Real Fake Art
Michael Wolf
Asia One
English
Co-published by Peperoni Books.
Text by Boris von Brauchitsch.
Hardcover
128 pages
340 x 250 mm
2011
ISBN 9789881971692
Strange, this is how these pictures appear at first sight. In front of typical Chinese urban backdrops young Chinese people present oil paintings by American and European artists from different epochs. Rembrandt, Van Gogh, Andy Warhol, Ed Ruscha, even photographs by Lee Friedlander, William Eggleston, Bernd and Hilla Becher or August Sander can be found among the works. In fact we see pictures of a multi-million dollar industry – the production of copies of popular artworks, which are sold at giveaway prices into the whole world. Van Gogh: $75, Andy Warhol: $ 45, Ed Ruscha $ 50. The hand-painted copies mainly come from China, the buyers can almost entirely be found in the United States and Europe, the countries of origin of the unaffordable originals. Michael Wolf has photographed the Chinese copy-artists in a unique way and in his pictures he has placed manifold relations between the picture subject, the urban environment and the portrayed artists, that reach far beyond the superficial humour.
(source: https://www.brucesilverstein.com/publications/michael-wolf5)
About the Artist
Michael Wolf (b. 1954, Munich) is a German-born artist who was raised in the USA. He studied at the University of California in Berkeley and the University of Essen (Folkwang school) in Germany with Professor Otto Steinert. He has lived and worked as a photographer and author in China since 1994. His works have been shown in museums around the globe, with many being represented in important collections. To date, Wolf has published nine books: China im Wandel (Frederking und Thaler, 2001), Sitting in China (Steidl, 2002), Chinese Propaganda Posters from the Collection of Michael Wolf (Taschen, 2003), Hong Kong front door/back door (Thames and Hudson, 2005; Steidl, 2006), The Transparent City (Aperture, 2008), two-volume set Hong Kong Inside Outside (Asia One Books and Peperoni Books, 2009), Tokyo Compression (Asia One Books and Peperoni Books, 2010), Real Fake Art (Asia One Books and Peperoni Books, 2011) and the latest Tokyo Compression Revisited (Asia One Books and Peperoni Books, 2011).
photomichaelwolf.com
(source: https://editionbooksigned.com/michael-wolf-tokyo-compression-2010-deluxe-1st-edition-book-w-signed-photograph.html)
About the Publishers
Established in 2007, Asia One’s book imprint is one of the most prolific publishers on art and culture topics in Hong Kong. AOPP strives to create and offer works that represent Hong Kong’s creative scene as it develops, documenting its stories while showcasing its talented artists, photographers and designers. The Asia One publishing arm’s services and capabilities include editorial, design, colour management, ISBN applications, distribution and marketing.
asiaone.com
(source: http://www.asiaone.com.hk/artsculture)
Founded by Hannes Wanderer in Berlin in 2004, Peperoni Books is dedicated to contemporary photography and the publication of high-quality photobooks.
peperoni-books.de
(source: https://www.cafelehmitz-photobooks.com/en/by-manufacturer/peperoni-books/)
