September 13 - October 11
@ the Museum of New Art
Reception: September 13, from 3 to 6pm
Later at Xiamen University, she reacted violently against the Xiamen Dada movement founded in 1986 by embracing still older techniques (the blockprint) combined with newer Western ideas (abstraction). She is now at the vanguard of those younger Chinese artists emerging today.
"I have been looking
at lots of contemporary Chinese art in the past few years
and
find that a small percentage of it is world class and as good as the best
contemporary art anywhere else," says London collector Charles Saatchi.
Wong said the price of her work has tripled in the past three years. "My life has changed a little. I still eat simple food and lead a simple life, but where I once joined in underground exhibits in the apartments of friends - now I own a house and a car and have several galleries that represent my work.”
While McCain retreats from call for total ban
By Matthew Drury
September 8, 2008
WASHINGTON (API) - Just as American dealers and collectors are scooping up contemporary art coming out of China, harsh new import bans and restrictions from Washington have no
w been extended to some of this art, labeling it as toxic and unusable.
Recently, the American government has been chasing claims of lead in toy imports to residual pesticides in food. In 2007 alone, China-related safety issues dominated news headlines when a number of Chinese exports were found to be contaminated, including tainted melamine-laced pet food, toxic toothpaste, unsafe tires, chemical-laden seafood, counterfeit pharmaceuticals and medicines, and millions of lead-painted toys.
Now, it’s all about art.
“The American government is trying to tell the public that there isn't any difference between a bad can of tuna and a bad contemporary painting,” complained Arthur Grimpson, director of the Store, a commercial arm of Detroit’s
Museum of New Art.
"That’s an argument we can win,” said FDA spokesman Phil Burnette. “Especially, when it comes to protecting our citizens from foreign threats.”
"You don't eat art.," Grimpson ended the telephone interview abruptly.
Chinese manufacturers still add lead to paint and varnish because it is resistant to wear and to moisture. Artists demand that their materials be archival and, likewise, collectors demand that their acquisitions last for generations.
Last year, in retaliation to lax export oversight, China executed its director of the State Food and Drug Administration, Zheng Xiaoyu, for accepting bribes, most notably money but also works of contemporary Chinese art. Some of these artworks turned out to be unsafe art and, many of these, paintings by the artist
Shen-Ba Wong.
Scheduled
to open this Saturday, Wong’s first exhibition in the
USA is now all but dead on arrival. The paintings passed
through customs last week but are now hanging on the walls of
a Detroit gallery that has been ordered not to sell them.
“They’re toxic,” exclaimed FDA’s Burnette. “I wouldn't feel safe in the same room with this stuff, let alone my kid. One square inch of a painting contains enough lead to poison 500 children.”
Grimpson, director of the gallery, plans to move ahead with Wong's opening reception all the same.
“We can’t sell the art. We can’t send it back to China either. And we’ve been fined $600 per painting, irregardless of its scale or quality,” said Grimpson. “And some of these paintings are quite large.”
Working within impromptu guidelines provided by the FDA, the gallery will be allowed to accept a $600 donation for each and every painting, with the advisory that the donor lay another coat of American-made varnish over the foreign-based laminate.
“No one’s making money on the deal,” Grimpson explained. “But at least the fines will be settled. And the art will be deemed safe.”
From the campaign trail in Michigan, John McCain stepped back from a pledge to halt all U.S. imports of Chinese-made art. Instead, the Republican candidate for president reiterated a growing call for warning labels on any Chinese art, whether a real or perceived threat to America.
There is no single U.S. standard for poisonous content in the visual arts, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission primarily works by recalling paintings and sculptures only after they have been found to be unsafe, according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. McCain has complained in the Senate that the agency has dragged its feet too long on protecting Americans from imported contemporary art.
Starting in 2006, Sarah Palin, McCain’s running mate, has supported legislation that would require the Consumer Product Safety Commission to classify any dangerous work of art, most notably books, as a banned “product” under the Hazardous Substances Act. Her efforts have yet to become law.
In his final remarks at the Michigan rally, McCain said as president he would require independent testing of all art before it reaches U.S. shores.
NEWS UPDATE
September 9, 2008
CANVASES OF DEATH
Dangerous Trade Policy to Continue
By Wm. Becker
special correspondent
WASHINGTON (API)
- Turns out that the Bush Administration, while refusing to sign the
Kyoto Protocols, instead has very quietly worked out a side-deal
with the Chinese on toxic import quotas. It's a little technical,
but the agreement means there will only be a slap-on-the-wrist, a
$600 "fine" levied on Chinese high lead-content paintings sold
in the
In exchange, the deal allows the Chinese to import unlimited amounts of American unfiltered and menthol cigarettes, so long as they are not repackaged, shipped back, or sold as "Navaho Slims" through Native American Reservations. Administration officials proudly announced that loophole is now “closed” and off the table.
Still, many in the
art community feel the deal is a little lopsided.
Rear Admiral Steven K. Galson, Acting Surgeon General of the United States, said, “It’s a win-win situation. We’ve achieved a delicate balance in bi-lateral mortalities.”
Arthur
Grimpson, director of
The so-called "Kung Pao Memorandum", as the agreement has come to be known, while having nearly the same effect as an actual trade treaty, will not have to go to the U.S. Senate for ratification, which would have surely pitted free-trade GOP advocates like John McCain against tobacco farmers and cigarette makers in the Republican must-win states of Virginia and North Carolina.
Bush trade negotiator Robert Portman refused to comment on the record but a highly-placed source said the KPM is not nearly as lopsided as it looks--because after seven years a provision kicks in, requiring China to import an enormous number of seasoned U.S. attorneys to handle litigation over cigarette-induced illnesses.
The Museum of New Art (MONA) is located at 7 North Saginaw, Pontiac.
Museum hours: 12pm-6pm Thursday through Saturday.
