Exhibit's psychedelic trip through several art forms

There are endless ways to arouse your curiosity at the “M/Made in Shanghai” exhibition, by Paris graphic art and design duo Michaël Amzalag and Mathias Augustyniak, on the seventh floor of the Power Station of Art.

Filled with abstract dots and lines, colorful doodles, gaming figures, posters and skateboards four times larger than the original size, you can’t help but feel you have fallen into Alice in Wonderland’s rabbit hole and taken a gulp of the “Drink Me” potion that makes you shrink.

The clocks are ticking in two different time zones, Shanghai and Paris; clothes pegs become the ladders; the chairs are tables, the mattresses are garden lawns outside the house, where clouds take shelter from the dazzling light of pink, yellow, green and blue.

Each piece of their work engages with viewers on an emotional level. It transports you immediately into the context they have created.

Mei Shuzhi, a local designer

Founded in Paris in 1992, M/M (Paris) burst onto the fashion scene just as the digital age kicked off and took a foothold in the language of fashion imagery.

With a unique style, and through close interconnections with music, fashion and art circles, Amzalag and Augustyniak are among the most influential designers of their generation.

Today, M/M’s collaborators and clients include fashion designers Jonathan Anderson at Loewe, Sarah Burton at Alexander McQueen and Miuccia Prada, with whom M/M have devised their lexicon in three dimensions through scenography for runway collections, garments or limited-edition design objects.

Courtesy of Power Station of Art

As the first solo exhibition of M/M’s works in China, which features hundreds of poster pieces, typeface installations and fashion photographs from the past three decades, the exposition has excited many local art and design professionals.

“As creators of symbols, it is hard to imagine there are other artists or designers who have such a rich design languages like M/M,” said 33, brand manager of the 3ge3 project, a Shanghai-based lifestyle platform.

“They are deft at traversing from one art form to another, making a graphic design shift from a mediation status to becoming a work of art in itself.”

During the exhibition, the 3ge3 project is to launch a range of exclusive designed products in collaboration with M/M (Paris), including clothing, fashion accessories and home decor items.

“For me, the experience from the collaboration with M/M means more than just to see one of their works I’ve already seen before,” said 33.

For general visitors curious to learn about M/M and their works, such as Jingjing, the exhibition is very modernist and loud.

“It feels as if we’ve been caught in a chaotic, frenzied spiral of a new addiction, in which people are chasing money, power, success and a wilder, faster pace of life,” she said.

“Shanghai is changing so much that if you aren’t changing, you’re falling behind.”

Exhibition info

Date: Through April 18, 2021 (closed on Mondays), 11am-7pm
Tickets: 60 yuan
Venue: 7/F, Power Station of Art
Address: 678 Miaojiang Road