Berlin, Haus der Kulturen der Welt, January 31 – February 3, 2019, http://transmediale.de Day 1 At HKW visitors were welcomed by a pinkish illumination both on the outside and inside of the building. It felt like a butchers shop display. Inside the air smelled a bit funky. The combination of architectural shapes, color and smell…
Shanghai, July 21 – October 21, 2018, 新时线媒体(CAC)艺术中心, http://www.chronusartcenter.org/ Chronus Art Center (CAC) specializes in New Media Art. The exhibition was well designed and prepared. The artworks consisted of a mix of new media artworks, also with a mix of the typical issues that new media artworks have. Some were accessible and poetic, other were…
Shanghai, Yuyuan Road, No. 1018, August 18 – September 3, 2018 By chance and by word of mouth I attended the opening of Xu Xinwu’s exhibition. The space seemed to be a pop up gallery filling up the space in between two construction phases in the area. It was nice and clean, the big bar…
Shanghai, June 26 – August 26, 2018, 上海外滩美术馆, http://www.rockbundartmuseum.org/en/ After some years, I visited the Rockbund Art Museum (RAM) again. The atmosphere was still very pleasant, as I remembered from my prior visits. The visitor experience, as well as the artworks, are shaped by the unique multi floor space where visitors ascend and see the…
Shanghai, Pudong, 2018, http://thelongmuseum.org/en/ My first visit to the Long Museum (龙美术馆) Pudong branch, about 5 years after it opened. The architecture is minimalist, and it stood still and calm. It was quite empty during my weekend visit. Shows ranged from ancient to modernist to communist. No contemporary.
Frankfurt am Main, June 30 – September 2, 2018, http://www.portikus.de/ The installation of Arim Rungjang, a Thai artist who made his first biennale appearances in the last few years, consisted of one large dark room with video projections on all walls except the entrance. The room was very dark, especially as one was entering straight…
Cologne, April 18 – August 12, 2018, http://www.museum-ludwig.de/ I have come across Haegue Yang’s work previously in some large and prestigious shows like documenta (13), Taipei Biennial 2014 or Art Basel Art Fair. But I did not feel very close to her work. She was the “window blinds” artist for me, the work seemed cold,…
Hong Kong, 24 March – 22 April 2018, http://www.mill6chat.org/ Since my last visit two years ago Mill6 added the “Centre for Heritage Arts & Textile” subtitle to its official name, and also the works on show seemed to be more heavily pushed in this direction. The institution invited three artists, one from Japan (Iwasaki Takahiro),…
Hong Kong, 24 March – 19 April 2018, http://www.cityu.edu.hk/ontheroad/ The ambitions of this exhibitions were set very high, documenting a selection of “Young Media Artists in China”. The title reminded me of the difficulty of the “contemporary art” vs. “media art” separation. I wished we could get over this dichotomy in the 21st century, but…
Hong Kong, 25 March – 6 May 2018, http://osagegallery.com/ A rather large exhibition, taking on an even larger task of mapping the dialogue between “Southeast Asia, South America, Central America and Mexico”, curated by Raphael Fonseca and featuring the works of 26 artists. The exhibition was a little bit in the style of Para Site’s…