Spring has sprung, and some great galleries across Shanghai are showing their colours with exhibitions ranging from the inspirational, the intriguing and the informative. Here's our pick of what's what...
Bill Viola @ James Cohan Gallery
The normally sunshine-filled James Cohan Gallery is a very sombre place indeed right now, thanks to current exhibition Unspoken featuring American video artist extraordinaire, Bill Viola. He's a pretty big deal and though small in scope, this show doesn't disappoint. Most of the works featured are from the Transfigurations series – think transformation, revelation and rebirth, all expressed through grainy, monochrome figures 'passing through' a wall of water into a colour-drenched world and gamut of emotions. It's in what these tortured souls are telling us, asking us, beseeching us, warning us where the series' strength lies, like a haunting window into another realm... The show takes its name from a duo of screens and the oldest works on display, Unspoken (Silver & Gold), 2001 – strangely evocative of Russian Orthodox religious icons, the pieces are simultaneously heartbreaking, life-affirming and utterly captivating. Go see.
Li Zhensheg @ Beaugeste Gallery
From video to photography now, courtesy of a small but punchy show over at Beaugeste Gallery in Tianzifang. Curator Jean Loh has compiled a fascinating selection of images by Cultural Revolution photojournalist Li Zhensheng who, working for the Heilongjiang Daily, captured the hysteria, sorrow and even exuberance of the time. He's an interesting character is Li, and alongside documentary-style works are self-portraits showing an assured, energetic young man unafraid to explore the possibilities and boundaries of his medium and role. Hence there's wide-reaching panoramic crowd shots expertly spliced together, as well as some surprising angles and thought-through lines. Content-wise, it's fascinating – schoolgirls wielding wooden guns with frightening ferocity, young rebels joyfully embracing their collective cause, and crowds jeering at the spectacle of a public denunciation... Really interesting, and definitely worth a visit.
Face @ Minsheng Art Museum
Next stop is Minsheng Art Museum over at Red Town, whose current show, Face, opened earlier this month. Taking a very straightforward concept – contemporary Chinese portraiture – the exhibition presents countless interpretations on a deceptively simple theme. It's a pretty big show – there's 76 artists in total – and its sheer size alone acts as a reminder of the infinite possibilities the medium offers, from the photo-realism of Fang Lijun, a play on TV portraiture, by Weng Yunpeng, and of course, Yue Minjun and that laughing face. Upstairs things take a turn for the experimental, with Zhang Enli's faded mosaics and Chi Ming's empty portraits of past lovers sitting alongside surprising offerings from the likes of acclaimed Shanghainese artist, Yang Fudong: more commonly associated with video and photographic works, his simple charcoal sketches are a refreshing discovery. The big surprise comes right at the end of the show: some 70 commissioned portraits of a certain someone whose influence on faces and ways of seeing is like no other...
Beauty Obscured @ Elisabeth de Brabant
To the elegant environs of Elisabeth de Brabant Art Center now for a group show featuring three Chinese artists and their personal perceptions of female beauty. First you've got Qian Gang – think black and white paintings and prints of romantic, dream-like scenarios. Look closely, though – they're not as simplistic as they first appear, with a chorus of woodland creatures sharing imagined forest settings. A whole lot more fun are Yin ZhiXin's wonderful bronze figures, lost in the revery of either ballet or yoga. Poised and focused, Yin's androgynous characters challenge preconceived ideas of beauty: bald and chubby, they're bubbling with character and a highlight of the show. The top floor is devoted to intimate, autobiographical photos works by renowned multimedia talent, Wang Xiao Hui. Quietly beautiful, they chart the artist's long, emotional 'rebirth' in the wake personal tragedy. Inspirational indeed. *** For a full rundown of the who's who, what's what and when of art galleries in Shanghai, check our art calendar here.
