Favourites!

Yes, I know! I'm a hopelessly bourgeois git who shouldn't be allowed to give an opinion on the merit of any piece of art ... but when has that ever stopped me.

So, out of the many thousands of installations, which ones did I like best?

Well, without a shadow of a doubt, my very favourite would have to be this one:

Ethereal, delicate, clever, just slightly left-of-centre, and all those subtle shades of grey. Mmm mmh! Totally yum, and, you know, I last saw this three days ago and it's still in my head, like the pictorial equivalent of some annoying song that you can't stop yourself humming.

And I loved this one; a giant red painting - about 12 foot high - of Leonardo da Vinci, hero, role model and patron saint of Dafen, The Artist Village of Shenzhen. Wouldn't be at all surprised if this painting came from there.

And it also wouldn't surprise me in the slightest if this series came from Dafen as well:

You remember that original artist in Dafen who I'm forever talking about, who does these strange skew-whiff portraits of people that are astonishingly good, and whose name I can never discover because he's always out? Well, this Stephen Hawkings series is painted by a fellow called Yang Xu, and next time I'm in Dafen I will definitely be finding out Our Artist's name because I reckon these are his. (Another post, obviously!)

And max-ing out my bourgeois git credentials, I just love this painting:


And the reason I love it is that Keith owns more than half those shirts and this actually looks like his closet.

And I loved this "Tweetie and Sylvester" installation:

And I loved this half-painting/half-sculpture horse:

I found it very clever; a seamless piece of clever-clever and innovative work that both breaks new ground and actually works on an aesthetic level. Totally rare, that is!

And here's another half-painting/half-sculpture that I loved to death:


And I love this:

I always find this artist's work very sinister, but so very, very beautiful.

And these two pieces: re-workings of Renaissance masterpieces, but double-click to see what has been done to them:
And this series:

It's a series so small and with such gorgeous detail you have to view them through magnifying glasses, which the installation kindly provides, and, yes, I noticed how very like Australian artist Valli Meyers exquisite little masterpieces these are and I too wonder if this artist has seen that artist's work or whether it's just a certain kind of woman does work like this.

And I know I've already shown you this installation ...

... but no harm in seeing it again.

However, I won't show you other favourites that I've already shown you: the lace chassis, the Mao struggling towards Liberty, the mosaic dresses, the bottle-top rug, the ...

Just look in the posts below and find them for yourself.

As for the painting I'd most like to possess and put on my wall - almost always a different thing from paintings you love most - I'd definitely choose this one:


And I would like to have these in my house as well, although they are a little too overpoweringly cute-sy to have in a room I go into often, so maybe in the spare bedroom:


Don't want to wind up this post just yet. So much was good and beautiful and need to show you more.

Like, whoever knew that Tibet was producing such fabulous and important paintings:

Only two of them.

Actually, I did. Or rather, I should have because I saw some many months ago (and I blogged the one that impressed me the most) but then forgot about them.


And these paintings. This is only one of a series ...

... where he took the same painting and painted it again in different locations, while gradually and progressively hacking up the inside-painting in each of them. Profound! Although a waste indeed of a very fine inside-painting.

And I totally adored this series of photographs:

This is only one set of shots, but you should see the terrible things the photographer did to this "aesthetically challenged" poor old lady. Although she looks a right grump in all of them, she must have had the best sense of humour to go along with it all.

And this one I loved because of the skill involved:

From every angle those drops of water keep on looking like drops of water. Fabulous 3-D effect. And it's just a painting too! Kudos, Artist-person, kudos!

Those are my favourite pieces, although my favourite artist would have to be the guy who made these:

The statue holding up the entrance.

Isn't he just wonderful. Actually, I had a big wake-call about what a lousy photographer I am when I saw this photograph taken of this mighty figure by a 'real photographer':

Photograph NOT by me!

But ignore how lousy I am, and let's look at more of how great this guy is:

Do you too just love this guy? What a mighty artist! What mighty art!

However, given the absolute fabulousness of so much that was in here, you will never ever imagine the installation that won the big prize? Here you go:

Best of Show

You're going "Where? Where's the art?" aren't you! No, that's what won! Two type-writers, two rolls of tin foil and an alarmingly stupid piece of Chinglish on the wall.

Lots of folk were furious. When asked to justify the award, the judges said "It's functional and people were using the installation in a meaningful way." Ummm? If that's a criteria for art, and I totally think it's not, first prize should surely have gone to these very art-ish seats in the wine bar. I mean, look at them:

Like, how are those typewriters "ART" when these seats aren't?! Honestly! Judges!!!