A flurry of arty provocation to round-out the year in Beijing. Here's a few items of interests -- exhibitions now open, opening soon, and a few events. ***

Exhibitions: Open Now

Continuing their exhibition series exploring the roots of Chinese contemporary art, Boers-Li Gallery has just opened up "Made in Prison", an exhibition series of drawings done by Kang Wanhua when the artist was imprisoned in the mid '70s. From the presser: "The tiny "oil pastel" works of Kang Wanhua -- most of them smaller than a playing card -- …were made during his imprisonment in the midst of Cultural Revolution, when there was strict control over all productions of art. That these works were made in prison and, even more exceptional, that they found their way out, make these works of extraordinary interest to Chinese art history." Sounds dark. The images themselves depict "arcadia-like landscapes of mountains and valleys" as a survival mechanism to deal with "bare living conditions and to kill the boredom of a caged life." Real dark. "Made in Prison" is coinciding with Ma Yanhong's "Artists' Portraits" exhibition, making for a serious and heady one-two punch of vulnerability and submission. Find your way out to Boers-Li to view both. ***

Exhibitions: Opening Soonish

The master of "cool flatness" Zhang Xiaogang exhibits at Pace Beijing as part of their third annual "Beijing Voices" exhibitions series showcasing… um… Beijing voices. This exhibition of one of China's most renowned, internationally recognized, and best selling contemporary artists focuses on the longevity of the artist's career, with works from his "Big Family Series", "Amnesia and Memory Series", and "Green Wall Series", included among newer pieces. This year-end solo show for Zhang Xiaogang is serving as the opening of series of global solo exhibitions for him before his melancholic "false photographs" move on to New York and London. Beijing Voices: Zhang Xiaogang -- a nice opportunity to take in something of a retrospective of the elder statesman of Chinese contemporary art. ***

Events

The UK Now cultural extravaganza rolls on into the field of film with a full week dedicated to showcasing contemporary and classic British cinema. The event is anchored around British director and screenwriter Terence Davies, who will be presenting his latest film The Deep Blue Sea at the opening event on Wednesday, December 5. The films are being show at art-house cinema complex MOMA Broadway Cinematheque until December 16, and the full schedule is thus: Wednesday, 5 December 7:30pm: The Deep Blue Sea (35mm) Thursday, 6 December 7:30pm: Dreams of a Life Saturday, 8 December 2:00pm: Dreams of a Life Friday, 7 December 7:30pm: The Deep Blue Sea (35mm) Friday, 7 December 6:00pm: Yellow Submarine Sunday, 9 December 2:00pm: Yellow Submarine Monday, 10 December 7:30pm: Wuthering Heights Thursday, 11 December 7:30pm: Submarine (35mm) Wednesday, 12 December 7:30pm: Senna Thursday, 13 December 7:30pm: The Lodger Friday, 14 December 7:30pm: Wuthering Heights Saturday, 15 December 2:00pm: Submarine (35mm) Saturday, 15 December 2:00pm: Senna Sunday, 16 December 2:00pm: The Lodger Yellow Submarine, of course! If you head to the festival main page right here, they've got background and preview clips on all of those. *** Niko de La Faye: 'Visages' @ Art at Home December 5, 2012 New arts space Art at Home hosts in French artist Niko de La Faye, opening a photography series Visages, which is about 50 pieces shot in Beijing last year. To celebrate a new show, Niko "will offer to the audience of the opening a performance of action painting on body". Sounds saucy. “I decided to paint on faces." Niko says. "My idea was to change the shape of the existing landscape of the human face, to play with its curves, to add colors, and to integrate the eyes into the composition. The result is a gallery of remodeled portraits. The images are a mix between painting and photography.” In total, sixty-seven models had their faces painted for this project, representing a collection of seven nationalities -- Chinese, French, Indian, American, British, Dutch and Russian -- ranging from 7 to 82 years old. The opening event is this Wednesday at Art at Home at 7pm. *** Regulated Anarchy: Frischzelle + Wu Na + Gogo J @ Zajia Lab December 6, 20102 Lastly, straying away from film and visual art events, here's an improvisational sound art, music, and video performance on for this Thursday at Zajia Lab. German improvisational performers under the banner Frischzelle are submitting three sets of sounds and visuals under the title"Regulated Anarchy", joined by Gugin player Wu Na and video artists Gogo J. "The main idea is to develop a unique improvised audiovisual performance, letting hereby collide all their cultural educations, clichés, and thinkings but being able to communicate using their common languages of music and image, creating a homogenous fusion of media and mind." (Regulated) Anarchy in the PRC this Thursday at Zajia Lab. 60rmb entry fee. Starts 9pm. Click here for the sets break-down. ***