ShContemporary arrives in a little under two weeks – and with it a surge of events that represents Shanghai’s gathering momentum in the global art game. Girolamo Marri reports, and plots a course through this big art September. 

In August all eyes were on Beijing. But in September the attention – at least that of gallerists and artists – will shift to Shanghai, where three major art events will temporarily crown the city as the capital of the global art world. ShContemporary 08 is the main attraction – alongside the Shanghai Biennale and the Shanghai Art Fair – and the catalyst which has given this month of activity its status. Together with new exhibitions designed to seduce incoming collectors at every single Shanghai gallery (including the odd one we’ve never seen before, and will never see after), September now means a lot of art – and a lot of art parties.

Despite only being in its second year, ShContemporary now attracts more than 130 galleries, representing 20 countries, with visitors and collectors coming not just from across Asia, but the world. Lorenzo Rudolf, ShContemporary’s co-founder and director, is convinced there could have been no better place than Shanghai to stage such an international art fair in Asia. China is of course the new leader for an entire continent, both economically and culturally; but even picking out the exact spot was for him just a matter of logic. “Beijing is still probably the first city in China from the cultural point of view, and Hong Kong is certainly very important in terms of business,” he says. “But Shanghai strikes a perfect balance between these two drives. It is also a very welcoming city, which is crucial if you want people to have a good time and come back.”

The situation in Asia now is not dissimilar to Europe 10 to 15 years ago, when a great number of art fairs began sprouting up, but mostly hosting local galleries and selling European or American artists to local collectors. Now Asia too has many fairs, some of which, like Art Taipei, are well established, attract many visitors, and sell a lot of work. But they all work on a regional level. By contrast, the aim right from the start of ShContemporary, was to create an event that could be called global. And no one can deny it this achievement: Of over 130 galleries participating in this year’s edition, half are from outside the Asia Pacific area. It’s a significant statistic if one considers that up until a few years ago, an art fair in the West would call itself “global” if only two or three of its booths were hosting Asian galleries.

Arthur Solway, who directs the newly opened Shanghai branch of James Cohan Gallery New York, is keen on the event. “When I decided to participate in the first edition, I had level-headed expectations,” he says. “I certainly could not have predicted such a positive outcome. It proved a great place of exchange and networking. It was good to meet collectors coming not only from Korea or Taiwan, where the market is more established, but also from Mainland China, where it is a new reality.” 

This year the James Cohan Gallery is investing even more in the event and has taken a bigger booth (A23) where it will present many works by internationally renowned artists. Among these are a new video piece by American artist Bill Viola, from the Transfigurations series, and a robot built in 1990 by South Korean-born American video pioneer Nam June Paik to portray the American writer Gertrude Stein.

Not everyone has been so enthusiastic. The image of the fair was subsequently tainted last year by the arrest of former co-director Pierre Huber for fraudulent dealings. At the time of the fair, there were also protests that only well established – or powerful – galleries benefitted from the fair. Many smaller galleries complained that the price of renting a booth was too high, and not rewarded by adequate sales. In the first instance, Huber has now been banned from any future involvement in the event. And for the second, Simon Wang of the Shanghai outpost of Beijing Art Now Gallery (at booth B10) counters that most galleries had a very successful fair, and that such claims need to be put in perspective. “It was very profitable for galleries that already had a strong network,” he says. “I’d say 80 percent sold really well, but small galleries that came to China for the first time sold almost nothing.”

That’s hardly unusual for a fair’s first outing – and ShContemporary has since evolved further. For 2008 there are many new partakers from Beijing, such as the Long March Space, White Space, and Arario, a Korean gallery with massive exhibition spaces in Beijing’s Cao Chang Di art district. “Last year it was not yet clear whether ShContemporary would stand out in comparison to other fairs such as Beijing Art Fair or CIGE,” says Rudolf, “as logically not everyone could afford betting on it right from the start. But I’m glad to see more and more galleries have joined.”

Even if you’re not an art dealer or art professional, going to ShContemporary should still be a priority. David Chan, director and main curator of Shanghai Gallery of Art (SGA, booth A25), says the event is poised to foster a wider appreciation of art. “On the one hand,” he says, “at such big events there is a risk of offering the viewer far too much information – art requires time to be appreciated without hurry. On the other hand though, this is a perfect occasion to show to the general public how diverse the language of contemporary art can be. It is important for us to challenge the viewer with works they are not likely to have seen before, and it’s important for the viewer to be very curious, not afraid to ask questions.”

SGA’s own support for installation and non-conventional art media is shared by ShContemporary. The Best of Discovery, a curated section entirely dedicated to emerging artists from the Asia Pacific area, has grown from 20 artists last year to 30 this (see below). The fair also includes the beautiful Outdoor Projects space around the Exhibition Center, where 20 large-scale sculptural works, among them one by Chinese artist Wang Jianwei, represented by SGA itself (O19), and one by English sculptor Richard Long, with the James Cohan Gallery (O03), will go on show. The section proves that innovative and experimental art can find a new audience at art fairs. As Rudolf comments, having directed for many years Art Basel in Europe and fathered its American sibling Art Basel Miami, “Not even at Western art fairs has so much space ever been dedicated to work that is probably not going to sell.”

September is becoming a big month for the Chinese art scene – thanks to Shanghai. “I was being optimistic last year,” Rudolf concludes, laughing, “in saying that ShContemporary would become the most important art fair in the world – in no more than ten years. This year I am also taking into consideration the pace at which things evolve on this side of the world. So I now say five years.” He is only half joking.

ShContemporary, Sep 11-13, noon-7pm (collectors’ preview Sep 9, 2-6.30pm; Sep 10, noon-6pm). www.shcontemporary.info.
Shanghai Exhibition Center, 1000 Nanjing Lu, near Tongren Lu, 6279 0279
延安中路1000号, 近铜仁路

Shanghai Represents...

These are the Shanghai galleries participating in ShContemporary, and their booth numbers. All also have shows at their usual spaces – for a full list of the September shows search our Art listings.

Beijing Art Now, booth B10
Contrasts, booth B11
Hwa’s, booth F03
James Cohan Gallery Shanghai, booth A23
M Art Center, booth E04
Park Ryu Sook, booth C01
Red Bridge, booth A07
Shanghai Gallery of Art, booth A25
Shine Art Space, booth E06

Best of Disovery

1. Hiraki Sawa
Born in Ishikawa, Japan, in 1977, lives and works in London. Exhibited by the James Cohan Gallery Shanghai, booth A23.
Sawa’s video work is dreamily reflective. Elements are juxtaposed, making it difficult to identify a relationship between them, yet in the final picture they fit together easily. Airplanes fly in his bedroom, naked figures and animals from images by 19th century photographer Eadweard Muybridge dwell happily together in his living room, and a solitary camel paces the dunes of his blanket. Other than being so exquisitely surreal, this work is also extremely melancholic, and certainly worth a few minutes’ stop.

2. Wang Luyan
Born in 1956, lives and works in Beijing. He’s represented by Arario Gallery, booth B19.
It would be much more suitable to include Wang Luyan in a section specifically made for him – and call it Best of Re-Discovery. He is not at all new to the art world. From 1988 to 1995 he was one of three members of the seminal New Measurement group. The three artists eventually decided to part ways, symbolically destroying all their projects in a fire. While one of the three, Gu Dexin, found fame (you may have seen, or smelled, his installation involving ten tons of apples and a steam roller at last year’s fair), Wang attempted to carry on the conceptual legacy of the group, but couldn’t find his voice in China – and simply vanished into thin air. It was therefore a pleasure to see him reappear, his dedication to concept unaltered, with a beautiful solo show last year at Arario Beijing. Look out for his large-scale acrylic paintings. They’re graphic and simple depictions – reminiscent of Pop Art – yet clearly illustrate the intellectual struggle of a speculative mind.

3. Reza Aramesh
Born in Iran in 1968, works and lives in London. Represented by the XVA Gallery of Dubai, booth G03.
The series of photographs presented at ShContemporary – “Between the eye and the object falls the shadow” – is filled with political subtext, as is Aramesh’s work generally.  Inspired by a series of gloomy etchings called “The Disasters of War,” created by Spanish artist Francisco Goya between 1810-1820, Aramesh combined these with images from Reuters photo reports from the territorial wars in the Middle East, dating from the 1960s. He then grouped non-professional actors whose lives were somehow linked to migration, and had them re-enact the scenes. He shot these against the surreal background of British country houses. The results are 180x120cm black and white silver gelatin prints, mounted on archival board and aluminum and framed in black aluminum. Intense work.

4.Suhasini Kejriwal
Born in 1973, lives and works in Kolkata. She appears with the Chemould Gallery of Mumbai, booths G02, G08. Suhasini Kejriwal’s paintings are detailed reproductions of nature. In the past she has created floral compositions and patterns with a technique reminiscent of that used to decorate hands and feet in south Indian mendhi celebrations. She often uses silk and thread as a complementary medium along with acrylic paint to reinforce this bond with tradition. For this series she’s adopted a more conventional technique, making her landscapes more plausible – at first glance. But on closer inspection the color saturated canvases reveal grotesque body organs such as kidneys, brains and intestines – harmoniously placed in the composition. The effect is very disturbing.

Mapped Out

There’s about to be a lot of art and art parties going on. You might lose track. We walk you through where you need to be and what you need to see this September.

Opening Party – Tuesday September 9
Maybe you can still make the right phone call. Or hope someone is going to pass you their invitation and stay in to watch DVDs. Pah! Who are we kidding? You are too late for last minute begging and no one is going to give up their passport now to either this or any of the other exhibition opening parties coming up over the next two weeks. If you don’t have your invitation by now, sorry – there is no way you’re going to meet us there.

Long March Space, Beijing – booth B22, ShContemporary
The Long March Space in Beijing is a complex, multi-platform, international arts organization. It sponsors artists’ work, holds workshops, offers art consultancy services, publishes art books and more. Artists, writers, and thinkers from around the world have taken part in its projects.
Arthur Solway of James Cohan Shanghai recommends Long March’s showcase, predicting it to be among the best at the fair. It will mainly feature the work of Lin Tianmao and Zhan Wang (left). The first sculpts beautiful female figures, often incorporating silk veils into the creations to give them an even more ethereal appearance. The second is famous for applying industrial processes to “scholars’ rocks,” geological formations found all over China, which he then uses to produce polished, stainless sculptures. 

Guerra Gallery, Portugal/Galerie Krinzinger, Vienna – booth D19, ShContemporary
Simon Wang of Beijing Art Now Gallery says he is looking forward to seeing Cristina Guerra Contemporary Art and Galerie Krinzinger at ShContemporary. The Lisbon and Vienna based galleries are sharing a joint booth: Guerra will host a solo show of Julião Sarmento, one of Portugal’s most prominent artists, whose tormented work is filled with unrest and struggle; Krinzinger meanwhile is going to present new work by Austrian artist Erwin Wurm. In the past Wurm has shown “fat” cars (right), furniture balanced on pencils, and flying saucers made out of burger buns. If you’re feeling a little jaded by all that other solemn work, Wurm’s work is guaranteed to be among the funniest art at the fair.

Galleria Continua, Beijing – Booth C21, ShContemporary
The Italian Galleria Continua deserves to be mentioned for being one of the few galleries in Beijing’s 798 Art District of Beijing still more committed to showing good art than selling at all costs. Starting from September 4 Continua Beijing will host a solo show of Indian artist Kimsooja, and some of her work will be at their ShContemporary booth. Since the 1980s she has used traditional, brightly colored fabrics decorated with traditional embroideries as the main element in her videos, sculptures, and installations.

Outdoor Projects – ShContemporary
With hundreds of partition walls, spotlights everywhere, and art enthusiasts all buzzing around the artworks, ShContemporary could make you slightly claustrophobic. Don’t worry; the organizers of ShContemporary have taken this into consideration. When you start feeling dizzy, just walk out of the Exhibition Center and breathe some fresh air. You don’t even need to feel guilty for leaving the art behind: Outside you will in fact find 20 huge sculptural works by artists represented at the show – such as this dramatic human cascade from Wang Jianwei. It would be difficult to miss them if you tried; still, we recommend you don’t.

People’s Square
Until November keep your eyes open when you walk around People’s Square for site-specific artworks – as part of the Shanghai Biennale. The bulk of the show will be exhibited in the Shanghai Art Museum, but much will also be displayed outside in the Park and Square. Some of it will even be performative and demand participation. To find out more, plus see the calendar of numerous talks and artist forums, keep an eye on the Biennale’s website at www.shanghaibiennale.com.

Bo Li at Beijing Art Now, Shanghai – booth B10, ShContemporary
Want textured titillation? Go find Bo Li (left) at Beijing Art Now.

Shanghai Art Fair
Overkill! If you have any art appetite left over, the same week that ShContemporary and the Biennale start, you should also dedicate a few hours to the Shanghai Art Fair, held at Shanghai Mart. The fair shares the joint opening ceremony with ShContemporary on Tuesday 9, and now in its eighth outing, will host art galleries and art agencies from over 30 countries. There’s less cutting edge art, but instead feast on classics – in the past works by Picasso, Matisse, Rembrandt, Chagall, Dali, Renoir, Monet, Matta, and Arman have featured. It’s also a chance to check out Chinese masters such as Zhu Dequn, Chen Yifei, and Qi Baishi.
SAF, free, September 10-14, 8.30am-5.30pm. For more info see www.cnarts.net/sartfair/2008/eweb. Shanghai Mart, 2299 Yan’an Xi Lu, near Dashan Lu, 6236 6888. 延安西路2299号近大山路