Uli Sigg 乌利-希克
From ArtSpeak China (ASC) Wiki
Uli Sigg, a Swiss media executive and former ambassador to China, is widely considered the most influential collector of contemporary Chinese art in the world. He possesses a collection that numbers over 1,200 pieces--ranging from canvases to videos, photographs and installation. In 1998, he created the Chinese Contemporary Art Awards to honor achievement and talent within the Chinese art scene. Born in 1946, Sigg now works in Zurich, Switzerland, and lives nearby in Lucerne.
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[edit] Date & Place of Birth
Uli Sigg, born in 1946, grew up in Switzerland.
[edit] Education & Development
Uli Sigg completed his studies in 1976 from the University of Zurich, where he earned a PhD in Law Faculty.
[edit] Career
Directly following his graduation, Sigg worked as a journalist and editor for various Swiss newspapers and magazines. From 1977 to 1990, he worked for Schindler Company, a Swiss-based technology group and the largest manufacturer of escalators (and second largest manufacturer of elevators) worldwide. There he held positions as Area Manager for Asia Pacific and later as a member of the Group Executive Committee and Shareholders Board.[1]
Sigg first travelled to China as a representative for Schindler, which sent him to negotiate a contract between the two countries. Sigg recalls in a 2004 interview with China.org his low expectations for the trip: "Before I visited Beijing in 1979, as a representative for the Schindler company, I didn't think that this country, a thousand kilometers away from me, had any link with my life." But that fateful trip was to prove him wrong--and change his life.[2]
Rita Sigg, 47, a physician who accompanied her husband to Beijing, felt underwhelmed by the official state functions she and Mr. Sigg were obliged to attend. "The state officials were stiff, a bore," she said. "But we felt right at home with the artists."[3]
In 1980, Sigg negotiated on behalf of Schindler with the Beijing government, creating what would become the first joint venture between China and the West since the creation of the PRC in 1949.[1] He remained Vice-Chairman of that venture for ten years, and went on to serve on the boards of a number of global companies until the mid-1990s.[1]
Sigg's first-hand knowledge of Chinese culture led to his appointment as Swiss ambassador to China, North Korea, and Mongolia in 1995, a position he held for four years. Today he is the deputy chairman of Ringier Holding AG, Switzerland's largest media company.[2] He also serves as a member of the Advisory Board of the China Development Bank and other Chinese entities.[1]
[edit] Collection
[edit] Artists and Works
After Uli Sigg became the Swiss ambassador to China in 1995, The Siggs soon came to be known within the arts quarters, visiting hundreds of artists' studios and tracking down works many thought had disappeared.[3]
The challenge in the mid-90's was that few curators were trained in contemporary art, and there were no art museums devoted to contemporary art in China. Determined to help document China's contemporary art scene, Mr. Sigg became an ad hoc art historian and collector.[3] Sigg patronized talent from any and every movement, from Political Pop to Cynical Realism. Young, emerging talent is represented right alongside China's hottest "historic" artists, like Yue Minjun, Fang Lijun, Zhang Xiaogang. As ambassador, Sigg took advantage of his contacts not only to buy art but also to bring Chinese artists to the international stage. He invited the Swiss curator Harald Szeemann, a legendary force in international art fairs, to China, a visit that resulted in the inclusion of 20 Chinese artists in the 1999 Venice Biennale.[3]
While Sigg focused on fresh talent, he did not scoff at the Socialist Realism that popular avant-gardists of the 1980s and 90s were replacing. The results of his sprawling detective work tend to be more surprising to Chinese viewers than to foreigners unversed in the historical particulars. "The Chinese, when they see this painting, they are overwhelmed, they think how is it possible that it still exists?" said Mr. Sigg, gesturing toward "Divert Water From the Milky Way," a Socialist Realist canvas from the Cultural Revolution years depicting workers springing into action to build an aqueduct. To find this 1973 work, the collector tracked down some long-forgotten artists in Shenyang, a center for the production of propagandistic art during the Cultural Revolution. When that period ended after Mao's death in 1976, many of those artists feared condemnation or reprisals. Some stealthily removed their works from the walls of government buildings and hid them away under beds and behind drop cloths. "They were surprised that I would take an interest in these paintings," Mr. Sigg said, "but they were also proud of these paintings as the highlight of their professional careers."[3]
[edit] Exhibition
centuries-old Chinese game enjoyed worldwide, players rely on rules and chance as they collect matching sets of tiles. The skill lies in recognizing the best opportunities for making high-scoring combinations," making it an apt title for this exhibition and collection.
[edit] Emergence & Reception
Uli Sigg has been recognized numerous times by ArtNews magazine in their annual list of the world's Top Art Collectors. He has been called "the ambassador of Chinese art to the West" by legendary Swiss curator Harald Szeemann.[4] Scholars have even compared his collection to that of Italy's Medici family, who leveraged their wealth to support the artists and sculptors of Florence, turning the city into the cultural center of Europe.[2]
Above all, Sigg has been praised by the artists whose work he collects. "Sigg always wants to be #1 in whatever area he is involved in," says internationally renowned artist Zhou Tiehai, winner of the 1998 CCAA. "Chinese contemporary art would look very different if not for him, and so would my life. I wouldn't have been able to afford to buy a house without him collecting my works." Chinese curator Gu Zhenqing, who is also a jury member of this year's CCAA, echoes Zhou: "He has contributed so much in promoting Chinese contemporary artists to the world stage," Gu says. "Even in China, there is not a single award, aside from the CCAA, to encourage contemporary art."[2]
Sigg's influence in the contemporary art community is
illustrated by an apocryphal tale that artists like to tell about him:
it is said that once, when visiting an artist's home, Sigg was bitten
by the artist's dog -- and thanks to that "unpleasant" experience, the painter
remained an obscure artist. For the record, Sigg denies it ever
happened, but the point remains.[2]
cannot be shown in China, due to some reasons."[2]
[edit] Secondary Activities
In 1998, Uli Sigg created the Chinese Contemporary Art Awards (CCAA), which honors talented contemporary Chinese artists. At the 2008 award ceremony, held at the Ullens Contemporary Art Center in Beijing 798's Art District, Liu Wei (b. 1972) took home the Best Artist Award, and Ai Weiwei received the Lifetime Achievement Award.
Sigg is a member of the International Council of New York MOMA and the International Advisory Council of Tate Gallery, London.[1]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 http://www.123people.com/ext/frm?ti=person%20finder&search_term=uli%20sigg&search_country=US&st=person%20finder&target_url=http%3A%2F%2Flrd.yahooapis.com%2F_ylc%3DX3oDMTVnZjM2OGo5BF9TAzIwMjMxNTI3MDIEYXBwaWQDc1k3Wlo2clYzNEhSZm5ZdGVmcmkzRUx4VG5makpERG5QOWVKV1NGSkJHcTJ1V1dFa0xVdm5IYnNBeUNyVkd5Y2REVElUX2tlBGNsaWVudANib3NzBHNlcnZpY2UDQk9TUwRzbGsDdGl0bGUEc3JjcHZpZANob0VhN1dLSWNyb0pRaVZ6NXN1MjdFMDBXODV4Q1VwM0lKOEFBOEU4%2FSIG%3D11iennnq2%2F**http%253A%2F%2Fwww.whartonbeijing09.com%2Fbio-sigg.html&section=weblink&wrt_id=227
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 http://www.china.org.cn/english/NM-e/98257.htm
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 http://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/15/arts/design/15coll.html
- ↑ http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:6rbkCEZDkmMJ:www.marcspiegler.com/Articles/ArtReview/ArtReview_2004_11_Sigg.PDF+szeemann+uli+sigg&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
