【艺·述】 专注今天的中国
——悉尼朱雀画廊馆长左业勤专访
东南网澳大利亚站8月17日讯 （本站记者 彭寒 Key/摄）作为澳大利亚第一家专注于中国当代艺术的商业画廊，朱雀画廊从正式开业至今已经过去了大半年的时间。从自嘲商业头脑和艺术评鉴力都不算好，到如今逐渐吸引到兼具影响力和实力的艺术家和收藏家，馆长左业勤在不断的探索中，也不断给自己制造着惊喜。
本期【艺·述】，带你走近朱雀画廊馆长左业勤。
悉尼朱雀画廊馆长左业勤
一直在学习
业精于勤荒于嬉，“业勤”这样的名字很容易让人联想到刻苦努力的中式成功哲学。业勤本人不可谓不勤奋，从医学界一跃进入艺术行业，隔行如隔山的压力和商业画廊本身的挑战性让她自己也坦言，“开画廊之前工作从来没像现在这样辛苦过。”然而有趣和令人惊喜的是，不同于绝大多数勤勉和有决心的人，业勤用一种浪漫和优雅的方式诠释着自己的勤奋。从去年十月的开业群展《北京 北京》到刚刚揭幕的联展《含沙射影》，左业勤一步一个脚印地朝着自己的目标不断迈进着。
“做了这几个展览我也一直在学习——通过接触许多艺术家，也通过参观其他的博物馆和美术馆。”
“虽然我自己还处于一个比较陡峭的学习曲线上，但收获还是很大的。”
东南网澳大利亚站（以下简称SENAU）：开画廊以来最宝贵的经验是什么？
“最宝贵的一个经验在于，其实有很多人还是对艺术感兴趣的，这点我很高兴。”
“我们得到的支持都比我预期更高一些，这些支持包括关注，收藏等等。在这期间我也结交了许多来自各地的朋友，这个小画廊也变成了许多艺术家和艺术爱好者的一个交流中心吧。”
正在进行的联展，含沙射影
中国当代艺术的三个契机
提起中国艺术，无论是出于媒介刻板印象，或是出于对中国了解的不深入，许多西方人的第一反应依然停留在传统的中国艺术形式上，包括书法，水墨画，陶瓷等等。中国当代艺术在澳大利亚，在业勤看来，是需要一个出口和平台的。
如果说传统中国艺术告诉人们过去的中国，那么当代中国艺术，用业勤自己的讲，就是讲述今天的中国。
“有三个原因我认为中国当代艺术很有吸引力：首先，中国有着非常古老的视觉艺术传统。视觉艺术不是一个新的东西，它在我们的文化里源远流长，一直在发展，这是一个大背景。其次，中国的美术院校在50年代以后都用的是西方古典的教学方式，现在活跃的中国当代艺术家，他们普遍基本技法非常棒，画什么都画得好，所以他们更进一步的表达不受限制。最后，中国在过去30年的时间里社会发生了翻天覆地的变化，许多艺术家用自己的方式在纪录这一切，这很有意思。”
SENAU：以当代艺术为载体，对西方世界了解中国是否是一个更容易的方式呢？
“我同意。当代艺术是没有国界的，不一定非要用语言去过多的描述，对于好的当代艺术所有人都可以有自己的理解。”
画廊空间不算大，但随处可见精巧的设计
商业画廊
艺术家也要吃饭的，商业画廊毫无疑问是艺术介入社会生活最好的途径，或者说必由之路。中国当代艺术在澳大利亚有人欣赏，却没有人专注于此，只有一些画廊偶尔代理中国当代艺术家的作品。
这是业勤最初看到的问题，或者机会。
“全澳洲500多个商业画廊，没有人专注做中国当代艺术，中国当代艺术的质和量都值得一个画廊去全方位的关注。”
“华人收藏刚刚起步，但正如我所说，越来越多的人都在对艺术产生兴趣。”
SENAU：做商业画廊很难，之前有心理准备吗？
“有的。一开始我想可能需要两三年时间积累，再逐渐建立商业模式。”
SENAU：后来呢？
“总的来讲都比预期要好的，每个展览都有收藏，都在扩大我们的影响力，这是对我们的激励。另外，比起商业运作，我们在九个月的时间里已经引起社区和主流社会的关注和兴趣使我更看重的，影响力的拓展毫无疑问是更有价值的。”
Zuo Yeqin,Director of Vermilion Art
Zuo Yeqin and Her Vermilion Art Narrates Now China
By Han, Southeast Net Australia, Aug 17
When Zuo started up her Vermilion Art gallery last October with the group show Beijing Calling, she told the media she did not excel in neither marketing nor art managing, whereas lacks no passion or determination.
Modest as she is, the Chinese-Australian doctor and public health physician who’s now, for almost a year, the director of Vermilion Art, seems very much pleased by what she’s been doing with the non-spacious but of no doubt exquisite art space --- Vermilion Art, the first commercial gallery in Australia with a particular focus of contemporary Chinese art.
“Speaking of either quality or quantity, contemporary Chinese art in Australia is worth focusing on. It tells the story of now China.”
A Steep Learning Curve
Having been a successful doctor, Zuo’s very initial idea of starting up an art space was to let "everyone benefit from good art." However, switching to a brand new industry is very easy. Zuo admits she has never worked this hard ever before.
"I’ve always been learning, from artists, gallery, etc. I understand there is a huge gap in between seeing it as a spare time hobby and doing it as a job." Said Zuo, "I’m still on a steep learning curve, but I never cease to be surprised by myself."
"Commercial gallery is of course a very challenging business. Art piece, for the majority, is not a necessity. I thought I might spend 2 or 3 years before setting up a stable business model and turning it into profit, while certainly it has gone way beyond my expectation in many aspects."
It’s now the sixth exhibition of Vermilion Art that it’s putting on, a joint exhibition foreshadow by contemporary Chinese artists including Guan Wei, Yang Xifa and Tianli Zu. Throughout the last ten months, deals were made in every exhibition.
"It’s not only about sales, of course sales are important. The growing influence of both Vermilion and contemporary Chinese art, in Australian mainstream society or within the Chinese community, mean a lot more to me."
3 Tips About Contemporary Chinese Art
When thinking of Chinese art, many still linger on with traditional art forms of the ancient country, such as ink painting, calligraphy. They are of course important part of Chinese art forms that tells the wonderful story of the nation’s long past, while contemporary Chinese Art, as Zuo puts it herself, tells the story of now China.
"Personally speaking, 3 tips are needed to be paid attention to when it comes to a contemporary Chinese art discussion. Firstly, visual art is nothing new in China. We have a long history and culture of it, and it never stop evolving with time, which has provided a perfect stage for contemporary Chinese artists. Secondly, Art Colleges in China, since the 50’s, have been applying western classic training system in their own institution; therefore contemporary Chinese artists are, without exception, highly qualified and skillful, which allows them to express themselves without any physical limitation. Last but not the least, most artists, having been exposed to the structural change of the Chinese society during the past 30 years, are capable of putting the mixed story in an art form, which could be a very interesting thing."
"I have no doubt that contemporary Chinese art is among the easiest ways for westerners to start to know about the real now China."
