Van Gogh on Demand: China and the Readymade
"Unsettles contemporary art's unspoken hierarchies and topples modernist and postmodernist assumptions about originality, authenticity, and authorship." —caa Reviews
In a metropolis in south China lies Dafen, an urban village that houses thousands of workers who paint van Goghs, Da Vincis, Warhols, and other Western masterpieces for the world market, producing an astonishing five million paintings a year. Winnie Wong infiltrated this world, first investigating the work of conceptual artists; then working as a dealer; apprenticing as a painter; surveying wholesalers and retailers in Europe, East Asia and North America; establishing relationships with local leaders; and organizing a conceptual art exhibition for the Shanghai World Expo. The result is Van Gogh on Demand, a fascinating book about a little-known aspect of the global art world—one that sheds surprising light on the workings of art, artists, and individual genius.
Wong describes an art world in which migrant workers, propaganda makers, dealers, and international artists make up a global supply chain of art. She examines how Berlin-based conceptual artist Christian Jankowski, who collaborated with Dafen's painters to reimagine the Dafen Art Museum, unwittingly appropriated the work of a Hong Kong-based photographer Michael Wolf. She recounts how Liu Ding, a Beijing-based conceptual artist, asked Dafen "assembly-line" painters to perform at the Guangzhou Triennial, styling himself into a Dafen boss. Through such cases, Wong shows how Dafen's painters force us to reexamine our preconceptions about the role of Chinese workers in redefining global art.
"[A] fantastically detailed exploration of a topic which touches the heart of many of the issues surrounding China's economic rise." —South China Morning Post
1114940242
Van Gogh on Demand: China and the Readymade
"Unsettles contemporary art's unspoken hierarchies and topples modernist and postmodernist assumptions about originality, authenticity, and authorship." —caa Reviews
In a metropolis in south China lies Dafen, an urban village that houses thousands of workers who paint van Goghs, Da Vincis, Warhols, and other Western masterpieces for the world market, producing an astonishing five million paintings a year. Winnie Wong infiltrated this world, first investigating the work of conceptual artists; then working as a dealer; apprenticing as a painter; surveying wholesalers and retailers in Europe, East Asia and North America; establishing relationships with local leaders; and organizing a conceptual art exhibition for the Shanghai World Expo. The result is Van Gogh on Demand, a fascinating book about a little-known aspect of the global art world—one that sheds surprising light on the workings of art, artists, and individual genius.
Wong describes an art world in which migrant workers, propaganda makers, dealers, and international artists make up a global supply chain of art. She examines how Berlin-based conceptual artist Christian Jankowski, who collaborated with Dafen's painters to reimagine the Dafen Art Museum, unwittingly appropriated the work of a Hong Kong-based photographer Michael Wolf. She recounts how Liu Ding, a Beijing-based conceptual artist, asked Dafen "assembly-line" painters to perform at the Guangzhou Triennial, styling himself into a Dafen boss. Through such cases, Wong shows how Dafen's painters force us to reexamine our preconceptions about the role of Chinese workers in redefining global art.
"[A] fantastically detailed exploration of a topic which touches the heart of many of the issues surrounding China's economic rise." —South China Morning Post
26.99 In Stock
Van Gogh on Demand: China and the Readymade

Van Gogh on Demand: China and the Readymade

by Winnie Wong
Van Gogh on Demand: China and the Readymade

Van Gogh on Demand: China and the Readymade

by Winnie Wong

eBook

$26.99 

Available on Compatible NOOK devices, the free NOOK App and in My Digital Library.
WANT A NOOK?  Explore Now

Related collections and offers

LEND ME® See Details

Overview

"Unsettles contemporary art's unspoken hierarchies and topples modernist and postmodernist assumptions about originality, authenticity, and authorship." —caa Reviews
In a metropolis in south China lies Dafen, an urban village that houses thousands of workers who paint van Goghs, Da Vincis, Warhols, and other Western masterpieces for the world market, producing an astonishing five million paintings a year. Winnie Wong infiltrated this world, first investigating the work of conceptual artists; then working as a dealer; apprenticing as a painter; surveying wholesalers and retailers in Europe, East Asia and North America; establishing relationships with local leaders; and organizing a conceptual art exhibition for the Shanghai World Expo. The result is Van Gogh on Demand, a fascinating book about a little-known aspect of the global art world—one that sheds surprising light on the workings of art, artists, and individual genius.
Wong describes an art world in which migrant workers, propaganda makers, dealers, and international artists make up a global supply chain of art. She examines how Berlin-based conceptual artist Christian Jankowski, who collaborated with Dafen's painters to reimagine the Dafen Art Museum, unwittingly appropriated the work of a Hong Kong-based photographer Michael Wolf. She recounts how Liu Ding, a Beijing-based conceptual artist, asked Dafen "assembly-line" painters to perform at the Guangzhou Triennial, styling himself into a Dafen boss. Through such cases, Wong shows how Dafen's painters force us to reexamine our preconceptions about the role of Chinese workers in redefining global art.
"[A] fantastically detailed exploration of a topic which touches the heart of many of the issues surrounding China's economic rise." —South China Morning Post

Product Details

ISBN-13: 9780226024929
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Publication date: 12/22/2022
Sold by: OPEN ROAD INTEGRATED - EBKS
Format: eBook
Pages: 475
File size: 68 MB
Note: This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

 Winnie Wong is a junior fellow in the Society of Fellows at Harvard University. She lives in Cambridge, MA, and Shanghai.

Table of Contents

 

List of Illustrations

 

Introduction: After the Copy

Chapter One: Imagining the Great Painting Factory

Chapter Two: The Conceptual Artist and the Copyist Painter

Chapter Three: True Art and True Love in the Model Bohemia

Chapter Four: Step 18: Sign “Vincent”

Chapter Five: Framed Authors: Conceptualism and the Dafen Readymade

Conclusion: Conceptual Painting, China Dreams

Epilogue

 

Acknowledgments

Glossary

List of Chinese Names

Notes
Sources

Index

From the B&N Reads Blog

Customer Reviews