{"id":366,"date":"2012-04-19T04:19:00","date_gmt":"2012-04-19T04:19:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.randian.art\/?p=366"},"modified":"2022-09-15T09:12:23","modified_gmt":"2022-09-15T09:12:23","slug":"pioneer-swiss-art-dealer-urs-meile","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.randian.art\/zh-hant\/pioneer-swiss-art-dealer-urs-meile\/","title":{"rendered":"Pioneer Swiss Art Dealer Urs Meile"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

by Iona Whittaker, translation by Song Jing \u5b8b\u4eac<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Urs Meile was born in Switzerland, the son of a modern art dealer and collector, and established a self-titled gallery for contemporary art in Lucerne in 1992. After visiting China on the invitation of Uli Sigg in 1995, Meile opened a Beijing branch housed in a series of Ai Weiwei-designed buildings in Caochangdi in 1996. Since then Galerie Urs Meile<\/a><\/strong> has grown to become one of China\u2019s most reputable contemporary art galleries, representing Qiu Shihua, Ai Weiwei, Cheng Ran, Wang Xingwei and Yan Xing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Iona Whittaker: Your father collected art \u2014 how did he influence your interest?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Urs Meile:<\/strong> When you grow up with art, step by step you become interested in it. My father was a collector of and dealer in modern art. He always told me, \u201cDon\u2019t do anything with contemporary art, that\u2019s the worst!\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IW: Why was that?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

UM:<\/strong> Because you don\u2019t earn money! It\u2019s a completely separate target. But that\u2019s how I became more and more interested.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Urs Meile [courtesy: Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing-Lucerne]. 
\u4e4c\u65af\u2022\u9ea6\u52d2 [\u56fe\u7247: \u9ea6\u52d2\u753b\u5eca]\u3002<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

IW: It was your friend Uli Sigg who precipitated your first visit to China. What were your circumstances at the time?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

UM:<\/strong> I had started very late with the gallery. That was in \u201992; at the beginning of the \u201990s the market was very bad so you couldn\u2019t do anything properly. I was always collecting contemporary art. By June \u201997 the market was so bad you couldn\u2019t sell any art anyhow.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IW: What did you imagine about the trip? Did you have aims for it?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

UM:<\/strong> I had absolutely no idea about China. When I was at school and university we were taught that China was the big danger. But then when Uli became the Swiss Ambassador he called me and said, \u201cI have an embassy here, I have a driver, I have a cook and people do art.\u201d It was that simple, just \u201cCome and have a look.\u201d That\u2019s how it started, in January 1995.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Ai Weiwei, untitled (wooden ball), Huali wood, \u00f8 65 cm, 2010 (No. 18) [courtesy: the artist and Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing-Lucerne]. \u827e\u672a\u672a, \u300auntitled (wooden ball)\u300b, \u6728, \u76f4\u5f8465 cm, 2010 (No. 18) [\u56fe\u7247\uff1a\u827e\u672a\u672a\u548c\u9ea6\u52d2\u753b\u5eca]\u3002<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

IW:<\/strong> The two of you toured round studios for two years \u2014 can you remember any of the curiosities or questions that arose for you as you went?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

UM:<\/strong> Of course, you had hundreds of questions. You saw a lot of paintings and performance, because at that time there were no real exhibition spaces. Performance meant you could just do something, and when the police came it had already happened. You couldn\u2019t even remember how you got the information because there were no publications. You just heard it. You went there \u2014 maybe it was already closed, or opened for an hour. Everything was like that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Galerie Urs Meile Beijing-Lucerne, Beijing, China [courtesy: Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing-Lucerne].
\u5317\u4eac\u9ea6\u52d2\u753b\u5eca [\u56fe\u7247: \u9ea6\u52d2\u753b\u5eca]\u3002<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

IW:<\/strong> Did you find there were particular questions the artists had for you, as visiting outsiders?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

UM:<\/strong> It was very difficult to have a real discussion, because if they had a concept they were not used to articulating it \u2014 the response would be, \u201cMmm, I just do it.\u201d The first thing they were thinking when they looked at you, a stranger, was money<\/em>: \u201cFinally I can sell something.\u201d It took five, six, or seven years until they became familiar with you. It was a very strange situation.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

IW: So meeting Ai was a big trigger.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

UM:<\/strong> Yes, absolutely. I visited him at his studio but there was no art \u2014 nothing! Just some old pots and I said, \u201cWhat the hell is this guy doing?\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Li Gang, \u201cIt (No. 2),\u201d transparent packing tape on acrylic board\uff0c
180 x 120 cm, 2010 [courtesy: Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing-Lucerne]. 
\u674e\u94a2, \u300a\u5b83\u300b (No. 2)\uff0c\u900f\u660e\u80f6\u5e26\uff0c\u4e9a\u514b\u529b\uff0c 180 x 120 cm, 2010 [\u56fe\u7247\uff1a\u674e\u94a2\u548c\u9ea6\u52d2\u753b\u5eca]\u3002<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

IW:<\/strong> How did you conceptualize your early shows?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

UM:<\/strong> It was initially my target to give an overview of what was going on; I was still searching for the right thing to do. We started with Ai Weiwei about whom I was completely convinced, even though for another eight years there was no market and people were telling me I was a complete idiot.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Qing Dynasty houses (1368-1911), wooden base, 422 x 1106 x 875 cm, 2007 [courtesy: the artist; Leister Foundation, Switzerland; Erlenmeyer Stiftung, Switzerland and Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing-Lucerne]. 
\u827e\u672a\u672a\uff0c\u300aTemplate\u300b\uff0c 1001\u6247\u7528\u88ab\u62c6\u9664\u7684\u6e05\u660e\u4e24\u4ee3\u623f\u5c4b\u6728\u95e8\u7a97\uff081368-1911\uff09\u521b\u4f5c\u7684\u6728\u5236\u5ea7\u57fa\uff0c422 x 1106 x 875 cm, 2007 [\u56fe\u7247: \u827e\u672a\u672a; \u745e\u58eb Leister \u57fa\u91d1\u4f1a; \u745e\u58eb Erlenmeyer Stiftung \u548c\u9ea6\u52d2\u753b\u5eca]\u3002Switzerland and Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing-Lucerne]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

IW:<\/strong> What was the reaction to the show in Switzerland?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

UM:<\/strong> People had no idea and did not understand what was going on. They immediately compared the work with what had happened during the last 80 years in Europe. They were very curious about this exotic moment and what would happen rather than fascinated by the content of the artworks.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Iona Whittaker, translation by Song J … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":380,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[17],"tags":[105,144,68,109,145,29,143],"yoast_head":"\nPioneer Swiss Art Dealer Urs Meile - \u71c3\u70b9 Ran Dian<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/www.randian.art\/pioneer-swiss-art-dealer-urs-meile\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"zh_TW\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Pioneer Swiss Art Dealer Urs Meile - \u71c3\u70b9 Ran Dian\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"by Iona Whittaker, translation by Song J … Continue reading →\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"http:\/\/www.randian.art\/pioneer-swiss-art-dealer-urs-meile\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"\u71c3\u70b9 Ran Dian\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-04-19T04:19:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-09-15T09:12:23+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/randian-art.s3.ap-east-1.amazonaws.com\/2022\/09\/03AiWeiwei_Template_2007.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"660\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"442\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Christopher Moore\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Christopher Moore\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"\u9810\u4f30\u95b1\u8b80\u6642\u9593\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 \u5206\u9418\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.randian.art\/pioneer-swiss-art-dealer-urs-meile\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.randian.art\/pioneer-swiss-art-dealer-urs-meile\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Christopher Moore\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.randian.art\/#\/schema\/person\/21b1847a0437023bf9ee1aec41477222\"},\"headline\":\"Pioneer Swiss Art Dealer Urs Meile\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-04-19T04:19:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-09-15T09:12:23+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.randian.art\/pioneer-swiss-art-dealer-urs-meile\/\"},\"wordCount\":811,\"commentCount\":0,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.randian.art\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Beijing\",\"Galerie Urs Meile\",\"gallery\",\"Iona Whittaker\",\"Lucerne\",\"Ran Dian\",\"Urs Meile\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Features\"],\"inLanguage\":\"zh-TW\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/www.randian.art\/pioneer-swiss-art-dealer-urs-meile\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/www.randian.art\/pioneer-swiss-art-dealer-urs-meile\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/www.randian.art\/pioneer-swiss-art-dealer-urs-meile\/\",\"name\":\"Pioneer Swiss Art Dealer Urs Meile - 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