Chambers Fine Art is an art gallery based in New York City and Beijing that specializes in Chinese
contemporary art
Contemporary art is the art of today, produced in the second half of the 20th century or in the 21st century. Contemporary artists work in a globally influenced, culturally diverse, and technologically advancing world. Their art is a dynamic com ...
. Opened in New York in 2000 by Christophe Mao. Notable Chinese artists who had their first solo show in the United States at Chambers include:
Lu Shengzhong,
Shi Jinsong, Hong Hao,
Qiu Zhijie
Qiu Zhijie (邱志杰; born 1969) is a contemporary Chinese people, Chinese artist who works primarily in video and photography. Overall, Qiu's work suggests the struggle between the forces of destiny and self-assertion. Other common themes are ...
,
Hong Lei, and
Chi Peng
Chi Peng (; born 1981) is a Chinese-born artist who lives and works in Beijing, China.
Born in Yantai
Yantai, formerly known as Chefoo, is a coastal prefecture-level city on the Shandong Peninsula in northeastern Shandong province of Pe ...
.
In 2007 Chambers Fine Art opened a second gallery-space designed by the artist, Ai Weiwei, in the Caochangdi district of Beijing. The inaugural exhibition ''Net: Reimagining Space, Time and Culture'' was organized by eminent Chinese art scholar, Wu Hung, and included works by Chinese contemporary artists
Ai Weiwei
Ai Weiwei (, ; born 28 August 1957) is a Chinese contemporary artist, documentarian, and activist. Ai grew up in the far northwest of China, where he lived under harsh conditions due to his father's exile. As an activist, he has been openly c ...
,
He Yunchang
He Yunchang (born 1967), also known as A Chang, is a Chinese performance artist.
Life and career
He Yunchang was born in Kunming, southwest China, in 1967. He graduated from the Yunnan Art Institute in 1991 with a degree in oil painting an ...
, Hong Hao, Hong Lei,
Lu Shengzhong,
Qiu Zhijie
Qiu Zhijie (邱志杰; born 1969) is a contemporary Chinese people, Chinese artist who works primarily in video and photography. Overall, Qiu's work suggests the struggle between the forces of destiny and self-assertion. Other common themes are ...
, Rong Rong & inri, Shi Jinsong,
Song Dong
Song Dong (, born 1966) is a Chinese contemporary artist, active in sculpture, installations, performance, photography and video. He has been involved in many solo and group exhibitions around the world, covering a range of themes and topics inc ...
, Wang Jianwei, Wang Tiande, Wu Jian’an, Yin Xiuzhen, Yu Hong,
Guo Hongwei,
Zhan Wang, Zhang Peili,
Zheng Guogu.
In October 2009, Chambers Fine Art moved its New York gallery to a ground-floor space on 19th street in
Chelsea's gallery district.
History
Chambers Fine Art is named after the distinguished British architect, Sir William Chambers who, in addition to his architectural practice, was a leading exponent of Chinese principles in garden design in the late eighteenth century. Inspired by the example of Chambers, Christophe W. Mao, founder and director of the gallery since 2000, has organized a stimulating series of exhibitions that have introduced the work of some of the best artists active in China today to an American audience.
The gallery program has alternated between monographic exhibitions devoted to the work of established artists and thematic exhibitions organized by recognized scholars in the field. Thus, the first exhibition in the gallery, ''First Encounter'', was devoted to the work of the outstanding paper-cut artist
Lu Shengzhong who converted the gallery space into a vividly colored "temple" that evoked another aspect of life in China than the contemporary urban culture explored by so many younger artists. Other memorable solo exhibitions in the last eight years have been devoted to the work of Hong Hao, Wang Tiande, Wang Jianwei,
Qiu Shihua
Qiu Shihua (; born 1940) is a Chinese landscape painter. He lives and works in Beijing and Shenzhen.
Life and work
Qiu Shihua was born in 1940 in Zizhong, Sichuan, China, and lives and works in Beijing and Shenzhen. He visited France in the 1980s ...
, Rong Rong and inri,
Hong Lei and
Qiu Zhijie
Qiu Zhijie (邱志杰; born 1969) is a contemporary Chinese people, Chinese artist who works primarily in video and photography. Overall, Qiu's work suggests the struggle between the forces of destiny and self-assertion. Other common themes are ...
.
In contrast group exhibitions beginning with ''Cement: Marginal Space in Contemporary Art'' (2002) and ''Too Much Flavor'' (2003) and continuing to ''Blog It: New Wave of New Wave'' (2008) have introduced the work of a younger generation of Chinese artists to the American audience. These carefully selected “reports” on the latest developments in China contrast with monographic exhibitions devoted to well-established artists whose work is frequently being shown for the first time in the United States.
First Chinese Pavilion at Venice Biennale
In 2003, Chambers Director, Christophe Mao, agreed to sponsor the first ever Chinese Pavilion at the 50th
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...
, the major contemporary art exhibition which takes place in
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
, Italy every two years. Five Chinese artists were selected to represent China, including Lu Shengzhong, who was the first contemporary Chinese artist exhibited by Chambers when it opened in 2000. However, because of the
SARS
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) is a viral respiratory disease of zoonotic origin caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS-CoV or SARS-CoV-1), the first identified strain of the SARS coronavirus species, ''sever ...
crisis, the Chinese Pavilion was canceled. In 2005, for the 51st
Venice Biennale
The Venice Biennale (; it, La Biennale di Venezia) is an international cultural exhibition hosted annually in Venice, Italy by the Biennale Foundation. The biennale has been organised every year since 1895, which makes it the oldest of ...
, the first official Chinese Pavilion was built by the Chinese Ministry of Culture and Chambers Fine Art provided sponsorship for the exhibition "Virgin Garden – Immersion", which included the artists
Yung Ho Chang,
Liu Wei,
Sun Yuan & Peng Yu, Wang Qiheng and
Xu Zhen.
Architecture
Since the gallery opened in the Chelsea neighborhood of New York City in 2000, Chambers Fine Art has opened two additional exhibition spaces which have both been recognized for their architectural merits. In 2007, Chambers Fine Art opened a second gallery in the
Caochangdi
Caochangdi () was an urban village and renowned arts district located in the Chaoyang District, Beijing, Chaoyang District of northeast Beijing at the intersection of the 5th Ring Road and Airport Expressway. Translated as "grasslands" in Mandarin, ...
district of Beijing. In 2008, an additional storage and exhibition space known as "ArtFarm" was opened on a rural piece of private land in
Salt Point, New York
Salt Point is a hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in the Town of Pleasant Valley, Dutchess County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census it had a population of 202. It lies northeast of Poughkeepsie following New York ...
. Both of these buildings were designed by the Swiss architectural firm, HHF Architects, in conjunction with renowned Chinese artist and architect,
Ai Weiwei
Ai Weiwei (, ; born 28 August 1957) is a Chinese contemporary artist, documentarian, and activist. Ai grew up in the far northwest of China, where he lived under harsh conditions due to his father's exile. As an activist, he has been openly c ...
, who is widely known for collaborating on the design of the "
Bird's Nest" stadium built for the
2008 Beijing Olympics
The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...
. In 2009, HHF Architects received the "best architects 10" gold prize for the ArtFarm project. Described by the architects, "The outer shape is a consequence of the use of a pre-engineered and easy to assemble type of steel building, which often gets used for agricultural purposes in that area. With its abstract metallic appearance the structure becomes an equal member of a whole group of sculptures which are spread out in the landscape."
[HHF Architects ArtFarm project ""]
See also
*
Chinese fine art
Much traditional Chinese art was made for the imperial court, often to be then redistributed as gifts. As well as Chinese painting, sculpture and Chinese calligraphy, there are a great range of what may be called decorative or applied arts. Chin ...
References
External links
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Art museums and galleries in New York (state)
Art galleries established in 2000
2000 establishments in New York City