Uli Sigg Collection of Contemporary Chinese Art Debuts in the UK at the Whitworth

Weng Fen, On the Wall – Shenzhen (I) (2002)
Photo: Courtesy The Whitworth

The Whitworth art gallery in Manchester has announced that the next exhibition to grace its newly renovated walls will be “Four Decades of Chinese Art,” the first UK show of highlights from the Uli Sigg collection (see Censors Remove Ai Weiwei From Shanghai Show, Leaving Uli Sigg Powerless).

The exhibition brings together 80 works by leading contemporary Chinese artists, including Cao Fei, Zhang Peili, Zhang Huan, Weng Fen, and Ai Weiwei, whose installation Still Life (1995-2000) will fill the gallery with thousands of Stone Age axe heads (see Ai Weiwei Takes Over Downton Abbey-esque Estate and Ai Weiwei’s Zodiac Heads Hits Phillips Auction Block).

“Four Decades of Chinese Art,” set to open on July 1, will tackle the conditions of art making and freedom of expression in China, exploring subversive artistic practices ranging from the No Name Group, which began in the late 1960s, to the contemporary art scene.

The Whitworth reopened to the public last February, after an ambitious and protracted £15 million renovation (see Manchester Gallery’s Major Revamp Plagued by Delays).

Last week, it was announced that the Manchester-based art gallery had been nominated for the most prestigious museum award in the UK: the Art Fund Prize for Museum of the Year 2015, which comes with a cash prize of £100,000.

The winner of the prize will be announced on Wednesday 1 July, during a ceremony held at Tate Modern.


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