Fringe artists in the entertainment industry

Chapter 265 263. Middle class respectability

Winter in Xiangjiang is really comfortable. There is no raging cold wind, and there is no need to wear heavy coats or down jackets.

Chen Li'an really wanted to spend the winter here, but now he had to go back to the capital.

Also traveling with him was Ji Fa. The two of them were going back to the capital to bring the artists Chen Li'an had communicated with before to Xiangjiang.

By the way, they will bring all their works to Xiangjiang, and the art space will open early.

Chen Li'an felt that this was quite hasty. The original plan was to wait until 1997 to start, but now something unexpected happened and the timing was better.

On the plane back to the capital from Shenzhen, Chen Li'an flipped through the plan Ji Fa and Cheng Shufen made overnight.

It is really a perfect fit for these two women to work together. The plan is perfect, but whether it can succeed depends on the actual implementation.

Chen Li'an and Ji Fa returned to the capital to contact artists in the mainland, while Cheng Shufen began to build momentum in Xiangjiang.

Along with Cheng Shufen is Wang Zuxian, who only knows how to speculate in real estate. She is now worried about whether Cheng Shufen's publicity plan will be effective.

"Sister Shufen, did you really take the initiative to break the news? Will they deny it?" Wang Zuxian asked worriedly.

Cheng Shufen said with a smile: "It is a fact that Liu wants to collect Chen Li'an's works. It is also a fact that he invested so much art and made more than ten times the profit. Why doesn't he admit it?"

After Cheng Shufen finished speaking, she stopped explaining so much to Wang Zuxian and directly began to contact the media to speculate on art investments.

Both financial magazines and gossip magazines were simultaneously published, and Chen Li'an was introduced in detail in the gossip magazines.

The highlight is that Chen Li'an's artwork has increased from US$5,000 to US$3 million in two years!

A six hundred-fold increase! What an exaggeration!

More serious financial magazines are bragging about the booming art investment market. Many foreign wealthy people are investing in art. Hong Kong's most talked-about tycoon Liu also made hundreds of millions of Hong Kong dollars through art investment.

Some celebrity magazines have also begun to brag about which wealthy families actively collect art. Art is also a required course and threshold for social interaction in the upper class.

Most of these examples are special cases among special cases, but they are enough gimmicks that they are still very effective under the overwhelming publicity.

At the very least, many middle-class people who aspire to join the upper class are very excited. Most of the middle-class people themselves are highly educated elites and are no strangers to art.

The most important thing is that the middle class may be the most confident group of people in society. Most of them rely on themselves to become middle class, and they have a spirit of self-importance in them.

Such people are very interested in art investment. First, they need to distinguish themselves from ordinary people, and second, they need to demonstrate their class nature through certain forms and means.

The cost of buying a house or a car is too high, and the savings cannot be used as talking points every day. There are not many choices other than luxury goods that can be used as daily showoffs.

However, luxury goods do not maintain their value or even begin to depreciate the moment they are purchased. Moreover, if you talk too much, you will be misunderstood as a nouveau riche.

Compared with works of art, it is much better, the price is not very expensive, it has investment properties, and it will be very stylish and connotative as a conversation piece.

For such an elite, this last point is important.

In British terms, this is middle-class respectability.

At a certain stage, people will use various things to maintain the dignity of their class.

This kind of propaganda is persistent and appears silently in various places where the middle class has access.

The vocabulary of art investment will continue to appear in the TV programs that the middle class likes, the magazines they like to read, and the places they frequent in the future.

There will also be many people who will deliberately start talking about this topic in circles.

Chen Li'an didn't know whether such publicity would be effective, but he thought it should be able to attract some people.

After getting off the plane in Beijing, Chen Li'an and Ji Fa got busy. Ji Fa was responsible for collecting the artworks, while Chen Li'an was responsible for talking about art and the survival issues of artists with these artists.

Artists who are struggling to make ends meet say they don’t love money but love art, but who would refuse to improve their lives?

No one wants to live in a dilapidated courtyard all the time and have no meal at all.

They are happy to accept someone willing to pay for their art, and the price is not low.

Buying a painting for a few thousand yuan is not cheap anymore. It is already an entire year's income for most people in the mainland.

Of course, Ji Fa and Chen Li'an, who are already somewhat famous or have relatively good works, will not be stingy and will always give the highest price.

They are not capitalists, they are essentially artists, so they will naturally help them within their capabilities.

In Chen Li'an's studio, he had just sent away several painters who had just graduated from college. He turned around and saw Bai Qing sitting in the yard basking in the sun. He walked over and sat next to her and sighed tiredly.

Bo Qing glanced at him and said: "You are doing a good thing. If I could have encountered such a thing, maybe I wouldn't be unable to afford a new canvas."

Chen Li'an smiled and said, "Then you won't be able to meet me."

"Now that I think about it, it's better not to have met you." Bo Qing's eyes fell on Chen Li'an's fair and slender fingers, and he suddenly smiled and said: "If we hadn't met at the beginning, you might still be just an actor now, not great artist."

"What a great artist, I have always felt that I was lucky." Chen Li'an looked at the clear sky and really felt that he was able to achieve his current achievements because of luck.

God gave me a chance to start over again, and even let me slip through the cracks of my fingers.

"Excessive modesty is not a good thing." Bai Qing said with a smile.

Chen Li'an laughed and stood up and said: "Then I will be more narcissistic. I am a great artist!"

Looking at the energetic Chen Li'an, Bo Qing had a bright smile on her face. She liked him like this, just like when she first taught him to draw, he was just a novice but could always give herself so many surprises.

But those memories feel very far away, and the only thing that is fresh is the man in front of me with a charming smile.

Chen Li'an stretched and turned to look at Bo Qing and said, "I want to take your painting with me and put it on display in Xiangjiang."

"Whatever you want, just don't sell it to me."

"Ordinary people can't afford it. When I offered it to an American home for more than one million yuan, you didn't even sell it. Ji Fa is still feeling sorry for the share he didn't get."

Bo Qing and Chen Li'an couldn't help laughing when they said this.

"Are you talking bad about me? I collected fifteen pieces of art today, and I conservatively estimate that I can earn more than fifty thousand US dollars!"

Ji Fa's voice suddenly came from the yard. Chen Li'an and Bai Qing both turned their heads and looked at the fiery Ji Fa. Then they looked at each other and couldn't help but laugh.

"Why are you laughing!" Ji Fa looked at Chen Li'an and Bai Qing with confusion.

Chen Li'an stopped laughing and shook his head and said, "It's nothing. I praise you for your ability!"

"You lied to me!" Ji Fa came up to Chen Li'an and looked into his eyes and said, "You must have said bad things about me! Hurry up and confess!"

Ji Fa started playing with Chen Li'an as he spoke, walking back and forth in the yard like two immature children. Bai Qing sat next to him and watched the show with a smile, but he didn't laugh for a while before Ji Fa accurately attacked him. .

Bai Qing immediately blushed and looked at Ji Fa's hand, turned to look at Chen Li'an and said: "Ji Fa eat my tofu! You take revenge on me!"

Chen Li'an rubbed his nose and said, "This is not suitable for me."

"That's right!" Ji Fa hugged Bai Qing with a smile and said, "Don't even think about touching me, stinky man!"

Chen Li'an: "???" That's not what you said in Xiangjiang two days ago!

Woman, why are you so disrespectful?

After Chen Li'an and Ji Fa returned to Xiangjiang with many works of art, Ji Fa's face changed again. As soon as they arrived at the hotel, he dragged Chen Li'an into the room and refused to come out.

Chen Li'an, who was pushed all the way to the sofa, looked at Ji Fa and asked, "Didn't you say I'm a stinky man?"

Ji Fa, who had just sat on Chen Li'an's lap, paused and looked at him and said, "Do you want Bo Qing to know about our relationship?"

"Okay, but I'm still very angry. You can figure it out yourself." Chen Li'an said with his hands behind his head.

"Stingy man!"

Chen Li'an and Ji Fa returned to Xiangjiang at three o'clock in the afternoon, and it was not until six o'clock in the evening that they came down to the art space to receive the artworks brought from the mainland after being urged by the logistics driver's phone call.

More than 400 pieces of art were inspected one by one, and it took more than eight o'clock to get them all done. Looking at the room full of art, Chen Li'an felt like he was swimming in an ocean of art.

Ji Fa looked at the receipt sheet in his hand a little tiredly, and breathed a sigh of relief and said, "When everything is laid out tomorrow, we can start the next step of the plan."

"How are you going to promote it?" Chen Li'an looked at Ji Fa and asked curiously.

Ji Fa put away the list and said: "Please invite some celebrities to support me. Bernard is planning to go to Japan recently, and I am going to invite him to come and have a look."

"There are also some art collectors who are interested in you. In addition, we will also invite some wealthy celebrities and stars in Hong Kong."

Ji Fa sighed and said, "It's a pity that we are in a hurry this time. I don't know how many people can be invited over."

"Do your best to obey fate. We've already spent tens of millions before we even start. Be careful of losing money."

Chen Li'an felt that the momentum was a bit too big and the initial investment was too much.

Ji Fa shook his head and said: "Most of the tens of millions are fixed assets. Even if it fails, there will be no loss. At most, the publicity fee will not be earned back."

Chen Li'an shrugged his shoulders and said, "Well, I hope it will be successful. This combination of punches should be effective."

"Of course it won't be bad!" Ji Fa said confidently.

In the next few days, Ji Fa and Cheng Shufen began to invite people from all walks of life through their own connections.

Chen Li'an arranges the artworks in the art space. It cannot really be like a supermarket and just find a shelf to put the artworks on.

The pork seller also knows how to turn on a red light.

Chen Li'an carefully arranged the works according to the characteristics of each work of art, and also consistent with the positioning and style of the art space.

Some artworks themselves have certain flaws, which require certain arrangements to make up for them.

Just like an art exhibition needs a curator, works of art also need later installations to embellish them.

Chen Li'an has been busy for several days, staying in the art space almost every day, just like a decoration worker, looking disgraced every day.

Wang Zuxian, who is busy cooperating with Cheng Shufen and Ji Fa to prepare for the opening, will come over to deliver food to Chen Li'an whenever he has time. However, he does not have much time and can only spare more than an hour a day to visit him.

Compared to the busy Wang Zuxian, the princess has a lot of time. In addition to playing mahjong every day, she also sneaks over to see Chen Li'an.

She seems to enjoy this sneaky feeling. Chen Li'an also likes this feeling, but he doesn't dare to indulge too much. Otherwise, if the inspiration is drained, he will not be able to arrange so many works of art.

Chen Li'an, who had been busy for several days, finally breathed a sigh of relief after placing the last work in the right place.

It's time to take a good rest.

After looking around for a week, Chen Li'an took out his camera and took photos of each work. These must be recorded, and the photos must be taken back to show to the authors of these works.

After using up the inventory of more than a dozen film rolls, Chen Li'an was about to go out to buy film when he met Li Lizhen at the door holding a painting.

Chen Li'an looked at the tightly wrapped painting in Li Lizhen's hand, stopped and asked, "Have you finished the painting?"

"Well, let's bring it over and show it to you." Li Lizhen was a little nervous. She raised the hand holding the painting several times and put it down again.

Seeing her anxious look, Chen Li'an was not in a hurry. He raised the camera in his hand and said, "Then you go inside and wait for me. I'm in a hurry to buy film and take pictures of the newly decorated space. I'll be back later. Enjoy your paintings."

"Okay." As soon as Li Lizhen responded, Chen Li'an ran away, leaving her with no chance to say the next words.

"I still want to be with you," Li Lizhen couldn't help but muttered as she looked at Chen Li'an running away.

But that's okay. Li Lizhen is really unsure about her works. She doesn't know how her paintings will be evaluated in the eyes of professionals.

Li Lizhen walked into the art space holding her painting. This place was different from the last time she came here.

The light suddenly dimmed as soon as I entered the door. The light in the hundreds of square meters of the front hall was extremely dim, with only a few small spotlights able to illuminate it.

Oil paintings of different sizes hang on the dark blue walls, and there are several extremely weird installations in the corners of the front hall.

The styles of these artworks are all very different. The installation art looks a bit inexplicable, and the overall tone of the oil paintings is also very depressing. The colors are gorgeous but have a sense of weirdness.

Most of the themes of these works have a primitive and rough aesthetic, very much like the totems and sacrificial objects of primitive tribes.

Li Lizhen looked at the artworks and couldn't tell for a moment whether it was the environment that made her feel, or the artworks that made her feel depressing and weird.

But when she walked through the front hall and turned a corner, she felt that her field of vision broadened instantly. The long corridor was brightly lit and full of technology. The streamlined light strips on the white walls made streams of light, and the walls were inlaid with a series of lights. Each oil painting and photographic work is like the window of a spaceship.

Li Li really felt amazing, as if she suddenly came from primitive society to the future world, without any excess. She felt like a monkey who was suddenly caught on an alien spaceship.

This strong abruptness and contrast made Li Li's heart beat faster and her brain became more active.

Passing through the corridor, her eyes scanned over the artworks one after another. Before she had time to memorize the paintings, the scene in front of her suddenly changed again. This time, the visual impact on her was even stronger. She stood there in a daze for several seconds.

"These are all arranged by Chen Li'an. How did he think of it?"

Li Lizhen suddenly clenched the oil painting in her hand, feeling like she wanted to run away. It was better not to let Chen Li'an see her level.

It's really a bit embarrassing.