Aside from respecting geopolitical borders and nationalistic allegiance, why should I value a local artist any more than an artist in China? Is the Chinese artist somehow lesser than the local artist?
>why should I value a local artist any more than an artist in China? //
As I see it part of the function of art is to reflect on the culture the artist is in or a part of. This can't be done authentically from afar.
Another element of this is that artists should be expanding our minds, making us think is one purpose of many artistic creations (some would say that's what makes it art). Partly, I feel, for a society to continue to develop effectively it needs to patronise elements on its philosophical fringes that can move beyond the norms of groupthink, beyond the acceptable establishment paths of thought and then present the ideas experienced in a way that makes others question their position and the progress of that culture.
If we take away the bread and butter work of burgeoning artists then in order to have artists in our local culture that can serve this function in society we need to create some other means to support them.
A foreign artist can't honestly reflect on a culture they haven't experienced, an immigrant artist who comes to experience a new culture can create art that serves both their native culture and the culture they newly experience however - but you can't do that [in the same way] from a room half-way around the globe IMO.
I've spent some time thinking about what you wrote. I think you bring up some very good points.
>Another element of this is that artists should be expanding our minds
I would agree, but I would disagree that art from the Chinese artists in question can't accomplish this. If you saw a painting that came from there, but didn't know its provenance, could it not accomplish this? Would learning where it came from change how you felt about it? One might say these artists are simply copying photographs people send them, and they are, but they are still human reproductions and there is inevitably some element of interpretation on the part of these artists in producing the paintings. As I see it, that is art, and it is no less intrinsically valuable, kitschy as it may be.
Are you really saying that people buying these pictures are buying it for the wrong reason? That their point of buying it is wrong?
It sounds an awful lot like you are trying to project your values on to others. If people agreed with you, they wouldn't buy these paintings. And yet they do, in great numbers.
Some people just want a painting to decorate a wall somewhere, not to tell a story. And doing that, I wouldn't care one bit where it was painted or how many other copies were made.
