Lam Sio Man

Bachelor's degree with a double major in Chinese and Art in Peking University. Master of Art and Administration in New York University. She has served in the Macao Cultural Affairs Bureau, the New York City Department of Cultural Affairs and the Museum of Chinese in America, working as art administrator and curator. She is now working as an art educator and administrator in New York, as well as an independent curator and writer. 

Artistic License: rules or freedom?

10 2019 | Issue35

During the summer, my friend and I visited a new exhibition named Artistic License: Six Takes on the Guggenheim Collection at the Guggenheim Museum in New York City. This is the first-ever artist-curated exhibition at the Guggenheim Museum which provides some interesting and unique perspectives on particular art topics.

 

Artistic License: Six Takes on the Guggenheim Collection exhibits a total number of over 300 contemporary and modern art pieces from the last century through six units. The six units are curated by six heavyweight artists respectively who had exhibited at the Guggenheim Museum before. They are Cai Guo-Qiang, Paul Chan, Jenny Holzer, Julie Mehretu, Richard Prince and Carrie Mae Weems. It is apparent that these artists are very familiar with the language and standards of curating art exhibitions. Their final works are like textbook standard. As for me, the most interesting units are the ones from Richard Prince and Cai Guo-Qiang. The exhibition units do not seem to fit the contemporary and modern exhibition theme. Only when the visitors read the information about the exhibition or have a general understanding of the two artists’ art philosophy will they recognise the fun elements and the hidden messages behind the art pieces.


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 Artistic License: Six Takes on the Guggenheim Collection

Photo courtesy of The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum


Richard Prince is a controversial contemporary artist. His works of art are often products of screenshots of Instagram pictures and are sold at an expensive price. It seems that he is playing with social media and the art market making use of the grey areas in the intellectual property law. At Artistic License, he exhibits abstract paintings collected during the 1940s and 1950s around the world. The exhibiting art pieces seemingly have styles that are very different from his own artistic expression. Prince is, in fact, questioning the assumption that abstract expressionism is an artistic expression originated from the U.S. “Is it really originated from the U.S.? Or there is a universality to it?” these are the questions Prince is asking. In fact, these essential questions are an extension of Richard Prince’s critical reflection on originality, intellectual property and value system. “Who has the ownership of images or works of art? How their value was constructed?” Richard Prince also showcases a collection of art pieces that are related to Jackson Pollock, the renowned abstract expressionist in the last century. One art piece from the collection is an original work from Pollock while the other is from Prince’s personal replica collection of Pollock’s artworks. If you don’t look closely and read the information about the displaying items, it is very easy for you to mistake the replica for an authentic artwork from Pollock. Even more ironically, it remains unknown whether this replica would become famous in the art field because of the exhibition.


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Left: Replica of Jackson Pollock’s artwork

Right: Authentic work from Jackson Pollock shown at Prince’s exhibition unit

 

Cai Guo-Qiang’s exhibition unit is powered by fun elements and sharp artistic expression as well. Cai is the first Chinese artist to curate a solo show at the Guggenheim Museum. Naming his show Non-Brand, Cai aims to explore brand building and authority establishment in the art world. When it comes to the exhibition layout, Cai seemingly adopted a salon-like exhibition design that was popular in the 20th century, refusing to conform to the modern exhibition standards and simplifying the exhibition of artworks. This provides visitors with the opportunity to see the unbranded artworks in art history. Cai not only selected different artists’ early works but also put some of his own early creations in the exhibition to challenge the idea that exhibitions should be academic and objective. He wants to explore another possibility of how art history can be presented by breaking the traditions and standards and constructing a virtual reality. Cai is maximising his freedom and rights as an artist.


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 Cai Guo-Qiang’s salon-like exhibition unit

Photo courtesy of Cai Guo-Qiang Studio


Let’s think deeper about this. What does Artistic License really talk about? Is it just pieces of proof or is it an artistic portfolio? Does it empower artists to have more freedom of does it promote more disciplines? Is it about rights or obligations? I believe a number of meaningful answers are already embedded in the exhibition.