At a time when a contemporary Chinese painting can fetch more than US$4 million - as Yue Minjun's The Pope did at a Sotheby's auction in London two months ago - it's easy for the art circle to get a little heady. But Pi Li's feet are firmly on the ground - it's his job to ensure that mainland artists benefit from their works on a long-term basis.
'Although the market is doing well, the future for Chinese art isn't good,' the 33-year-old Beijing-based independent curator says. 'The artists are quite rational, but the market isn't.'
Pi was recently appointed a co-director of the curatorial committee for the Artist Pension Trust (APT) Beijing, part of a global investment programme established specifically for emerging and mid-career artists. Under the plan, artists agree to provide 20 works over 20 years for the benefit of a community of artists. So far, there are 250 works in total, worldwide. They'll be collectively maintained, exhibited and sold at appropriate times to generate income for a pension fund pool. The artists will benefit annually and in the long term.
The curatorial committee - comprising curators, gallery owners, academics and art professionals - selects the artists. Sitting on the Beijing body, for instance, are curator Hou Hanru and Long March Project founder Lu Jie.
The trust was established in 2005, with committees also in Berlin, London, Los Angeles, Mexico City, Mumbai and New York. Japan and South Korea were added under the Beijing office last year, allowing the committee to select artists from almost the whole of the region.
That Pi was chosen for the job surprised few. The son of pioneer art critic and former art magazine editor Pi Daojian and an owner of the 1,200 square metre Universal Studios art space in Beijing, Pi has curated for projects including the Chinese pavilion at the Sao Paulo Biennale (2002) and the first overseas Chinese contemporary art exhibition at Pompidou Centre in Paris (2003). His two-year-old studio is now gearing up for December's Art Basel Miami.