UCCA Director Philip Tinari in the Pavilion of Exception (Photo/CGTN)
Just how much is a piece of contemporary art worth? At a recent auction, Gerhard Richter's Eisberg was sold for as much as 21.6 million U.S. dollars.
But a new exhibition at Beijing's UCCA is trying to capitalize on art's ability to reflect on our times. "The New Normal" explores an evolving China against a backdrop of globalization.
The "New Normal," a term coined by Chinese president Xi Jinping to describe the country's moderate economic growth, is an exhibition of contemporary works of art by 23 artists from China and beyond.
This is the third exhibition of its kind mounted by the UCCA every four years to survey recent developments in collaboration with emerging artists.
Another way to appreciate the exhibition is perhaps through its Chinese title, a "State of Exception," where abrupt changes in the society or exceptions in turn become the new status quo. Also that's a concept which is also made concrete in the exhibit's architecture.
In fact, a wide variety of programs from screenings to theatrical staging will invite visitors to engage the ideas that inspired the exhibition and the artists.
Yet, eight years after the UCCA held its first exhibition in the series, where does contemporary Chinese art stand today?
"Contemporary Chinese art has been learning from the West. In many ways, as an art form, it was imported. Yet slowly, contemporary Chinese artists, especially the young ones, are now finding their own language. Though, we're still in that process," the exhibition curator Yang Zi says.
The exhibition runs until July 9 at Beijing's UCCA.
