8 excellent exhibitions you need to see this October

Photograph: courtesy Power Station of Art and Liang Shaoji (Liang Shaoji: A Silky Entanglement)

The temperature may be dropping a few degrees as we get deeper into autumn but the art world is still as hot as usual. This October, there’s an exhibition featuring big-name Chinese ink-painters, a quick introduction to modern French art and a photo exhibition celebrating farmers all across China. Here’s your guide to what to see over the National Day holiday and after.

Between the Thousand Years

AURORA MUSEUM

A rare opportunity to see three Chinese traditional ink-painting maestros under the same roof, Aurora Museum is showcasing 60 authentic paintings from Qi Baishi, Xu Beihong and Zhang Daqian. The show includes works that brought the trio international fame as well as 12 Chinese Zodiac paintings by Xu that have never been exhibited together. 

📍Aurora Museum, 99 Fucheng Lu, near Mingshang Lu. Until Sun 31 Oct. 100RMB.

Rediscovery: A Selection of Jimei x Arles Award

ZIWU

One for all the photographic art lovers out there, ZiWU presents two exhibitions dedicated to photography. The exhibition Rediscovery highlights seven winners of the annual Jimei x Arles Award, which is aimed at discovering talented Chinese photographers in cooperation with Les Rencontres d'Arles in France. Don’t miss Luo Yang’s Youth series, a body of work depicting young women across China since 1990. 

📍ZiWU, 10 Jianguo Zhong Lu, near Sinan Lu. Until Sun 31 Oct. 50RMB.

Urban Mirage

FIBRE

Want to be teleported to sunny Los Angeles with its palm trees and laid-back beaches? Look no further than Urban Mirage –  an exhibition from Australian artist George Byrne, who’s been documenting the city’s candy-coloured walls, banisters and windows since he relocated there in 2010. 

📍Fibre, Room 104, Building 3-9, Lane 273, 60 Jiaozhou Lu, near Xinzha Lu. Until Sun 17 Oct. 90RMB; 160RMB (two tickets). 

On the Field of Hope

CHINA ART MUSEUM

The 2010 Shanghai Expo China Pavilion-turned-China Art Museum is displaying 200 black-and-white portraits of Chinese farmers taken by Pang Xiaowei. Chosen from a selection of over 1,000 photographs captured in 2020 during Pang’s year-long journey across China that took him through 22 provinces including Heilongjiang, Hainan and Xinjiang, the project celebrates and draws attention to the differing lives of Chinese farmers today. 

📍China Art Museum, 161 Shangnan Lu, near Guozhan Lu. Until Sun 31 Oct. Free entry.

Patricia Waller: Guten Appetit!

LEO GALLERY

Leo Gallery is hosting a solo exhibition from Patricia Waller, an Berlin-based artist known for her crochet mastery. Combining yarn art with dark humour, Waller’s work draws viewers in with cute characters, but leaves them with deeper thoughts about society by using ironic imagery like in her ‘turtle soup’ knit. 

📍Leo Gallery, Ferguson Lane, 376 Wukang Lu, near Taian Lu. Until Sun 24 Oct. Free entry. 

Emi Uchida: Progress

SHUN ART GALLERY

A decade has passed since Emi Uchida’s last exhibition in Shanghai. And now, Shun Art Gallery has bought the artist back with a new solo show featuring her latest collection of striking works – namely, lots of butterflies in colourful mosaics.

📍Shun Art Gallery, Room 108, No 3, Lane 1363, Fuxing Zhong Lu, near Baoqing Lu. Until Sun 28 Nov. Free entry.

Liang Shaoji: A Silky Entanglement

POWER STATION OF ART

Power Station of Art presents the sixth iteration of its signature PSA Collection Series. Hailed as the ‘holy hermit’ in the Chinese art world, Shanghai-based Liang Shaoji has dedicated 30 years of his career to the study of silk farming and the silkworm, creating an array of immersive installations, photographs and videos around – and using – the subject. The exhibition traces the trajectory of Liang’s art evolution; from his early works in the late ’80s to the installation that made him an icon at the 48th International Art Exhibition Venice Biennale (Beds/Nature Series No 10) to a customised installation just for this show.

📍Power Station of Art, 200 Huayuangang Lu, near Miaojiang Lu. Wed 29 Sep-Sun 20 Feb 2022. Free.

 COMING SOON 

Masterpieces of Modern French Painting

BUND ONE ART MUSEUM

Get schooled up quick on Western modern art movements in just a few hours at Bund One Art Museum. In cooperation with The Bemberg Foundation, the museum is presenting 80 masterpieces from 29 prominent painters including the likes of Claude Monet, Paul Gauguin, Pierre Bonnaud, Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso – all original paintings from the collection of the Toulouse-based foundation. 

📍Bund One Art Museum, 1 Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu, near Yanan Dong Lu. Sun 3 Oct-Sun 20 Feb 2022. 188RMB. 

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