Beijing Art Scene

New to town, so what's an artist to do?  Go looking for an art scene.  In Beijing, one easy target is the 798 Art District.  I recently met a photographer, Catherine Croll, who is an artist in residence with the Red Gate Gallery.  Red Gate was started about 15 years ago by an Australian and was the first gallery to open in Beijing.  They have since added another gallery space at 798.  So, Kate invited me to an opening where I met some cool guys from Tibet who did some work I didn’t fully appreciate until I went back for a discussion night about their art.  It really helps to get some input from the artists themselves when looking at contemporary fine art.  I also bummed around there one afternoon with Will C. from Made In Hong Kong.  So, here are a few photos to keep you occupied as I’ll be on assignment for the next few days.  It’s a tasty one that I’ll share with you later. Wait for it, the numbers will come to you. The exhibition featured 7 artists, six of whom were present. 1,000 what? Oh Mickey, you're so fine, you calm my mind.

Props for showing a photographer too!  He took old Chinese impressions of Tibet and reinterpreted them according to life today.

If you like stickers, this piece is for you.

Uh, this was not part of the exhibition, but rather a social commentary on youth and art galleries.

The artists mostly hung outside - so they could smoke.

Mr. Stickers

Will C. gets ready to deface public property....

And he scores!  Looks like he was not the first to do so.

A rare picture of D-S not posing.

Spotted this elderly woman looking at the outdoor art.  She walked up to each piece, read the title, looked at the sculpture and waved her arm at each piece as if swatting away a fly.