Amy Purssey is the heartthrob hustler, champion of fresh young Chinese talent and gal about town.
Amy Purssey is the titillating taste-maker championing fresh Chinese talent before it blows up. She fights for the rights of artists beyond the obvious, often seeking out bleeding-edge and experimental names we hadn’t heard about but already adore. Working at NYC’s kickass Klein Sun Gallery — an art space that excels at showcasing all sorts of gnarly-cool works from China’s most frontline artists — she and her gallery gang give us rare insights into the tongue-twisting, mind-bending recesses of the Chinese imagination. From Shi Jinsong’s narcotic knockoffs, Ling Jian’s saucy surrealism, Zhang Yue’s vibrant visual fables and Liu Bolin’s cryptic compositions, Amy shows us art as kitsch, craft, freaky form and otherworldly consciousness. She describes her role as “creatively engaged and stemming from a belief that to try to define what later will be understood as the history of a particular aesthetic or genre is one of the most rewarding aspects of being a curator,” she says in her impeccable English drawl (Amy cut her teeth at London’s lofty Goldsmiths and worked closely with Damien Hirst for a while). “I love Chinese contemporary because it is fundamentally fresh. Whether Political Pop art, Wounded Romantic Spirit or Neo-Cacophony, there is something magical and insightful about China’s energetic artscape.
A daring visionary princess of phantasmagorical Middle Kingdom mondos, Amy’s curatorial alchemy is peppered with effervescence, Chinese-ness and oodles of originality. Z!NK recently talked with the British bombshell about her new TV show, art maverick Liu Bolin and the status of Chinese art today.
What’s Chinese Contemporary all about?
China is at once a uniquely modern and deeply traditional society. Chinese social and political life is based largely on events of the last 4 decades, since the end of the Cultural Revolution in 1976 forced a hard re-examination of values, art and everyday existence. The art scene in China is an attempt to reconcile the constantly shifting currents of society, politics, the economy, etc. while maintaining a connection to deep cultural roots and classicism. The new gen are more rooted in the everyday competition of urban life and globalization and are striving for creative freedom and dignity. Ai Weiwei and Yue Minjun, perhaps the two leading exponents of Chinese contemporary art, are just the tip of the creative iceberg. At Klein Sun we’re all about incubating off-kilter and underground talents, for whom there is an insatiable interest and demand around the world.
Contemporary art in China seems to be a man’s world. What’s up with (the lack of) female Chinese artists?
Yeah, the distribution of Chinese art is skewed in favor of guys, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any girls in the game; on the contrary, there are bucketloads of female Chinese artists who kickass and are starting to get their kudos. Watch out for names like Lin Tianmiao (already a bigwig in the global art game), Ma Qiusha, Cui Xiuwen, Gao Rong and Han Yajuan, to name just a few.
What’s it like to work at one of NYC’s coolest galleries?
Klein Sun is really cool! It’s a privilege to work with such talented and impassioned team who bring Chinese contemporary works to the forefront of the public.
You recently put on an exhibit featuring top dog artist, Liu Bolin. Can you talk about that?
Yeah, Liu Bolin is amazing! He makes rollicking hybrid art (photo-montages, paintings, installations, etc.) with subliminal signals, cool color fields and cryptic codes. We did his ‘Invisible Man’ show and it was a spectacular success! I love him for his aesthetic-metaphysical take on art and Pop culture.
As an Assistant Director, what do you do day to day and what is division of labor like at work?
Putting together collections, organizing press initiatives, planning exhibition programs, executing the logistics and communicating with China are just a few of the things we do. It’s fundamentally a team effort, and my amazing colleagues play an important role in bringing avant-garde Chinese artists to NYC and the rest of the world. It’s all very stimulating, cross-cultural and cool. I love my job!
What is your latest project?
I’m working on initiatives to bridge art and fashion within the context of Chinese contemporary. It’s a work in progress and involves mixed-media, etc.
What’s your new TV show all about?
Haha, it’s called “Taking New York” and airs Feb 09 on Channel 4. It follows the professional and social lives of a group of young Britons in NYC trying to make it in the Big Apple. It’s really cool and you get to see the trials and tribulations of being a hustler in NYC’s concrete jungle. Oh, and my twin, Megan, is also part of the cast. We can’t wait! http://www.channel4.com/programmes/taking-new-york
What was it like to work with Damien Hirst?
It was fantastic! My sister and I were the subjects of some of his compositions and Spot Paintings and I learned tons about the art game.
What do you do for fun?
I love work out at Barry’s Bootcamp, chill with my friends and brush up on my Chinese.
KleinSunGallery.com CODY ROSS
photography 史金淞 / KLEIN SUN GALLERY / Brittany Kubat
