Paralleled Worlds

Art Beijing, opening on 29 April, brings an energetic selection of regional and international exhibitors to the fore for its 12th consecutive exhibition. Since the establishment of the Art Beijing brand, the fair has grown and developed alongside a rising and fluctuating art market. At its core is the concept of being ‘Locally Based and Asia-Oriented’. Each year, it consists of contemporary art, design, classic and public art. In 2017, the event has chosen a diverse array of art from over 160 participants from 15 different countries and regions.

China has become one of the world’s largest art markets with an incomparable breadth and depth. Furthermore, the country’s strong purchasing power and healthy art industry is comparably distinctive to that of others globally. There are also some notable differences between the artworks offered in comparison to the demand of the market becoming more professional, rational and diverse in the current economic cycle. Art Beijing seeks to provide a large variety of high-level works based on the market demand while boasting a potent sense of professionalism.

Classical Beijing and Art Beijing will return in their original format and will be held in the same pavilion and platform, while a stronger curatorial sense will flow throughout the fair, with artworks being exhibited in different areas based on their style. This year’s Find programme expands the fair’s support for new galleries, continuing its work upholding the development and expansion of numerous emerging galleries into influential art institutions. In 2017, the sector will be one and half times larger, promoting artists and projects in Asia together with 17 different galleries in Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan and Tokyo including EGG Gallery, Hunsand Space, Tong Gallery + Projects, Yamamoto Gendai and URANO.

Special Division, AISA plus, embraces the qualities of Beijing as it was born and developed in the city. Divided into two parts, Asian Galleries with International Presence and themed exhibitions, the section presents diverse artistic forms in Asia. Among them, themed exhibition The Parallel Worlds of Asia: When Venice Encounters Asian Contemporary Art will feature work by seven Chinese and Japanese artists, including Wu Jian’an, Takahiro Iwasaki and Kishio Suga. Also making an appearance will be Ji Dachun, Liu Xiaodong, Motohiko Odani and Wang Qingsong, whose works have already been exhibited at La Biennale di Venezia.

Elsewhere, Xiaowei Hutong No. 5 the Third Exhibition shows how people of the China Central Academy of Fine Arts have persisted and how they have carried forward the central spirit of art for generations, while dealing with numerous issues at different stages of social development. Brought to the fair in collaboration with Hongkun Museum of Fine Art, the presentation demonstrates art academies’ requirements with regards to professionalism in art.

Design Beijing will return in 2017 with a new, dedicated pavilion titled Art · Design · Life geared at showcasing a dialogue between art and design in order to offer more choices for collectors. Public art also has a prominent place at the fair this year with Art in Public Space, which provides a practical example for ways art to enter everyday life in a natural way.

Art Beijing, 29 April – 2 May, National Agriculture Exhibition Center, Beijing.

Find out more: www.artbeijing.net and www.designbeijing.info.

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Credits
1. Courtesy of Art Beijing.