Man on Chair　Installation　He Xiangyu

For Chinese contemporary art, viewpoints from Chinese critics are naturally important. However, those “insiders” views are also inevitably limited or biased. An interpretation of Chinese contemporary art from the perspective of a foreign critic must be a different approach of insight. Karen Smith, an art history expert nicknamed “Marco Polo” in contemporary arts traveling in China for 20 years, is just the best candidate.

Marco Polo spent 17 years in traveling throughout China, and The Travels of Marco Polo, a written collection of his experience in China, aroused European’s enthusiasm for the Orient. The advanced communication and Internet circumstance have unveiled all the mysteries in the world. In the meanwhile, there are still many "Marco Polo" in every profession to act as “eyes” or “megaphone” during the exchange of China and the outside world. Such a group of foreigners occur in the Chinese contemporary art, who observe the art development from their unique angle and discover artworks and artists. Uli Sigg, Guy&Myriam Ullens, Laurence, Brown and especially Karen Smith, a British art historian in Beijing, all deserve the title of Marco Polo in the Chinese contemporary art.

Having lived and worked in China for 20 years, Karen has witnessed the development of Chinese contemporary art. In recent years, contemporary art, undergoing many astonishing changes, has made its position on the stage from underground, and instead of being marginalized, become the focus in the limelight. It is no longer a nobody abandoned in the corner but a superstar spoiled by media and capital. With the price rising from tens of thousands sharp till tens of millions at the auction, contemporary art has become luxury in the international stage. Just like economy, it reaches climax after development, and in the same way, it encounters bubble and recession in coincidence with the global financial crisis. On the eve of economic recovery, how to make Chinese contemporary art rational and attain sound development is a question worth thinking of. From the unique perspective of Karen Smith, we hope to find the right direction among the thick mist.