Exclusive Interview With Wei Wei, Chairman And Partner Of Li Weige Asia: Gallery Business Is The Reconciliation Of Rationality And Sensibility

In 2020, which has experienced restlessness and revived from trauma, the spring of 2021 will come as scheduled.

From March 25 to May 31, the theme group exhibition "eternal seasons" of Li Weige Hong Kong Space Exhibition in 2021 was opened to the public. The exhibition is divided into two chapters, presenting the scenes of four seasons written by modern and contemporary artists spanning 150 years. The first part focuses on a series of masterpieces of Impressionism and western modern art from Van Gogh's autumn scenery a hundred years ago to the spring flowers by Picasso and Chagall. The next part of the opening ceremony on April 28 will focus on the works of international postwar and contemporary artists, including Andy Warhol, Joan Michel, Yasunari Kusama, Zhao Wuji and Tu Hongtao. For Wei Wei, who planned this important exhibition, the significance of this spring is even more profound. This exhibition is her first answer after she entered the gallery industry.

Wei Wei

Open Wei Wei's circle of friends, her efforts to curate the exhibition almost reappear. In order to match the masterpieces of many masters, Chen Youjian, a famous designer in Hong Kong, was invited to design the furniture in the exhibition, which is full of European style and oriental charm. Flower art was also introduced for the first time on the exhibition site. In consideration of the constant temperature and humidity of the Gallery, Zheng Chen, a famous flower designer, was invited to decorate the furniture with silk flowers Full of meaning. The ultimate pursuit and trueness of every detail may well explain the reason why Wei Wei has been successful in her work.

Recently, Wei Wei, then chairman and partner of Li Weige Asia, was interviewed by the 21st century economic reporter. He talked about his thinking about his career and his long-term observation of the Asian art market.

In 2010, Wei Wei, who was McKinsey's first female partner in Greater China, left McKinsey after 11 years. Two years later, she joined Christie's as general manager of Asia. In 2016, she was promoted to President of Asia; in 2018, she was transferred to Asia. With her understanding of the Asian market and her excellent leadership and communication skills, Christie's Asia business has grown significantly during her tenure, and her clients have performed actively. According to the data, in 2018, Asian customers already accounted for 25% of Christie's global turnover. 70% of Christie's Asian customers come from Greater China. Wei Wei leaves Christie's in August 2019. One year later, Wei Wei joined the international blue chip Gallery L é vy gorvy (Li Weige) and got together to work with Dominique L é vy and Brett gorvy, two former colleagues and founders of the gallery. On October 1, 2020, Wei Wei was appointed as "Li Wei Pavilion".

Talking about the achievements made in Christie's, Wei Wei modestly said that it was the result of team cooperation and was very grateful for the harvest brought by this experience. "From a personal point of view, entering the art circle has provided me with a harvest of art knowledge and an understanding of the entire art market. These are very valuable and will be used for life," she said. Second, I think it's personal connections. In the past, I used to think rationally in McKinsey. In the art circle, I used to rely more on emotional intelligence to deal with people, including how to be a high-level leader and lead the operation of the team. " But no matter the role of consultation or the role of practical command, no matter how high the achievements or titles, Wei Wei has always been very alert to his own state in the work. "For me, there are two things that are very important in my career: the first is passion. Because of passion, we can constantly move forward and try our best regardless of success or failure. The second point is curiosity. If the work I'm doing doesn't make me feel like I'm learning something new every day. If it's not exciting enough and I'm not struggling with myself, I'll find another choice. "

Nearly half a year since taking office, Wei Wei has quickly become familiar with and enter the work of the gallery. In addition to understanding the daily business of Li Weige Hong Kong space, she also looks into the domestic art market. In November last year, Wei Wei inspected the two major art fairs held in Shanghai. She told reporters that, thanks to the courage and support of the government, Shanghai has more and more bilingual talents in recent years, and has built a bonded warehouse of artworks. By constantly "building nests and attracting Phoenix", she hopes to attract more blue chip galleries to settle in Shanghai, making the art and culture industry in Shanghai booming. Although there are still concerns about tariffs and policies, Wei Wei is still full of confidence in the future of the domestic art market. "We are also constantly exploring, and at present the government has a lot of determination, which we feel very lucky about," she said. Li Wei Pavilion will definitely be seen in Shanghai in November this year. "

21st century: Why did you choose to move to the gallery industry, and how did you choose Li Weige among the numerous galleries?

Wei Wei: there's a saying that "you can't walk on your feet". During the turning point of their career, it's better for everyone to choose the next job, half of which is familiar to them and the other half is unfamiliar. Always have a leg that can stand on the ground so you don't fall easily. When I left Christie's, I was determined to stay in the art industry, but I wanted to choose a new format. And the gallery was a very curious business before I left Christie's. Several famous blue chip galleries are no less influential than Christie's and Sotheby's in the world. So after I left Christie's, I went to Harvard for a year, spent months visiting art galleries and galleries, and finally decided to work in the gallery industry.

As for which gallery to join, I mainly consider three factors: first, trust; second, whether the team can complement each other; and third, how much the gallery attaches to the Asian market. Brett, one of the founders of Li Weige, is my former colleague in Christie's, and I am familiar with the Asian team of the gallery. In addition to his long-term interviews in the media, I know that the two founders of Li Weige have great hopes for Asia and have common ideals for the future development of Asia, so they finally chose Li Weige.

21st century: the epidemic has accelerated the digital trade of art industry to a certain extent. In the post epidemic era, what new trends may appear in the art market?

Wei Wei: there is no doubt that online exhibitions and trade fairs have become more active, but I think they still have limitations. Generally speaking, relatively standard works of art are suitable for online trading. The so-called standard means that there are certain standards for the quality, size and number of editions of the painting itself, so collectors do not need to see it with their own eyes. But oil paintings or sculptures are different from real objects. Even if you are told the size of the work, it is difficult to have a realistic feeling. Once more than a certain amount of art transactions, many people need to see before trading, so online trading has its limitations.

Because of the epidemic situation, many people are used to online trading and remote trading. In the post epidemic era, they will exist normally and become an important means of trading in the future. But correspondingly, the development of long-distance trading will also have an impact on the art fair. After experiencing the epidemic, galleries realized that they could get good sales without going to so many art fairs. In addition, even after the open travel, many collectors may not want to go out for quite a while. After all, the Art Fair is a high-risk scene, so there will be objective concerns. In terms of quantity, the number of art fairs in Europe and the United States may decrease in the future, but the number in Asia may increase. At present, the node of the Asian Art Fair is just the low position of the S-shaped curve. Therefore, it is expected that in the next three to five years, there may be a process in which art fairs will blossom everywhere, and then there will be the survival of the fittest among art fairs.

The 21st century: in your impression, art is a kind of perceptual thing, and then business is more rational. How to manage the business of art gallery?

Wei Wei: Gallery is essentially a company and a business form. It also has a profit and loss statement. For any practitioner, this is the most rational part of it, which can not be denied. But art happens to be soft, and everyone has a love for beauty, so it has an idealistic color. If you simply consider buying and selling, you can maximize profits by directly participating in the Art Expo and selling paintings to collectors. But when you have a space, you actually add this ideal to yourself: you have to present an exhibition, and the exhibition should not only be academic, but also have the idea of curating. This exhibition also reflects the balance between rationality and sensibility. Sometimes, when you know that some works will not be suitable for the commercial market or will not be liked by Asian audiences, you have to put them in because they are very important in the international art history or in guiding the future trend. There is a harmony between ideal and survival, which we as a gallery always have to balance.

?