Shanghai’s dual art fairs, ART021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair and West Bund Art and Design, are about to open this week and so are a slew of exhibitions as museums mount all-star shows for the city’s art week.
The pinnacle of China’s art calendar, this week in Shanghai offers an unmatched opportunity to connect with nearly everyone in the Chinese art world. While the excitement is palpable, many say that the fairs’ offerings seem “quieter” this year and attendees are coming mostly from mainland China, as the presence of international visitors remains limited for now.
Outside of the fairs, however, it’s a different story. International artists are headlining some of the biggest venues in the city, among them Marina Abramović, whose work continues to make waves at the Modern Art Museum Shanghai. The Chi K11 Art Museum Shanghai is hosting French artist César Piette’s first museum show in China while the Rockbund Art Museum showcases American artist and poet Rindon Johnson in his most comprehensive museum exhibition to date and his first in the Asia-Pacific region.
Meanwhile, homegrown talents are getting top billing at some of the city’s museums. At the Start Museum, a trio of shows opening simultaneously spotlight young Chinese artists while at Fotografiska Shanghai, Chinese artists Li Weiyi and Chen Wei are both getting the solo-show treatment. At the state-backed, Jean Nouvel-designed Museum of Art Pudong, “Cao Fei: Tidal Flux” has now been extended through February due to popular demand, alongside a captivating exhibition on JMW Turner, the museum’s latest collaboration with Tate.
But that’s just the start. Here are five other must-see shows opening this week.
“Yin Xiuzhen: Piercing the Sky”
Power Station of Art
Yin Xiuzhen, Flying Machine (2008). Shanghai Art Museum. Courtesy of the artist.
Curated by the acclaimed art historian and critic Wu Hung, sculptor and installation artist Yin Xiuzhen is presenting a major retrospective at the Power Station of Art (PSA). It’s overdue for the artist who, at 61, is one of China’s most influential female artists. Spanning the entire first floor, the exhibition opens with the monumental Piercing the Sky, a 15-meter-long, rocket-like metal sculpture with a base reminiscent of a trombone. Sharing its name with the exhibition, this powerful piece symbolizes the courage to strive beyond earthly limitations. Featuring approximately 20 monumental works that utilize diverse materials and approaches, the highlights Yin’s signature pieces alongside her more recent creations, all of which tease out the dichotomies of heaven and earth, human and divine, and the inner self and the outside world. The show runs through February 16, 2025.
Additionally, for the fashion aficionados out there, PSA is also hosting “Gabrielle Chanel: Fashion Manifesto“, the first retrospective devoted to the work of Gabrielle Chanel in China. Supported exclusively by the French fashion label, the exhibition is open through November 24.
Prada Rong Zhai
Shuang Li, Our Lady of Sorrows (2024). Courtesy the artist, Peres Projects, and Antenna Space.
In Italo Calvino’s “Distance of the Moon,” Earth and Moon once shared a close gravitational pull, allowing people to climb between the two to collect “moon milk.” But a sudden shift in gravity leaves some stranded on the Moon, separated from those on Earth. Artist Li Shuang (b. 1990) found solace in this tale during lockdown, as she remained in Europe, cut off from family in China. This sense of isolation became central to her artistic practice, translating her disconnection into new works that explore alienation, distance, and attempts at connection.
Now based between Berlin and Geneva, Li will transform Shanghai’s historic Prada Rong Zhai into a reflective, autobiographical house. The exhibition, which runs through January 16, 2025, will feature light and sound installations, videos, and resin objects she created during the pandemic, each piece invoking themes of solitude and fragmented communication. A standout element, a “telegraph-coded letter,” is embedded within the show for viewers to decipher, inviting them to engage directly with her narrative of personal distance and the challenge of bridging separations across space and time.
“Daniel Crews-Chubb: Immortals”
Long Museum
Daniel Crews-Chubb in his studio. Photo: Tim Craig
The London-based painter Daniel Crews-Chubb (b. 1984) makes his first major museum solo debut at the Long Museum in Shanghai, which will feature more than 30 works from two pivotal series that delve into the evolution of figurative representation across history. Known for his dynamic and vibrant compositions, Crews-Chubb creates chimerical figures through a complex, intuitive process involving painting, drawing, and collage. He employs spontaneous methods of applying paint—such as spilling, throwing, and spraying ink and pigment—to create a lively base that brings his figures to life.
On view through January 5, 2025, the exhibition features “Immortals” (2022–24), a series that explores the age-old human endeavor of creating art as a gesture toward immortality. This series considers how representations of figures, from cave drawings to classical statues, achieve a sense of timelessness. His latest series, “Out of Chaos” (2024), takes a broader perspective, reflecting on the interconnectedness of all life and cosmic entities, using the human figure as a central theme to unify a plethora of spontaneous marks. The series’ title, inspired by the ancient Greek concept of chaos as the origin of the universe, underscores the thematic depth of Crews-Chubb’s work, presenting a narrative of creation and interconnectedness.
“Another Avant-Garde. Photography 1970–2000”
West Bund Museum
Sandy Skoglund, Radioactive Cats, (Chats radioactifs) (1980). Photo: Centre Pompidou, MNAM-CCI/Service de la documentation photographique du MNAM/Dist. GrandPalaisRmn
As part of the notable collaboration between Centre Pompidou and West Bund Museum, “Another Avant-garde: Photography 1970–2000” delves into of the French museum’s rich photography collection. This exhibition, running through February 16, 2025, marks the first time in decades that key photographic works from 1970 to 2000 are showcased together, juxtaposing a diverse array of works—from modest conceptual pieces to expansive tableaux, and from singular photographs to experimental video pieces. The show not only reflects on photography’s multifaceted role as sculpture, performance, moving image, and its intersections with painting but also emphasizes its significance across varied artistic contexts. Special attention is given to works from China, featuring several loans that foster a dialogue between distinct avant-garde histories, enhancing the narrative of global photographic practices during this transformative period.
The museum is also hosting “A Cloud in Trousers: Painting Today,” co-organized with Pond Society, a non-profit founded by collector Xue Bing, that features works by 23 artists from diverse generations and backgrounds, providing a look to see the breadth of contemporary Chinese painting.
“Issy Wood: What I Eat In A Day”
“Pictures of the Post-80s Generation —Generational Leap”
Tank Shanghai
Issy Wood, Self portrait 60 (2024). © Issy Wood 2024, courtesy the artist and Carlos/Ishikawa, London. Photo: Damian Griffiths.
Issy Wood will present her first large-scale exhibition of small-scale works at Tank Shanghai, an ambitious institution founded by mega collector Qiao Zhibing. Unlike conventional sketches, Wood’s pieces are intimate glimpses into her daily life, each acting like a diary entry or a snippet from her internet search history, reflecting even her dietary habits. These deeply personal works, which Wood treasures, have evolved into a key part of her daily routine and a playground for visual experimentation. The show runs through January 19, 2025.
In addition to Wood’s show, the museum is hosting a group exhibition featuring works from 35 Chinese artists of the 1980s generation, through May 4, 2025. Curated by Sun Dongdong, it aims to address pressing contemporary issues. Sun describes it as a reflection of the connection between modern Chinese society and the evolving global landscape. He hopes to encourage viewers to dig deeper into the narratives presented, engaging with the complexities of our times while inspiring a renewed sense of hope for the future.