Lisson Gallery Gains an Edge With a New Shanghai Gallery as Western Dealers Rush Into China

The inaugural show, titled "Love is Metaphysical Gravity," opens March 22.

Lisson Gallery's Shanghai space. Image courtesy of Lisson Gallery.

Lisson Gallery has announced that it’s opening a new space in Shanghai, making it the latest in a string of blue-chip Western galleries moving into the city.

Lisson’s new gallery space will be housed inside an historic former warehouse known as the Amber Building, which dates back to the 1930s, on Huqiu Road, also known as “Museum Road” because of its proximity to the Rockbund Art Museum and Christie’s, among other cultural institutions.

The inaugural show, titled “Love is Metaphysical Gravity” after a Buckminster Fuller quote, opens March 22. It highlights art that goes beyond the physical realm and explore mystical and metaphysical concepts, including works by Marina Abramović, Shirazeh Houshiary, Richard Long and Tatsuo Miyajima.

Lisson, which celebrated its 50th anniversary in 2017, has been strengthening its presence in Asia for the past decade through building relationships and partnerships. The gallery has also played a pivotal role in boosting the international profile of the Asian artists and estates it represents, including Ai Weiwei, Liu Xiaodong, Tatsuo Miyajima, Rashid Rana and Lee Ufan.

Nicholas Logsdail during the press preview of “Ai Weiwei Disposition” at the Venice Biennale. Photo by Marco Secchi/Getty Images.

Gallery founder Nicholas Logsdail told artnet News in a recent interview that he initially planned for the gallery he opened on London’s Lisson Street in 1967 to be only a short-term system for  supporting his artist friends and fellow students at the Slade School of Fine Art.

But more than 50 years later, the gallery is an expanding global powerhouse with a roster of blue-chip artists. In 2016, Lisson opened two spaces in New York City’s Chelsea neighborhood, one on Tenth Avenue and another on 24th Street. In 2017, the gallery celebrated its anniversary with an off-site show in London titled “Everything at Once,” which inaugurated a partnership with the independent arts group The Vinyl Factory.


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