As Chinese artist Ai Weiwei's exhibition is opening at the Royal Academy this month, a few tips about investing in contemporary Chinese art could be of interest to the more adventurous. I went to Shangai to find out more about the opportunities
1.
It is a new
market and growing quickly so ready to enter. Chinese contemporary art only
started in the 80’s. The
‘new media art’ includes video; installations, sound and anime.
Much
traditional Chinese art was destroyed during Mao’s reign because it was considered bourgeois. It was burned on fires during the revolution.
Contemporary Chinese art really started to emerge in the 1980’s when Mao died
(1976) and less restrictions were in place.
One of the cutting art
galleries in Shanghai is ShangArt but if you want to
see the video installations, many are not available on the web because of poor
internet connections and an inability to upload them so it means going to China
to see them.
2. Communication barrier creates a multitude of problems finding
information and getting around even when helped by concierge.
It is commonly known that
the Chinese authorities block services like Facebook and Google. Internet is very patchy across
mainland China. So where it might work well in Pudong which is a financial
district it may not work at all elsewhere. Old fashioned
methods work best. You have to go and see people. Get a map translated into
English and walk to galleries or get the tube. Google and googlemaps
don’t work. Other map services are not translated into English outside Shanghai.
Taxi drivers have a
habit of saying no to any request.
3.
You will need to
visit China to see and buy the art. A sense of adventure is
needed.
In order to research what
you like you will need to allocate a few days to an art search. To save time and adventures make sure you have a taxi
primed by your concierge to stay with you all day and to return you to base.
Taxis are cheap – equivalent of about £2 to our £10 journeys and they are on a
meter. Plan your route and get the concierge to explain it to the
driver. The metro doesn’t cover some areas. China is a
vast country so you simply are not going to be able to walk
everywhere or take the train. Many use scooters but this is a very uncoordinated affair with scooters on pavements, crossings and on the road.
4.
Why you need
to dig deeper than the internet. Most art from well known Chinese names
accessible in the West is already out of price range even for big collectors.
You need to visit individual artists galleries.
50Moganshan Road is the art district in Shanghai. Pricing has
increased substantially. Though prices by some artists with their own
spaces might be £500 compared to £ 5000 in the UK, you will potentially need a few thousand pounds to do some art shopping and
there is a real variability in quality. Shipping it back is
another problem. Some artists who open at 50Moganshan
are gone in a year or so. Galleries here who have stayed
the distance have seen their art grow and are no longer charging in Yuan – they
now price in dollars so Island6 for instance had seen prices for individual
works increase from $6000 a few years ago to now $25-30,000 dollars. These are
being snapped up by organisations like the Swire Group of Hotels in Hong Kong
for their hotel properties. A top tip is August when the market is slow for
art, so visiting individual artist galleries will see you able to offer less
than marked up prices. Also Chinese generally who are not involved with the
international market have a different perception about what is expensive.
5.
Top tip for
the future is sculpture installation art for gardens.
One of the most striking
pieces I saw was by Zhang Chao at the Blue Roof Art Museum. His sculpture installation piece was bamboo, cement and wire in a
garden. When the viewer looks at the piece which feels like it has the energy
of Stonehenge you hear a chime. You wonder how the piece
makes the sound but it isn’t the construction – it has sound installation
internally making the noise. Not only is this an example of the hidden artists because of
the communication difficulties between China and the West but it is possibly a
new area of development for places like the UK as we renovate our properties
and seek more options on what to do next. It is also an undeveloped area of
private art investment.
6. This is of international interest. Germans may have
more opportunity to buy because of work connections.
Gallerists
in 50Moganshan reported high sales to Germans and although Chinese sales
of traditional art were improving to the Chinese, they will only buy ‘what they
like’ in the contemporary world – not for investment. The German market might have developed more because of the established business connections selling in machinery and cars to
China. The art districts though are not on the business beat so
if you are serious you will need to plan regular trips with cash to buy.
The growth in prices
is astronomical but for the investor a finger in the wind guestimate is
probably x10 in a decade
7. Chinese art purchaser Kao Yungi says
in South China Morning Post, that you have to get to know the
artists in order to buy effectively. He now operates YQK Deshan Art space in
Beijing to bring the hidden artists into the wider world – again nothing
comes up on the internet searches. He details the changes in price. Artist Liu
Xiaodeng “disobeying the rules” was bought for 200,000 HK$ ($26,000 or £17,000
approx) and sold for $66.2million HK$ (around $8million and £5million). Kao
Yunqi says that art is worth generally around 10 x the price in ten years so
there needs to be a longish term horizon.
8.
Patchy
offerings and patchy galleries and artwork. You will need a good or experienced
eye to buy or to buy only what you can live with and like.
Visiting
50Moganshan there were some very exciting galleries – many with art out of
price range but there was also a lot of really low quality work that will not
stand the test of time. As with all art and property
investment you have to be able to live with your decision if it doesn’t go up
in price. Make sure you want it on the wall or are prepared to suck up a bad
investment.
9.
You will need CASH.
Western China which has the exceptional Blue Roof Art Museum, is not
entrepreneurial. People work like public authority hours and there is no real
motivation to sell art. Credit card machines rarely work. Cash is king, but you
will not be able to get it from ATMs.
10.
Chinese art
is niche but trending so be prepared for a cartel from gallerists and auction
houses.
There is
an investor's opportunity in buying Chinese art, but like property searching in the UK, it will take MONERGY – money
and energy.
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