Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA)
China has some fabulous art galleries showcasing the best Chinese and international artists from past to present. Here we list some of the best places in the country to get yourself acquainted with the breadth of both Chinese and international art, in particular contemporary art.
Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA), Beijing
Located in the 798 Art Zone, the UCCA was designed to be a global art center in Beijing. It is a not-for-profit entity founded by Baron and Baroness Guy and Myriam Ullens de Schooten and inaugurated in November 2007. It offers exhibitions and programs which are designed to help visitors understand the art culture of China.
UCCA is based in three factory-chambers offering a total of approximately 10,000 square meters of international exhibition space. A peculiarity of UCCA is that all the exhibitions are all non-permanent thus it’s strongly recommended to get familiar with the current exhibitions before visiting UCCA in order to better enjoy them.
M97 photographic gallery in Shanghai
M97 Gallery, Shanghai
M97 is a photographic gallery established in 2006 in Shanghai, and is located in Shanghai's M50 neighborhood where former warehouses were turned into studios and galleries. It has a great selection of photography from Chinese and foreign photographers. It was one of the first photography galleries in China and the largest in Shanghai.
It is a 300 m² space with a 200 m² main exhibition room. Since its opening, their main focus was to expand the understanding and appreciation for the history and art of photography in China.
Long Museum West Bund
Long Museum, Shanghai
This is a private museum with two locations: Long Museum Pudong and Long Museum West Bund. The Long Museum Pudong opened in 2012 and is focused on high-quality Chinese art. It displays all types or genres: contemporary, modern, revolutionary and traditional. The Long Museum West Bund opened in 2014 and houses Chinese and European contemporary art as well as ancient and traditional Chinese masterpieces.
Heman Chong, “The Mysterious Island”, 2016 – Rockbund Art Museum
Rockbund Art Museum (RAM), Shanghai
This is a contemporary art museum placed in the former Royal Asiatic Society building, in the Bund area. It doesn’t have any permanent exhibitions but hosts short-term contemporary exhibitions by some of China and Asia’s most important artists. It was most recently hosting Singaporean artist Heman Chong.
Alberto Giacometti at Yuz Museum
Yuz Museum, Shanghai
This museum belongs to the YUZ Foundation, founded by Mr. Budi Tek. It opened in 2014 and is the second museum of the Foundation after the YUZ Museum in Jakarta. It’s located in the Bund area and hosts mainly non-permanent exhibitions of Western and Eastern contemporary art. It is currently hosting Alberto Giacometti’s largest retrospective of sculptures until the end of July.
Dan Colen at the Gagosian
Gagosian Gallery, Hong Kong
Larry Gagosian opened his gallery in Hong Kong in 2010, having opened a total of 15 art galleries around the world including in New York, Paris and London. It’s located in the Pedder Building in the central shopping district and covers an area of 480 m2.
Gagosian’s exciting contemporary program features the work of leading international artists including Ellen Gallagher, Jeff Koons, Georg Baselitz and Andreas Gursky. It's most recent exhibition was “When I’m Gone” by Dan Colen.
Imperial Tours can custom design half-day, one-day and multi-day tours exploring contemporary art in China. Please contact us for more details.
