Changing geography of art in Beijing
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Blueprint of the new Wall Art Museum. |
Art enthusiast
Though he is a significant force in today's Chinese contemporary art world, Li is not as good at talking about himself and wooing the media as many other, so-called art celebrities, who manage to keep themselves in the spotlight.
"I'm doing what I'm capable of doing, nothing to fuss about," said a smiling Li, who seemed gentle and reserved.
However, his ambitions extend well beyond the Wall Art Museum. Li said that he would work on presenting a series of important exhibitions of Chinese art at world-class museums abroad, with a budget of about 500 million yuan ($76 million), since promoting domestic artists has long been his dream.
A successful businessman who has been collecting and researching art for decades, Li has his sights set on many goals in the Chinese art scene. He felt that it is his mission to do whatever he is "able to help with taking forward the art scene in China."
Chairman of the Board of China Forestry Holdings Co. Ltd, and executive director of China International Economic and Cultural Association, Li Guochang is among the few who started collecting Chinese art as early as in the 1980s.
Li started his collection of Chinese modern art, also in the 1980s when he was working at the Foreign Ministry. He is acquainted with many Chinese art celebrities such as Wu Zuoren, Li Keran and Fu Baoshi.
Although his initial interest was in antiques and traditional Chinese paintings, Li later turned enthusiastic about avant-garde Chinese art in the early 1990s, when few of these artists were recognized within China or in the West.
It is too early to say whether the Wall Art Museum will realize the dreams and ambitions of its founder. What is certain is that the rise of such a multifunctional art museum would be good for the fine arts as well as cultural life in Beijing, according to Zhao Jun, an independent art critic.
