The best art exhibitions to check out this season in Shanghai
Photograph: courtesy teamLab Borderless Shanghai
With the upcoming opening of teamLab Borderless Shanghai and Centre Pompidou Shanghai in West Bund, the November art scene is filled with anticipation. The same amount of enthusiasm goes to The Birth of Beaux-Arts at Shanghai Museum in cooperation with the National Academy of Fine Arts in Paris. If contemporary Asian art is your cup of tea, check out Three Souls Seven Spirits by Yang Jiechang at Minsheng Art Museum and HUGO BOSS Asia Art at Rockbund Art Museum. Read on for the exhibitions you shouldn't miss this season.
Wild Metropolis
Photograph: @宝龙美术馆 via Weibo
Curated by Chinese contemporary artist Xu Zhen, this edgy exhibition brings together international contemporary artists, musician and designers under the unifying theme 'borderless' with a total of 40 art works including installations, behavioural art, video art, media art, digital art and experimental music.
📍Powerlong Museum, 3055 Caobao Road, near Xinzhen Lu. Sat 2 Nov-Sun 2 Feb 2020 (Tue-Sun). 10am-6pm. 98RMB; 78RMB (early bird).
The Birth of Beaux-Arts
Image: Jacques-Louis David, courtesy Shanghai Museum
From Baroque art in the 17th century to Rococo in the 18th and from Neoclassical art after the Enlightenment to Romanticism under the reign of Napoleon, this new exhibition features over 80 masterpieces from the collection of the National Academy of Fine Arts in Paris, most of which will be exhibited for the first time in China.
📍Shanghai Museum, 201 People's Avenue, near Huangpi Bei Lu. Tue 5 Nov-Sun 9 Feb 2020 (Tue-Sun). 9am-5pm. Free entry.
Ocean II Ocean
Photograph: courtesy TANK Shanghai
In this exhibition, TANK Shanghai unites French artist Cyprien Gaillard's three latest works including the film Ocean II Ocean, which debuted at the 2019 Venice Biennale. From metro stations in Russia and fossilised matter to the archival footage of subway cars at the bottom of the ocean, the film explores the themes of erosion in a physical, historical and cultural sense.
📍TANK Shanghai, 2350 Longteng Dadao, near Longyao Lu. Thu 7 Nov-Sun 12 Jan 2020 (Tue-Sun). 10am-6pm. 30RMB.
HUGO BOSS Asia Art 2019
Photograph: courtesy Rockbund Art Museum (Thảo-Nguyên Phan)
Selected for the new and diverse narratives that their works bring to the contemporary Asian art scene, Rockbund Art Museum displays pieces from four finalists (all of them born after 1985) of the fourth HUGO BOSS Asia Art Award. This year’s finalists include Hao Jingban (Mainland China), Hsu Che-Yu (Taiwan), Eisa Jocson (Philippines) and Thảo-Nguyên Phan (Vietnam). The winner will be announced on Wednesday 4 November.
📍Rockbund Art Museum, 20 Huqiu Lu, near Beijing Dong Lu. Until Jan 5 2020 (Tue-Sun). 10am-6pm. 50RMB.
Three Souls Seven Spirits
Photograph: courtesy Shanghai Minsheng Art Museum
Drawing inspiration from both Chinese calligraphy and German Romanticism, the new exhibition at Minsheng Art Museum, titled Three Souls Seven Spirits, showcases 20 groups of works, including paintings, installations and video projects from Foshan-born artist Yang Jiechang. Highly spiritual and unapologetically romantic, Yang tries to reach an equilibrium between the two art forms.
📍Shanghai Minsheng Art Museum, Bldg 3, 210 Wenshui Lu, near Wanrong Lu. Thu 7 Nov-Sun 9 Feb 2020 (Tue-Sun). 10am-10pm. Free entry.
Michael Najjar: Outer Space
Photograph: Michael Najjar, courtesy BANK Gallery
This surreal exhibition showcases photos by German artist Michael Najjar under the theme of space exploration and its implications on future life. With some snaps taken during Najjar's training to be the first artist to travel into space, and some synthesised from footage of his excursions with archive photos, the show is a critique on the efforts humans are making to find a liveable environment in outer space while destroying the one we have on Earth.
📍BANK Gallery, B1, Bldg 2, Lane 298, Anfu Lu, near Wukang Lu. Until Sun 27. 10.30am-6.30pm. Free entry.
teamLab Borderless Shanghai
Photograph: courtesy teamLab
After dazzling the masses with its digital art installations at TANK Shanghai this summer, Tokyo-based collective teamLab has set up its own permanent outpost, teamLAB Borderless Shanghai. Officially opening on Tuesday 5 November, the sprawling 'museum without a map' (covering 6,600sqm) will be home to as many as 50 teamLab productions.
📍teamLab Borderless Shanghai, Unit C-2, 100 Huayuangang Lu, near Bansongyuan Lu. From Tue 5 Nov. 10am-9.30pm (Mon-Fri); 10.30am-10.30pm (Sat, Sun and holidays).
West Bund Art and Design
Photograph: courtesy West Bund Art and Design
West Bund Art and Design is returning for its sixth edition at West Bund Art Centre, showcasing modern and contemporary art from the early 20th century to date from 97 galleries from 18 countries across the globe. Artworks range from painting and sculpture to video project and installation.
📍West Bund Art and Design, West Bund Art Centre, 2555 Longteng Dadao, near Fenggu Lu. Thu 7-Sun 10 Nov. Midday-7pm (Fri); 10am-7pm (Sat-Sun). 118RMB. Add WeChat ID 'WestBundArtnDesign' for more info.
Victor Hugo: The Heart of Genius
Image: courtesy Pearl Art Museum
The Pearl Art Museum, in cooperation with Maisons de Victor Hugo Paris, presents a total of 200 items that include paintings and sculptures by Hugo and illustrations by his contemporaries – think masterpieces such as Notre-Dame de Paris, Les Misérables and Ninety-Three. Together with photographs, books, personal letters and home decor, the exhibition gives viewers a comprehensive view of the life and work of France's most prominent literary figure.
📍Pearl Art Museum, Eighth Floor, Aegean Shanghai, Wuzhong Lu 1588, near Hongshen Lu. Until Sun 1 Dec. 10-7pm (Tue-Fri); 10am-10pm (Sat-Sun). 100RMB (door); 90RMB. Extract the QR code above to purchase tickets.
Bob Dylan: Retrospectrum
Image: Bob Dylan, courtesy 247tickets
Bob Dylan: Retrospectrum contains more than 300 mementos from the musician's life, including oil paintings, sculptures, handwritten lyrics, sketches and manuscripts dating as far back as the 1960s. In addition to a successful music career, Dylan also proved to have a knack for art, with some of his paintings appearing on the covers of several of his albums, including Self Portrait (1970) and Planet Waves (1974). His artwork has been exhibited in museums around the world as well as in published art books under his name.
📍Modern Art Museum, 4777 Binjiang Dadao, near Puming Lu, Pudong. Until Sun 5 Jan 2020 (Tue-Sun). 10am-6pm. From 88RMB. Extract the QR code above to purchase tickets.
Martin Schoeller: Close
The Shanghai Center of Photography presents over 60 portraits by the German photographer Martin Schoeller. Known for hyper-detailed close-ups of his subjects with similar lighting and backdrop, Schoeller has taken portraits of some of the most influential people in the world, from celebrities and national leaders to entrepreneurs and star athletes.
📍Shanghai Center of Photography, 2555 Longteng Dadao, near Longlan Lu. Until Sat 2 Nov (Tue-Sun). 10.30am-5.30pm. 40RMB; 30RMB (student).
Jean-Luc Mylayne: The Autumn of Paradise
Photograph: Jean-Luc Mylayne, courtesy Long Museum
Compared to van Gogh in his method of crystallising time in his artworks, French photographer Jean-Luc Mylayne's first solo exhibition in Mainland China, titled The Autumn of Paradise, showcases 40 photos spanning 40 years of his career. Meticulously composed, Mylayne's photos usually focus on one particular bird against the backdrop of a wild landscape that shows human habitation.
📍Long Museum West Bund, 3398 Longteng Dadao, near Ruining Lu. Until Sun 8 Dec (Tue-Sun). 10am-6pm. 50RMB.
NOWNESS Experiments: The Mesh
Photograph: Marshmallow Laser Feast
This edgy video group exhibition features solo projects from American video art pioneer Bill Viola and London-based experimental art collective Marshmallow Laser Feast, as well as other video projects under D.E.E.P that explore the inter-disciplinary nature of the way we study our world.
📍chi K11 Art Museum, B3, K11 Art Mall, 300 Huaihai Zhong Lu, near Huangpi Nan Lu. Fri 8 Nov-Fri 13 Dec. 10am-10pm. 80RMB; 60RMB (early bird).
Prada Rongzhai pres Li Qing: Rear Windows
Photograph: courtesy Prada Rong Zhai
Rear Windows presents paintings and installations by the Shanghai- and Hangzhou-based artist Lin Qing, including his most famous series 'Neighbour's Window' – paintings of famous colonial architecture of Shanghai framed in old wooden windows, an interesting play on the past and present, inside and outside, looking and being looked at.
📍Prada Rong Zhai, Shaanxi Bei Lu 186, near Nanjing Dong Lu. Thu 07 Nov-Thu 9 Jan 2020. 10am-5pm. Prices TBA.
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