Chinese galleries surprise New York audience

A Painting of Thought, by Zhao Yao.

"The fair is not a shopping mall and we don't expect instant profits. We want to show the infinite potential of emerging Chinese artists."

Tinari says the China focus engaged people with a mini-tour of excellent home-grown galleries, providing access to the professional quality and the tendencies of Chinese contemporary art.

"Chinese contemporary art has been a common yet rather unfamiliar face in the international art ecology. People prefer to treat it like an object of ridicule. They mostly talk about the true and false of works and their prices. Many people know only one or two Chinese artists and they believe they've seen them all," he says.

He says that people overlook a reality that is happening on a daily basis-that contemporary art has become deeply rooted in the soil of the country, and its maturity as a system and inner force are increasing day-by-day.

Only a few years ago, Chinese contemporary art was considered underground and deviant. Today, more young people choose to live as independent artists. Home-grown artists and curators have broader visions, but meanwhile are subject to a dangerous factor that affects their career-the rise in prices is motivated by irrational marketing hype rather than academic judgments.

"A lot of artists have been corrupted by over-commercialization. They equal the values of their works with auction records, and they only cater to the ever-changing market tastes," says Feng from Space Station. "Only a few will sacrifice the short-term benefits of mass production and devote themselves wholeheartedly to creating, just for a decent solo exhibition three years later."