Melissa Chiu on Collecting Contemporary Asian Art

NEW YORK—Before Melissa Chiu became director of New York’s Asia Society Museum, she was its—and the country’s—first curator of contemporary Asian art. Now, with the Asian art market booming, she’s getting more exposure than ever: Charta just published her book Breakout: Chinese Art Outside China; “Altered States,” the Zhang Huan retrospective that she curated, opened September 6 at the Asia Society; and last week the institution announced that it would begin to build a collection of contemporary Asian art.

Chiu spoke with ARTINFO about the Chinese market, the Asia Society’s new collection, and her role at the institution.

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Melissa, since its inception in 1956, the Asia Society has acquired only traditional art. Now, suddenly it’s going to start collecting contemporary Asian artworks. Are you just trying to cash in on a boom?

Ha! Let’s remember that the boom is only two years old, and that Asia Society has been doing exhibitions of contemporary art for at least ten years. It’s only time that we initiated a collection.

As your new book makes plain, you’re an expert in the Chinese art scene. Is there a Chinese artist that nobody has heard of yet that you would recommend buying?

There are many, many, many Chinese artists that people have not heard of, but none that I would feel comfortable recommending that people buy.

Does that mean that you’re keeping them to yourself?

I’m not a spokesperson for the market. I work for a museum. We show the artists that we think are visionary.

Is it true that the crucial moment for creating a collection was when you and Vishakha Desai, president of the society, persuaded long-time supporters and trustees Harold and Ruth Newman to fund it?

Indeed.

And they offered $1 million to get things started?

Yes.

Harold Newman summed it up like this: “She finds the art and we buy it.” Is it really that straightforward?

In some ways, yes. The Newmans have great faith in me and my colleagues, and they’ve been very generous.

You’ve set yourselves a $10 million endowment goal. How is that going?

It’s going well. We’ll let you know when we have a further announcement.

Let’s talk about Zhang Huan. What’s so special about his work?

The hardest thing for most artists is to have new ideas, to avoid copying their old ideas, especially when there’s market pressure. Zhang Huan has been able to keep making creative, valuable works that say something about his own relationship to the world.

He admits that his art is now made on something like a production line. Is this an appropriate way for art to be made?

I don’t judge how art is made. I judge the end result.

A lot of people are suggesting that the Beijing Olympics should be boycotted to protest human rights abuses in China. Should we boycott Chinese art as well?

Why should it be boycotted? Chinese artists don’t represent a country or an ideology. They are individuals creating works that are inspired by many different things. I don’t understand why you would associate them with an ideology in any shape or form.

A lot of economic analysts agree that the booming Chinese economy will inevitably suffer some sort of correction. How will that affect Chinese artists?

Corrections don’t affect artists who are able to keep on creating great work. They have an effect on artists who are not creating art of great quality.

How will a correction affect collectors of Chinese art?

For smart collectors, it won’t affect them at all.