Nov 16, 2012

Art/Design, China, Personal 3 Comments

Zhang Huan for the Dior exhibition @ the UCCA 2009.

Visits back to Beijing in the last two years have always been work related and never enough time to catch up with old friends and visit favourite old places.

He An’s neon signs exhibition @ UCCA.

I didn’t ever blog about lists of my favourite galleries in Beijing and as more and more friends are making their way there, I end up writing similar emails to give them lists, so I thought it’d be best to consolidate them all here. My last visit back was last week and I didn’t make it out to Caochangdi or 798, nor Red Gate Gallery by Dongbianmen at Chongwenmen 崇文门, Today Art Museum (next to 苹果市区)- my first neighbourhood when I first moved to Beijing in 2007.

There are definitely many new galleries that sprung up, but the old favourites are always there with great people curating excellent exhibitions.

So here’s my list in no order of preference.

If you’re in 798 and have less than a day, you have to visit these galleries, all close walking proximity to each other.

Pace Beijing

UCCA
Gallerie Continua
Tang Contemporary
Tokyo BTAP
Long March Space
Officina
Chinese Contemporary
Gao Brothers Studio
Paris-Beijing Photo Gallery

Boers-Li gallery has relocated from Caochangdi right next to Grace Hotel (former Yi House) in 798.

Iberia Center for Contemporary Art

Red Gate Gallery
showcasing a fabulous Li Xiao Feng Porcelain art collection at The Opposite House at the moment. And if you’re planning a Beijing trip and heading there, please read Paul French’s “Midnight in Peking”. The location is the spooky grounds of a mystery murder that took place in old Peking.

A 10 minutes cab ride from 798, here are some of my regular spots to visit in Caochangdi 草场地

F2 Gallery
Three Shadows
PKM
Pékin Fine Arts
Galerie Urs Meile

White Space

And then there’s a random giant new complex on 9 dongdaqiao lu, where the owner of the Parkview Green mall has a 100 room boutique hotel éclat opening later this month as well as a mall filled with amazing works of Dali and contemporary Chinese artist. It’s abit of a trip and I definitely recommend checking that out.