China dominates at 2019 ART021
The 2019 ART021 art fair, running at the Shanghai Exhibition Center from Thursday to Sunday, features about110 galleries from 57 cities in 18 countries and regions presenting contemporary art and design by established and emerging artists, including British artist Eddie Peake's solo exhibition.
Established in 2013, ART021 is widely recognized as one of the biggest and the best art fairs in Asia. Last year's event attracted almost 80,000 visitors over four days.
“An art fair is not only to display all the artworks from different galleries around the world,” said Kylie Ying, one of the founders of ART021. “We are always curating an art fair than simply hanging the artworks onto the walls. ART021 is an art fair in China, so it should reflect the Chinese contemporary art scene. This year, about 60 percent of the participating galleries are from China. As we all know that the discourse power of contemporary art still belongs to the West, and we try to decentralized it with something new.”
Ying and her team visited many galleries along the ancient Silk Road including in Iran, the United Arab Emirates, Romania, Indonesia and Thailand, hoping to map out the renewed sensibility and influence from the regions for an alternative visual experience.
The “Detour” section by invitation investigates discourse from regions beyond the Euro-American fabricated geographic networks and canonized narratives, in the hope of understanding artistic, intellectual, social, political7, and economic exchanges and developments on a global scale from different viewpoints.
“Approach” supports the development of young galleries across the world by applying a different pricing model to the main section. Participating galleries will present either a solo or a group show featuring fewer than three artists with a curatorial approach.
“Beyond” transcends the spatial limitation of traditional art fair booths. It showcases large-scale paintings, sculptures and installations in the public area of ART021.
“Beyond-Extends” integrates contemporary art installations into public life by placing them in the public spaces outside the fair. Through artist collaborations, the section promotes public art in China and engages with the local Shanghai community.
“This year, several delegation of world-renowned art museums and institutions will come to visit ART021 because we are reflecting Chinese art,” Ying added.
VIP preview
Date: November 7, 12-8pm; November 8, 1-8pm
Public day
Date: November 9, 10am-6pm; November 10, 10am-6pm
Address: 1000 Yan’an Rd M.