang Dali entered MoMA’s permanent collection in July 2008. These were an AW Asia sale. It is actually the first show in which these works will be displayed at the museum in a group-exhibition context.

Between December and April next year, the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles will be having an exhibition called Photography from New China. This exhibition will be highlighting photographs by Hai Bo, Liu Zheng, Song Yongping, Rong Rong, and Wang Qingsong which the museum acquired. These workswere also an AW Asia sale.

Over the time period that you have been involved with contemporary art, what changes have you seen in the art scene?

Of course, [in] the international art world both the field of Chinese contemporary art and Western contemporary art has changed a lot in the last twenty years. There are more resources and newer technologies available to artists. There is more capital invested in the art market than ever before, and artists are increasingly savvy about their work and their reputations around the globe.

What do you think are the biggest challenges contemporary artists are facing right now in China?

I think the biggest challenge is for artists to continue making innovative and interesting work that stands apart from the crowd.

What does the future hold for the contemporary art scene in China? What is happening in the market for Chinese art? Are there any threats to the future development of the contemporary Chinese art market?

I think the future is still very bright for the Chinese art scene. A lot of younger artists are now stepping up to the plate and their work will be admired and collected, but [by] a much wider audience than ever before. There is also what I call the ‘New Chinese Collector’ emerging in China. The New Chinese Collector is unique because his buying habits have become incredibly sophisticated in a very short time, and his focus is primarily – if not solely – on collecting the best quality Chinese art and antiquities. We are not seeing the New Chinese Collector scouring the globe looking for Picassos or Monets; they appear to be fixated only on quality Chinese art, with the operative word being ‘quality.’ At recent auctions of Chinese art that lacked quality historical Chinese artists – in particular contemporary artists – New Chinese Collectors proved that they’re not willing to spend top dollar (or rather, yuan) on anything but the best.

I can say that New Chinese Collectors have shown, particularly in the last year, that they are some of the world’s most motivated and informed buyers. They have most certainly done their homework, and they see no problem in going far above and beyond estimates if they home in on an item they feel will remain valuable and upon which they place significant cultural importance. That goes for everything from antiquities to contemporary works by living artists.

ArtTactic recently released their “Chinese Contemporary Art Market Confidence Indicator” and the Chinese contemporary art market shows continued signs of a strong recovery.

Which arts organisations do you admire and/or work with?

AW Asia works with a number of Asian art-related organisations such as the Asia Society in New York, the China Institute in New York, the Asia Art Archive in Hong Kong, plus a host of other small organisations and companies in both China and the U.S., depending on the project. We appreciate the work of many organisations that share similar goals of promoting this field.

How do you keep yourself up-to-date, perhaps with new artists and art market news? What art news sources do you read?

It is always a challenge to stay totally up-to-date on the contemporary art world. I normally follow several art websites weekly, such as ArtDaily, ARTINFO, The Art Newspaper and Chinese art websites such as ArtZineChina, and new sites such as NeochaEDGE. I also follow the art pages of the Financial Times and Bloomberg online.

Being a collector yourself, what tips would you give to other collectors?

In terms of starting a good foundation of Chinese contemporary art, I suggest that new collectors follow the first generation of artists such as Ai Weiwei, Xu Bing, Gu Wenda, Hai Bo, Hong Hao, Sui Jianguo, Qiu Zhijie, Wang Qingsong, and Rong Rong.

AW Asia has published a book that addresses the significant things to know about this field, titled “Chinese Contemporary Art 7 Things You Should Know”, written by Melissa Chiu.

Right now, I would have to say that the best buying opportunity is Chinese contemporary photography. The work of Chinese photographers is still very affordable compared with its Western counterpart.

Do you have any tips for new collectors? Or for those who want to start a similar organisation to AW Asia?

My advice is to focus on the collecting work that really interests you and to make informed decisions that also take market value into account.

Is there any particular news or advice you would like to share with our readers?

The Chinese contemporary art scene and the market for this work is still in its infancy. It has really just begun!

China flexes its muscles in the contemporary art market By Katie Hunt Business reporter, BBC News, Hong Kong

Auctions of Chinese art attract huge crowds

"We are now reaching prices that even Picassos are struggling to get”

Anders PettersonArtTactic

Standing at the back of the packed sale room, the Chinese man, casually dressed in a green shirt, was barely visible to the auctioneer.

Knock-offs of Chinese contemporary art are common in tourist markets in Hong Kong and China

Undeterred, and helped by gesturing bystander

s, his paddle finally caught the auctioneer's gaze and, after some fierce bidding, he paid 21.9 million Hong Kong dollars ($2.8m; £1.7m) for the monochrome oil canvas of two bald, quizzical men, by Fang Lijun - three times more than the pre-sale estimate.

Other bidders at the sale of Chinese and Asian contemporary art, in Hong Kong last week, complained security guards had refused them entry into the main sale room, saying it had been dangerously overcrowded.

They, like collectors and investors elsewhere, are clamouring for a slice of the white-hot market for Chinese contemporary art.

Soaring prices

The total value of contemporary Chinese art sold at auctions has grown from less than $1m in 2002 to $167.4m in 2010, according to figures from art-market advisory company ArtTactic.

"And this figure could easily be double if you take account pieces sold through galleries and art fairs," said ArtTactic managing director Anders Petterson.

The Christies evening sale of Asi

an 20th Century and contemporary art raked in 484 million Hong Kong dollars, an increase of 74% from a similar sale in Autumn 2010.

In April, a three-panel oil painting by Zhang Xiaogang sold in Hong Kong for 79 million Hong Kong dollars - a record auction price for Chinese contemporary art.

And knock-offs of pictures by artist

s such as Yue Minjun in tourist markets in China and Hong Kong are also testament to the market's rising popularity.

Blistering pace

It is not just the big hitters such as Zhang Xiaogang, Zeng Fengzhi and Ai Weiwei that are seeing the value of their art soar.

Even relatively little known Chinese artists are seeing the prices of their work rise sharply.

"The speed of everything is quite frightening," said Alistair Hicks, an art adviser and curator for Deutsche Bank.

This picture by Fang Lijun went for three times its original estimate

"As a collector, you can blink and miss the moment."

Mr Hicks said Deutsche Bank had planned to buy a photographic collage by Shanghai-based artist Yang Yongliang, on display at the Hong Kong International Art Fair, but at $40,000 the price sought by the gallery was now too high.

He said the bank had bought a similar, albeit smaller, piece by the same artist a year ago for a fraction of that price.

This blistering pace of growth has prompted talk a bubble might be forming similar to that seen in the market for Western contemporary art in 2008, before the financial crisis.

"People are not turning into passionate collectors overnight," said Mr Petterson

"It is a result of new, investment-orientated money flowing into the art market."

For China's freshly minted millionaires and billionaires looking to spend their wealth, art is a natural choice.

Lacklustre returns on the country's stock markets and limits on the property market, make more traditional investments less appealing.

At least three Chinese financial institutions have set up funds investing in Chinese art, evidence of the newfound interest in art as an asset class in China.

Richard Chang, a New York-based hedge fund manager and collector, said he regarded his contemporary art collection as a hobby, but added: "No collector wants to lose money.

"When a nation is very wealthy and there's a lot of growth, oftentimes the art market goes along for the ride," he says.

Others say talk of a bubble is premature.

"There is a difference between speculation and investment," says Magnus Renfrew, ART HK's fair director.

"The prices we are seeing at the moment are underpinned by curatorial and critical acclaim."

Evolving tastes

Many Chinese collectors favour traditional and classical art forms by artists little heard of in the West, despite the high prices their work commands.

A picture by the artist Qi Baishi painted in the 1940s was sold at an auction in Beijing for more than $65m.The picture depicts an eagle on a pine tree, flanked by calligraphy.

"We are now reaching prices that even Picassos are struggling to get," said Mr Petterson.

Chinese collectors have been more wary of buying pieces by the more avant-garde artists, championed by Western collectors such as Charles Saatchi and Uli Sigg.

Signs are this is beginning to change, although there remain artists such as Ai Weiwei and Cao Fei that still only have a high profile in Western art circles.

Of the top 10 lots at the Christies evening auction in May, nine were bought by Asian companies or individuals.

This trend should make the current boom in Chinese contemporary art more sustainable, said Mr Hicks.

"To a certain extent, you are always going to have a greater affinity with art from your own culture," he says.

"The most likely person to spot and support a rising star is someone who shares, at least in part, their cultural background."