M+ Sigg Collection: Four Decades of Chinese Contemporary Art – the first-ever chronological exhibition of the emergence of Chinese contemporary art – is now open at ArtisTree.

Through more than eighty works by fifty artists – including Ai Weiwei, Fang Lijun, Geng Jianyi, Huang Yong Ping, Zhang Peili and Zhang Xiaogang – the exhibition illustrates the evolution of Chinese contemporary art from its inception in the 1970s up to the vibrant art scene of today. The carefully curated selection of painting, sculpture, photography, performance documentation, video, installation, and multimedia from the M+ Sigg Collection also gives a glimpse of the collection that will be on display when the M+ building opens in 2019.

The M+ Sigg Collection is an extraction from Swiss collector Uli Sigg's unique collection. The Sigg Collection is universally recognised as the largest, most comprehensive and important collection in the world of Chinese contemporary art from the 1970s to the present. The collection is especially important as a historical ‘document’ of one of the most culturally dynamic periods in modern Chinese history

Accompanying the exhibition is a series of public learning programmes that includes guided tours, school tours, teachers’ workshops and a private viewing and special talk for secondary teachers.

Date and time: 23 February to 5 April, open daily 11am–8pm
Venue: ArtisTree, Taikoo Place, Quarry Bay, Hong Kong

Currently on show in Cambridge, Massachusetts (USA), is an extensive survey exhibition of contemporary Indigenous art, with a raison d’etre to “introduce audiences to the central role that Indigenous art plays in the global narrative of contemporary art”.
 
From the press release:
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“Everywhen: The Eternal Present in Indigenous Art from Australia surveys contemporary Indigenous art from Australia, exploring the ways in which time is embedded within Indigenous artistic, social, historical, and philosophical life. For Indigenous people, the past is understood to be part of a cyclical and circular order known as the “everywhen”; conceptions of time rely on active encounters with both the ancestral and natural worlds. While the exhibition focuses on the last 40 years of Indigenous art, it also includes historical objects from the rich collections of Harvard University’s Peabody Museum of Archaeology and Ethnology to underscore both the continuity of cultural practice and remarkable adaptive innovations.
 
The exhibition showcases more than 70 works drawn from public and private collections in Australia and the United States, and features many works that have never been seen outside Australia. Works by some of the most significant contemporary Indigenous artists will be on view, including Rover Thomas and Emily Kam Kngwarray (both former representatives at the Venice Biennale); Judy Watson, recipient of the 2006 Clemenger Contemporary Art Award; Doreen Reid Nakamarra, who participated in dOCUMENTA (13); Vernon Ah Kee, who has also exhibited at the Venice Biennale, and most recently, the Istanbul Biennial; and the visual and performance artist Christian Thompson, who was recently mentored by Marina Abramović in Australia.”
 
 
On View: February 5, 2016–September 18, 2016
Harvard Art Museums
32 Quincy Street
Cambridge, MA, 02138
USA

The 2016 National Works on Paper is now accepting submissions.

The Mornington Peninsula Regional Gallery’s National Works on Paper was established in 1998 and incorporated the former Spring Festival of Drawing and the Prints Acquisitive which began in 1973. National Works on Paper is one of Australia’s most prestigious awards and acquisitive exhibitions. A biennial exhibition, its role is to support and promote contemporary Australian artists working on or with paper. Recent winners of the National Works on Paper include Laith McGregor, Richard Lewer, Danie Mellor, Gareth Sansom, Paul Boston, Lisa Roet and eX de Medici. The winner of 2014 National Works on Paper was Jess Johnson

Private Art Museum Report 
Edited: Larry’s List, AMMA (Art Market Monitor of ARTRON
Publication January 2016

Recently, Larry’s List* published its findings on privately founded contemporary museums.  Drawing on its own database (approx. 3000 private collectors/private collections), in addition to a survey undertaken by  the “Art Market Monitor of Artron”, (AMMA) which is based in China, the “Private Art Museum Report” seeks to “investigate[s] a particular group of contemporary private art collectors: collectors who have decided to make their collection publicly and physically accessible. They are collectors with financial means and an unquenchable thirst for art who have established a space or a private museum to show their collection to the public, often with the goal of promoting art appreciation” (Foreword, Christoph Noe, Co-Founder and Director of Larry’s List, Hong Kong, November 27, 2015)
 
The report's Key Findings were as follows:

• To date there are 317 privately founded contemporary art museums in the world.
• The top 5 ranks by number of museums are held by South Korea, the United States, and Germany, followed by China and Italy.
• The South Korean city of Seoul leads the ranking with 13 museums, followed by Berlin and Beijing with 9 each.
• Over 70% of private museums were founded after 2000.
• More than one third (35%) of private museums have over 20,000 visitors per year.
• The average size of a private museum is 3,400 m2.
• The average age of a private museum founder is 65 years.
• 81% of private museum founders are men.
• Private museum founders want to give back something to the region in which they live. 59% of them decided to build the museum in their respective place of residence.
• The mission of most private museums is not only to be a venue for showing an art collection, but also to demonstrate the philanthropic mission of supporting and enhancing the city’s or region’s cultural landscape.

 
 In the coming weeks I will be looking at Private Museums within Australasia...

 
* Larry's List is the leading art market knowledge company providing data, research and access to contemporary art collectors. The Larry’s List Art Collector Database contains over 3,000 profiles of art collectors from more than 70 countries – based on the most comprehensive research ever done on art collectors. The database provides information on private art collections including artists and artworks collected, collectors’ ranking positions, and their activities on the art market. It is a practical tool for professionals and art enthusiasts presenting a detailed and comprehensive portrait of today’s contemporary art collectors. The company is headquartered in Hong Kong.. Larry’s List was founded in 2012 and is backed by world-leading art collectors.