Unmasking the Canon: The Role of the Uli Sigg Collection in the Construction of the Contemporary Chinese Art Canon By Rosemary Victoria Margaret Marland, B.Hum. Hons. A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Graduate Studies and Research in partial fulfilments of the requirements of the degree of Master of Arts in Art History: Art and Its Institutions Carleton University OTTAWA, Ontario September 20, 2009 © 2009, Rosemary Victoria Margaret Marland Library and Archives Biblioth&que et 1*1 Canada Archives Canada Published Heritage Direction du Branch Patrimoine de l'6dition 395 Wellington Street 395, rue Wellington Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Ottawa ON K1A0N4 Canada Canada Your file Votre r6f6rence ISBN: 978-0-494-58461-3 Our file Notre reference ISBN: 978-0-494-58461-3 NOTICE: AVIS: The author has granted a non- L'auteur a accorde une licence non exclusive exclusive license allowing Library and permettant a la Bibliotheque et Archives Archives Canada to reproduce, Canada de reproduce, publier, archiver, publish, archive, preserve, conserve, sauvegarder, conserver, transmettre au public communicate to the public by par telecommunication ou par Nnternet, preter, telecommunication or on the Internet, distribuer et vendre des theses partout dans le loan, distribute and sell theses monde, a des fins commerciales ou autres, sur worldwide, for commercial or non- support microforme, papier, electronique et/ou commercial purposes, in microform, autres formats. paper, electronic and/or any other formats. The author retains copyright L'auteur conserve la propriete du droit d'auteur ownership and moral rights in this et des droits moraux qui protege cette these. Ni thesis. Neither the thesis nor la these ni des extraits substantiels de celle-ci substantial extracts from it may be ne doivent etre imprimes ou autrement printed or otherwise reproduced reproduits sans son autorisation. without the author's permission. In compliance with the Canadian Conformement a la loi canadienne sur la Privacy Act some supporting forms protection de la vie privee, quelques may have been removed from this formulaires secondaires ont ete enleves de thesis. cette these. While these forms may be included Bien que ces formulaires aient inclus dans in the document page count, their la pagination, il n'y aura aucun contenu removal does not represent any loss manquant. of content from the thesis. M Canada Abstract This thesis explores the role of private collections in the construction of the art canon. Private collectors have played one of the most influential roles in the dissemination of what is now understood as the contemporary Chinese art canon. The Uli Sigg Collection was one of the main catalysts behind the canon's development, primarily due to its presence at the 48th Venice Biennale in 1999 and the "Mahjong" international touring exhibition (2005-ongoing). This research traces the development of the Sigg Collection which both determined Sigg's collecting practices and the collection's position to the canon. Using the idea that repetitive exposure is a mechanism of canon formation, I argue that the collection's presence at the Biennale and "Mahjong" functioned as manifestations of the contemporary Chinese art canon according to Sigg, and contributed to its influence on other private collectors: a cultural trend which has subsequently been coined as "The Mahjong Effect". ii Acknowledgements It is with great pleasure that I take the opportunity to express my gratitude and sincere appreciation to the following people: Dr. Alice Ming Wai Jim for her wise, critical, and thought-provoking insights, and for her dedicated commitment in seeing this project through to the finish; Dr. Ming Tiampo for inspiring me to focus on contemporary Chinese art and for her enthusiasm in helping me follow it all the way to Shanghai. I would also like to thank the members of my defence committee: Dr. Mitchell Frank, Dr. Carol Payne, and Jonathan Shaughnessy. Many thanks are also due to my parents and brothers for their endless encouragement, support, and patience along the way, to the Ferrets (especially Laura Hammond) for laughter, stories, and shoulders, and finally, to Jeffers Lennox for love and translation. iii Table of Contents Abstract ii Acknowledgements iii Table of Contents iv List of Appendices v List of Illustrations vi Introduction 1 Chapter One Collecting Patterns of Contemporary Chinese Art 25 Chapter Two The Uli Sigg Collection of Contemporary Chinese Art 53 Chapter Three Manifestation of a Canon- from the 48th Venice Biennale to the "Mahjong" Exhibition 92 Conclusion 130 Appendices 133 Figures 135 Bibliography 150 iv List of Illustrations Chapter One Figure 1.1 "China Avant-Garde Exhibition," 1989 (installation view) Figure 1.2 Gueng Jianyi The Second Situation, 1987/88 (Detail) Figure 1.3 Geng Jianyi, Hangzhou, 7 June 1989 (installation view) Figure 1.4 Fang Lijun Series 2, 1991-2 Figure 1.5 Li Shan Rouge Flower, 1995 Figure 1.6 Wang Gaungyi Great Criticism: Coca Cola, 1993 Figure 1.7 Wang Jin A Chinese Dream, 1997 Chapter Two Figure 2.1 Mark Constantini Uli Sigg, businessman and art collector, with Yue Minjun's "2000 A.D." at the Berkeley Art Museum, 2008 (San Francisco Chronicle) Figure 2.2 Chang Xugong Portrait of Uli Sigg, 2005 Figure 2.3 Wang Guangyi Behind Bars, 1986 Figure 2.4 Sun Guoqi and Zhang Hongzhan Divert Water from the Milky Way Down, 1973-74 Figure 2.5 Xu Bing Book From the Sky, 1989 Figure 2.6 Ai Weiwei Map of China, 2003 Figure 2.7 Yue Minjun Everybody Connects to Everybody, 1997 Figure 2.8 Zhang Huan Family Tree, 2000 Figure 2.9 Weng Fen On the Wall, Guangzhou (II), 2002 Figure 2.10 Wang Guangyi Materialist (Two Women), 1999 Figure 2.11 Fang Lijun Untitled, 1995 Figure 2.12 Zhang Qun and Meng Luding In the New World: The Enlightenment of Adam and Eve, 1985. Figure 2.13 "Mahjong" exhibition catalogue, 2004 (for Bern, Hamburg and Salzburg) Chapter Three Figure 3.1 Cai Guoqiang Rent Collection Courtyard, 1999 (installation view) Figure 3.2 Li Zhanyang Dying a Martyr: Samuel Keller, Harald Szeemann, Cai Guoqiang, 2007 (Detail 'Rent'-Rent Collection Yard) Figure 3.3 Qiu Shihua Untitled, 1998 Figure 3.4 Zhou Tiehai Press Conference, 1998 Figure 3.5 Yang Shaobing Untitled, 1996 Figure 3.6 "Mahjong" exhibition, entrance. Kunstmuseum, Hamburg, 2006 (installation shot) Figure 3.7 "Mahjong" exhibition, Mao and Pop theme heading. Kunstmuseum, Hamburg, 2006 (installation shot) Figure 3.8 Liang Yuanwei Piece of Life, 2008 Figure 3.9 Xu Yihui Boy Reading Mao Book, 1998-9 Figure 3.10 Fred Wilson "Mining the Museum" exhibition. Maryland Historic Society, 1992 (detail of installation view) v List of Appendices Appendix I Artists exhibited at the 48th Venice Biennale that belong to the Sigg Collection ArtistAppendis frox mII th e 48th Venice Biennale that were exhibited at "Mahjong" vi 1 Introduction "Collecting is a way of taking possession of the world" (Didier Maleuvre)1 The Uli Sigg Collection based in Lucerne, Switzerland, lays claim to being the largest and most systematic collection of contemporary Chinese art in the world. It currently numbers more than 2000 works by over 250 artists, and consists of paintings, drawings, sculptures, photographs, installation works, and video pieces spanning four decades. In 2004, curator Bernhard Fibicher of the Kunstmuseum in Bern described the collection as •3 a one "of scope and quality unparalleled anywhere." This thesis is concerned with the role the private collection of Uli Sigg played in the formation of the contemporary Chinese art canon, primarily through its dissemination in exhibitions. Considering the canon as a cultural construct created through exposure and repetition, I argue that the Sigg Collection of contemporary Chinese art is one of the main catalysts behind the canon's development. The specific character of the collection as being one of the largest, most "unique" and "representative" of the world is a result of both the social and historical developments that were occurring in China during the time that Sigg acquired the majority of the works (1990-2000) and Sigg's position of privilege in China. The thesis begins by mapping the rise of contemporary art in China that produced the cultural climate in which Sigg collected. Within this historical context, private 1 Didier Maleuvre, Museum Memories (Stanford: Stanford California University Press, 1999), 115. 2 "Mahjong Contemporary Chinese art from the Sigg Collection." Press release for exhibition at Berkeley Art Museum, University of California, 10 September 2008- 4 January 2009. http://www.bampfa.berkeley.edu/press/release/TXT0224 (accessed 23 July 2009). 3 "Mahjong Contemporary Chinese art from the Sigg Exhibition." Press release for exhibition at Kunstmuseum, Bern, June 14-October 16 2005. http://www.friedmanbenda.com/exhibitions/2004-06- 14_mahjong-contemporary-chinese-art-from-the-sigg-collection/ (accessed 29 May 2009). 2 collectors were one of the main mechanisms in canon formation. It then examines the ways in which the Sigg Collection was formed, and how it influenced and continues to influence how contemporary Chinese art is understood, presented and disseminated by not only collectors but also its international audiences. The last section of the thesis analyzes the Sigg Collection's positioning in exhibitions, focusing on the inclusion of Chinese contemporary art at the 48th Venice Biennale in 1999 and "Mahjong", the ongoing touring exhibition since 2004. The central argument here will be that the collection's repetitive methodology in its selection of works and themes at each event has effectively contributed towards the construction of a canon. This thesis' theoretical framework takes as its starting point the premise that canons are culturally constructed and created largely through repetition and exposure. Private collectors have played an important, yet largely unacknowledged role in shaping the canon by following the methodology of repetition and exposure when publicising the artwork in their collections.