Fabien Fryns is a Belgian art dealer and collector, residing in
Beijing
Beijing, Chinese postal romanization, previously romanized as Peking, is the capital city of China. With more than 22 million residents, it is the world's List of national capitals by population, most populous national capital city as well as ...
since 2004. He has worked in the art world since 1986, specializing in contemporary Chinese art since 2000.
Early life
Fryns grew up in
Belgium
Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...
, and from 1984 to 1988 he attended the prestigious Le Rosey School in Switzerland. He first started dealing and collecting art in 1986, and has been active in the art world ever since. Upon graduating from Le Rosey with an IB, he was the youngest student to enroll in the two year History of Art Course at
Christie’s
Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, and it has additional salerooms in New York, Paris, Hong Kong, Milan, Geneva, Shanghai, and Dubai. It is owne ...
London (1988-1990), graduating with a bachelor's degree in Fine Arts. Thereafter, he graduated from the European Business School (EBS) in London in 1994 with a Bachelor in International Business degree. In 1994 Fryns opened F2 Gallery Ltd, then located in the fabled
Marbella Club Hotel
The Marbella Club Hotel is a hotel in Marbella, Spain.
The hotel is located on the southern Spanish Costa del Sol, on the "Golden Mile" near Old Town Marbella and Puerto Banús.
The Marbella Club Hotel was built in 1954 by Prince Alfonso o ...
in
Marbella
Marbella ( , , ) is a city and municipality in southern Spain, belonging to the province of Málaga in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is part of the Costa del Sol and is the headquarters of the Association of Municipalities of the re ...
, Spain (1994-2004). Subsequently, Fryns partnered with UBS Private Banking and jointly opened Fabien Fryns Fine Art – UBS Cultural Centre in Marbella (1999 - 2001).
Contemporary Chinese Art
In 2000, Fryns turned to contemporary Chinese art, which led to his moving to Beijing in 2004 and subsequently opening
F2 Gallery
F2 Gallery was a contemporary art gallery in Beijing, China founded by art dealer Fabien Fryns. Established in 2005, the gallery is located in the Caochangdi Art District and held exhibitions by both Western and Chinese contemporary artists,Farrar ...
in 1995, the second gallery in
Caochangdi
Caochangdi () was an urban village and renowned arts district located in the Chaoyang District of northeast Beijing at the intersection of the 5th Ring Road and Airport Expressway. Translated as "grasslands" in Mandarin, Caochangdi was home to a ...
, joining CAAW. Later, Three Shadows Art Center, Platform China and The Courtyard Gallery followed suit. F2 Gallery was one of the first galleries in China to show western artists.
Los Angeles expansion
In 2006, he expanded and opened DF2 Gallery in Los Angeles in a partnership, and subsequently took it over and renamed it Fabien Fryns Fine Art, Los Angeles.
Henry Hudson
Henry Hudson ( 1565 – disappeared 23 June 1611) was an English sea explorer and navigator during the early 17th century, best known for his explorations of present-day Canada and parts of the Northeastern United States.
In 1607 and 16 ...
Qiu Xiaofei
Qiu Xiaofei (; born 1977, Heilongjiang, China) is a contemporary Chinese artist.
Education
Qiu studied at the Central Academy of Fine Arts (中央美术学院) in Beijing and received a Bachelor of Fine Arts in oil painting in 1998 and Graduat ...
, Zheng Lu, Xu Hualing, Zhu Fadong, Zeng Fanzhi, Yan Shaobin, Tang Zhigang, Liu Ye,
Li Songsong
Li Songsong (李松松; born 1973 in Beijing) is a Chinese artist working in Beijing.
His paintings recreate public resource images of modern Chinese history, such as the National People's Congress. Li works on large scale canvases with oil pain ...
Sui Jianguo
Sui Jianguo (), professor and ex-chairman of the Department of Sculpture in Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, is a contemporary Chinese artist.
Biography
Sui was born in Qingdao, China in 1956.Zheng Guogu, Xun Sun, Tu hongtao, Chen Ke, Jiao Xingtao, Wu Junyong, Yuan Yuan, Zhou Yilun, Jiang Zhi, Yang Liming, Ji Dachun, Lu Xinjian, among others.
On an institutional level, Fryns conceived China Gold, with curator Alona Kagen, which took place at the
Musée Maillol
The Musée Maillol is an art museum located in the 7th arrondissement at 59–61, rue de Grenelle, Paris, France.
History
In 1964, Dina Vierny donated Maillol's monumental sculptures to the state. André Malraux, Minister of Culture, installs t ...
in Paris during the
2008 Summer Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and officially branded as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes fro ...
. Artists associated with the show included
Ai Weiwei
Ai Weiwei ( ; , IPA: ; born 28 August 1957) is a Chinese contemporary artist, documentarian, and activist. Ai grew up in the far northwest of China, where he lived under harsh conditions due to his father's exile. As an activist, he has been ...
, Cui Xiuwen,
Zhang Dali
Zhang Dali (, born 1963, in Harbin, China) is an artist based in Beijing.
Zhang trained at the Central Academy of Fine Arts and Design, where he graduated in 1987. After his studies, he moved to Yuanmingyuan as a freelance artist (1987–198 ...
,
Yue Minjun
Yue Minjun (; born 1962) is a contemporary Chinese artist based in Beijing, China. He is best known for oil paintings depicting himself in various settings, frozen in laughter. He has also reproduced this signature image in sculpture, watercolou ...
,
Wang Guangyi
Wang Guangyi (; born 1957) is a Chinese people, Chinese artist. He is known as a leader of the new art movement that started in China after 1989, and for his ''Great Criticism'' series of paintings, which combine socialist imagery, particularly f ...
Cang Xin
Cang Xin (born 1967) is an artist based in Beijing working in performance art and photography.
Biography
Cang Xin was born in Heilongjiang Province, China.
Style
Cang Xin approaches his work as a means to promote harmonious communication wit ...
, Wang Qingsong, Ling Jian, Yin Zhaoyang, Feng Zhengjie, Yang Shaobin, Zeng Fanzhi,
Zhang Xiaogang
Zhang Xiaogang (; born in 1958) is a contemporary Chinese symbolist and surrealist painter. Paintings in his ''Bloodline'' series are predominantly monochromatic, stylized portraits of Chinese people, usually with large, dark-pupiled eyes, po ...
, Tang Zhigang,
Zhang Huan
Zhang Huan (; born 1965) is a Chinese artist based in Shanghai and New York City.
He began his career as a painter and then transitioned to performance art before making a comeback to painting. He is primarily known for his performance work, but ...
, Li Qing and Zheng Guogu, among others.
Since meeting Zeng Fanzhi in 2005, Fryns became a trusted friend, advisor, collector and main secondary market dealer for the artist’s work. Fryns also played an important role in introducing the artist to top collectors and dealers worldwide, including
Jose Mugrabi
Jose Mugrabi (; born 1939) is an Israeli businessman and art collector of Syrian descent. With a family net worth estimated at $5 billion, he is the leading collector of Andy Warhol, with 800 artworks.
Biography
Yosef "Jose" Mugrabi was born ...
.
In 2009, Fryns played a crucial role in organising Zeng Fanzhi’s solo show at
Acquavella Galleries
Acquavella Galleries is an art gallery located at 18 79th Street (Manhattan), East 79th Street between Madison Avenue (Manhattan), Madison and Fifth Avenue (Manhattan), Fifth Avenues on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, New York City.
History ...
in NY. He also conceived and edited the monograph on the artist, published by Hatje Cantz in 2009, including a text by Dr. Richard Shiff and introduction by Fryns.
In 2010, Fryns organised a solo show for Zeng Fanzhi at the
National Gallery for Foreign Art
The National Gallery for Foreign Art (, ''Natsionalna galeriya za chuzhdestranno izkustvo'') of Bulgaria is a gallery located on St. Alexander Nevsky Square in Sofia. It serves as the country's national institution for non-Bulgarian art. It is sit ...
in
Sofia
Sofia is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Bulgaria, largest city of Bulgaria. It is situated in the Sofia Valley at the foot of the Vitosha mountain, in the western part of the country. The city is built west of the Is ...
,
Bulgaria
Bulgaria, officially the Republic of Bulgaria, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the eastern portion of the Balkans directly south of the Danube river and west of the Black Sea. Bulgaria is bordered by Greece and Turkey t ...
, and subsequently instigated the artist’s most important museum show to date at the Musée d'Art Moderne de la Ville de Paris (October 16, 2013 to February 16, 2014).
In 2012, Fryns closed both the LA and Beijing galleries to focus on advising private and corporate clients, collecting, and continues working on unique projects to facilitate cross-cultural exchange, mainly between China and Europe.
Lu Xinjian continues to collaborate with Fabien Fryns Fine Art on special projects and exhibitions.
In February 2014, Fryns went on an initial trip to discover the art world in Saudi Arabia and is currently working on several cultural exchange projects between China and Saudi Arabia.
Art collection
In a 2015 interview, Fryns was asked, "What is your art world pet peeve?" He replied, "I generally tend to take a very long-term vision when I collect artists' works, and never buy solely for speculation. The contemporary art market has become a very rapidly moving market and I feel that many “players” consider art purely as a commodity and have little patience to reap the benefits and move on to the next hot thing."