Living in remote rural Germany, long quiet nights come with no pastimes or entertainment at all.

Artist Su Xiaobai reflects on that period, and how ink painting began to emerge from that stillness – not out of intention, but out of time, repetition, and a certain kind of boredom.
...
After painting all day, he still had plenty of spare time in the evenings.
He turned to reading, then began creating simple ink works on rice paper brought from China, cutting each sheet into small 30cm by 30cm pieces. What started purely out of idle time slowly became a quiet artistic routine.

Listen to the full conversation on The Pearl Lam Podcast.

The Art Basel (@artbasel) and UBS Global Art (@UBSglobalart) Market Report 2026 by Dr Clare McAndrew of Arts Economics dropped recently, and there are a couple of key points that caught my eye.

The news that has everyone talking: global art market sales grew 4% in 2025, rebounding to a ...cool $59.6 billion. In terms of genre popularity at auction, postwar art came out on top, accounting for 31% of sales value, with Modern art not too far behind at 24%. Interesting to note that Impressionist and Post-Impressionist art grew the most rapidly, surging 47% year over year.

Additionally, the report revealed that you don’t need to fork out eye-watering amounts to be a collector, with 77% of transactions at fine art auctions last year went for less than $5,000.

Also worth mentioning that the U.S., U.K., and China still remain the top three art markets, with sales $26 billion, $10.5 billion, and $8.5 billion respectively.

Beyond the report itself, I also thoroughly enjoyed Dr. McAndrew’s reflection on developing the report over the past decade, and it’s impressive to see how much the art market has grown from the ‘90s onwards: https://www.artbasel.com/stories/what-a-decade-of-research-reveals-about-the-global-art-market

Image credit: Pearl Lam Projects, Art Basel Hong Kong 2026.

#PearlLam #ArtWorld #artmarket #artmarketreport #arteconomics

Artist Su Xiaobai reflects on spending a decade stepping away from the contemporary art sphere, feeling alienated and disillusioned by its landscape.

His mentors offered a refreshing perspective: not every creator is meant to adopt a contemporary approach, and encouraged him to remain ...faithful to his innate artistic style.

Join Su Xiaobai and I for the full episode of The Pearl Lam Podcast.

Nothing in his training prepared him for what he saw in Düsseldorf.

This week on the Pearl Lam podcast, Artist Su Xiaobai reflects on arriving in a completely different artistic environment, where his background in realism offered little entry into the abstract works around him.

...Trained purely in realism, focusing on portraits and landscapes, he found himself completely unable to comprehend the abstract works around him.

As a Chinese artist immersed in a wholly unfamiliar visual language and artistic system, he struggled to embrace abstract art at first, left feeling humbly inexperienced and utterly new to this different creative world.

Explore the full conversation on YouTube and Spotify, only on The Pearl Lam Podcast.

Artist Su Xiaobai reveals his surprising life decision in Germany in the latest episode of The Pearl Lam Podcast.

Rather than spending his funds on a tiny urban parking garage, he acquired an expansive 10,000-square-metre former school nestled in quiet countryside—roughly 200 kilometres ...outside Düsseldorf.

He renovated two buildings on the grounds into his private art studio. Now he’s often playfully labelled a “recluse”, as he rarely leaves his rural retreat.

Stream the full episode now on YouTube and Spotify.

In this episode of The Pearl Lam Podcast, artist Su Xiaobai shares his decades-long collaboration with a master lacquer craftsman from Fujian.

Pursuing an exceptionally pure, custom grade of lacquer beyond commercial standards, he invested repeatedly to refine the formula layer by layer, ...raising his budget time and again for greater purity and clarity.

Today, he still commits to sourcing 1,000 to 2,000 kilograms of his bespoke lacquer every year.

Listen to the full conversation on The Pearl Lam Podcast.

Sometimes the decision is not where you go, but how long you stay.

For artist Su Xiaobai, it was Düsseldorf.

Su reasoned that a one-year program would be too short to master the language and art, while four years allowed ample time to learn German and refine his painting skills ...for a future career. Recalling his extraordinary journey: a seven-day and seven-night train ride across the vast Russian plains, back when it was still the Soviet Union.

Discover more on this week’s episode of The Pearl Lam Podcast, now available on YouTube and Spotify.

With the age of AI fully upon us, many of us have been turning to nostalgia and history to find not only comfort in the familiar, but also what it means to be human. And contemporary artists are no exception, with many explicitly drawing inspiration from the art historical canon. But what does that... mean for the art that you and I might see in galleries today?

On one hand, some might call the constant references to art history and recycling iconic motifs uninspired. Lazy, even. Getting stuck in ideas of old might deter artists from looking ahead, or discovering their own creative voice. In some cases, those insisting on drawing on history might also find themselves guilty of using precepts from a dominant culture to understand a vastly different one, without nuance.

On the other hand, historically charged art could prove a salve to our dwindling attention spans. It demands that we closely examine what we are looking at, and try to understand the past from how it’s represented – offering a starkly different way of engaging with media in a world where endless scrolls on apps remain the norm.

For further reading on this topic, I thoroughly enjoyed this @artnet essay by J. Cabelle Ahn @cabellerina, linked here: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/ultra-contemporary-old-masters-2744796

#PearlLam #ContemporaryArt #AI #VisualArt

The decision was immediate.

For Su Xiaobai, encountering lacquer changed the direction of his work. While his mentors recognised this as his authentic path, they also pointed to the role his earlier paintings could still play in building a life.

Instantly captivated by its unique ...charm, he turned away from oil painting, only to receive overwhelming praise from his Düsseldorf mentors. They reminded him that while lacquer is his authentic artistic path, his earlier works still hold practical value for building a steady life and family.

Continue the conversation on The Pearl Lam Podcas

I support all forms of artistic expression and recognise the role of culture in fostering peace and understanding.

I am aware that an employee of Pearl Lam Projects has made political comments about an exhibition in a personal capacity. Whilst I support anyone’s right to express their ...views. These comments do not reflect views of my own.

Art never exists in a vacuum, and I’m always enthralled to see different mediums converge. One of the most commonplace examples of this is the humble album cover, which I’ve been thinking about a lot more since the the Grammys announced ‘Best Album Cover’ as a new category earlier this ...year.

Whether you’re saving new tracks to your Spotify library or have hunted down a physical CD of your favourite album, album cover art is what catches your eye first. Crucially, it sets the tone to how you might experience music and understand the album’s core ideas.

Here, individual creative choices – ranging from colour palette, subject imagery, and even typography – culminate in works of art in their own right. Similar to the traditional ‘rules’ of art-making, all creative choices need to be intentional to evoke a specific mood for the listener. This might look like figurative photography of the artist serving as the subject for an introspective, autobiographical album, while other covers might rely on the symbolism of specific colours to purposefully evoke emotions.

What do you think? Have you ever been in awe of a piece of album art, the same way you might view something in a museum of a gallery?

For further reading on the topic, I really enjoyed this piece by Rachel Cabitt @rachelcabitt (who also writes about the history of art of album covers) for It’s Nice That @itsnicethat: https://www.itsnicethat.com/features/who-shouldve-won-the-best-album-cover-grammy-graphic-design-art-280126

#PearlLam #VisualArt #Music

Artwork Credit: Columbia Records, AWAL, Rimas Entertainment, Lava and Republic Records

On The Pearl Lam Podcast this week, I’m joined by artist Su Xiaobai who shares his thoughts on artistic learning, arguing that true painting cannot be simply taught or learned by rote.

Emphasising that art is a dialogue, not instruction: you must see for yourself, experience it ...firsthand, and seek understanding on your own.
Reflecting on his own journey, Su notes that growth in art happens subtly and slowly; there are no obvious changes from one day to the next, or even one year to the next. Yet true transformation unfolds gradually in this quiet, unhurried process, often so imperceptibly that we barely notice our own evolution.

Catch the full episode now, only on The Pearl Lam podcast.

In this episode of The Pearl Lam Podcast, recorded in Mandarin, I speak with artist Su Xiaobai.

We discuss his practice and its focus on material, process and repetition, with particular attention to his lacquer works. Reflecting on his development, Su considers the balance between control... and chance, and how time, discipline and surface come to shape each work.

The conversation also touches on the philosophical frameworks that inform his approach, including the influence of Eastern thought and the relationship between tradition and contemporary expression.

Thank you, Su Xiaobai, for a thoughtful and considered conversation.
Watch or listen now on YouTube and Spotify, only on the Pearl Lam Podcast.

There is a shift in how Asian galleries are positioning themselves.

Rather than following established narratives, there is a growing confidence in foregrounding their own histories and perspectives. This creates a two-way cultural exchange, and encourages new artistic discourse.

...Art Basel Hong Kong Director Angelle Siyang-Le dives into this topic on The Pearl Lam Podcast, now available on YouTube and Spotify.

#PearlLam #ArtBaselHongKong #ContemporaryArt #ArtWorld #AsianArt

The Hong Kong artist scene was once very quiet.

You didn’t hear much from it. There wasn’t the same level of visibility as there is now.

But in recent years, that has changed. Artists such as Samson Young, Trevor Yeung, and Leelee Chan are now gaining international exposure, ...through art fairs and museum exhibitions.

More on The Pearl Lam Podcast, now available on YouTube and Spotify.