On a cold winter afternoon, the dark cavernous turret at the old city wall in Beijing is deserted. Uniform wood pillars in fading imperial red soar three-storeys high, holding up thick beams that support the heavy tiled roof. This gloomy and spare structure stands in sharp contrast to the vigorous and abstract paintings in the spotlight on its gray brick walls.

If you are intrigued by this juxtaposition of the past of conformity and the rebellious present, welcome to Red Gate Gallery.

To its owner, Brian Wallace, the setting of his gallery embodies the essence of contemporary Chinese art where strong feelings about the traditional culture and the latest social trends are expressed in ultra-modernist styles.

Chinese art is rapidly gaining in appeal to international connoisseurs and collectors, says Wallace.

The rising commercial value of contemporary Chinese art has spawned a large business in Beijing, Shanghai and Hong Kong where art galleries specializing in modern Chinese paintings of a wide variety of styles can be seen increasingly on main streets and in shopping malls.

Rongbaozhai, one of the oldest art dealers on Liulicheng Street, better known as Beijing's antique row, has introduced elements of modern design into one of its ancient stores to exhibit the works of selected contemporary Chinese painters. On Hollywood Road in Hong Kong, many antique shops that used to sell porcelain ware or Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) furniture have been converted into art galleries specializing in modern Chinese paintings.

Wallace, an Australian national who has spent many years in Beijing, is one of the pioneers of the modern Chinese art market. He and a few other foreign art dealers have been credited with introducing contemporary Chinese paintings to Western collectors.

"It's a form of cultural exchange," Wallace says. In addition, operating a gallery can be quite profitable.

Hong Kong used to be the centre for Chinese art. Modern Chinese paintings adorn the headquarters of many Hong Kong corporations where millions were paid for the works of better-known Chinese painters. While connoisseurs focus on the paintings of a few masters, the average Hong Kong person is happy to spend a few thousand Hong Kong dollars on a Chinese painting to decorate his or her home. It is the trendy thing to do.

This trend is also taking hold in major mainland cities as rapid economic growth is bringing increased prosperity to many families. The proliferation of home furnishing stores in Beijing is a testimony to the rising standard of living.

Of course, a home cannot be considered fully furnished without some sort of wall decoration. And therein lies the demand for paintings.

In Beijing, most of the modern galleries are operated by young people in their 30s who are themselves interested in contemporary art. Other than in the downtown areas, some galleries have found a home in converted factory buildings which provide a large space at low cost to exhibit the artwork.

"The market is developing very fast. We are seeing more exhibitions, more galleries, and more customers," says Wallace.

Wallace met a group of young Chinese painters when he came to Beijing to study art at the Renmin University of China in the early 1990s. With a degree in marketing from an Australia university, Wallace immediately saw the potential of his friends' paintings in overseas markets.

Since then, Wallace has helped launch many young Chinese artists in the international arts arena. He says he likes working with relatively younger artists.

"The price of their works ranges from several hundred US dollars to over US$2,000," says Wallace. Because of relatively low prices, the potential for appreciation is high, he says.

Many of his customers are foreign collectors looking for paintings that reflect the rapidly changing economic and social landscape of China, Wallace says. This type of art is best illustrated by the series of three paintings by Yang Mian, one of Wallace's contract artists.

Aptly entitled "Crack," the paintings show fissures in flaming red across surreal images of modern housing estates. They are meant to protest against the rampant destruction of the old neighbourhoods together with the familiar way of life to make way for the many nondescript tenement blocks that are sprouting all over many Chinese cities.

Unlike Wallace, Zhang Siyong, who owns Beijing's New Millennium Art Gallery, is not a marketing person. He is a painter and his own works are sold mainly in Hong Kong. His Beijing gallery serves mainly as a launching pad for struggling young Chinese artists mostly in their 20s and 30s.

Located at the Diyang Plaza, a newly completed office building, the New Millennium Art Gallery is furnished in a slick modern style that matches well with the paintings on exhibition there.

"It took five and a half years before the gallery could break even," says Zhang. "Art galleries are a long-term investment," he says.

So is art collection, according to Zhang. Although he is confident that prices for paintings by his artists on contract will eventually go up, "it will take many years before that happens," he says.

So far, Zhang has signed agent contracts with 15 artists, who are all very young. In fact, some of them are still attending art schools.

Their paintings are priced at between a few hundreds yuan to 2,000 yuan (US$241). The most expensive one ever sold by the gallery was an abstract painting by Chu Yu, who was born in the 1970s.

Zhang says that his gallery seeks to attract office workers between the ages of 35 and 45 years. "These are the people who have developed a taste for the arts and have the means to acquire what they like," he says.

Zhang says the majority of his clients are buying art to decorate their homes. Few of them are buying as an investment. But this may change, he says, as the art market matures.

There must be sufficient trading activity in the market before it can become an investment tool with a market value, he adds.

As a dealer, Zhang spends a lot of time with the artists in arranging exhibitions and publishing collections of their work. Of course, they talk about money. But since young artists have low incomes, Zhang always winds up footing the bills for promotional events.

"The initial capital came from an international cultural institute, which supported my efforts to promote the young Chinese painters," says Zhang.

Though he may keep a tight grip on the finances, Zhang does not direct the artists' work. "I am also a painter. I respect the talent of my artists," said Zhang.

In fact, exchanging with the artists helps to spur his own creativity which translates into his works, which sell well in Hong Kong.

At this time, Zhang is studying at Beijing University in art management.

Far away from the downtown is Artist Village Gallery Songzhuang Village owned by Li Sali who advertises mainly through magazines, newspapers and on the Internet. "Business is just so-so," she says. But "it's really a hobby for me," she adds.

But for the people at Beijing Season, located in eastern Beijing's Jiuxianqiao 797 factory area, the goal is to make money. They are well-known in Beijing's art circle for their ability to identifying market trends and "packaging" star artists to impress foreign buyers.

Wang Ping, a young researcher with the Economic Research Institute at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, is a collector of contemporary paintings and has become a frequent visitor and customer at some modern galleries in Beijing.

Wang says all of his collections are based on his own art appreciation and does not follow the crowd.

"Most buyers now buy what they like paying little attention to the investment aspect of art collection," Wang says. But "this is going to change," he says, adding that more people are buying paintings as investments.

Wang is a frequent visitor to the Guardian Auction events to see for himself the workings of the arts market. But so far, he has not sold any of his collection for profit.

"I am still learning," he says of his arts investment activities. Williams Blair, an American working in Beijing's embassy area, is also a fan of Chinese contemporary art.

"I just bought what I liked at that time," he says. "But they appreciate in value in the future, that's a bonus," says Blair.

(Xinhua News  Agency  April 9, 2004)