is now running three small but exciting exhibitions and at only 10rmb to get in it doesn't seem worth missing out on. Each exhibition holds its own floor and it seems sensible to work your way up, but you see all the same stuff on the way back down, so I suggest you start at the top.
It's these kind of ideas that the current exhibition Future Landscapes provokes (which is on the bottom floor). Zhou Zixi's "Happy Life" series takes familiar scenes and encourages fantasies to exist within them and different perspectives to emerge. The press image of his painting "Happy Life Crossing the Strait" features a climber traversing a wire across an art gallery. I would suggest you try this, but you would probably get thrown out (perhaps another advantage of starting at the top).
The other artists Sun Xun and Liu Weijian are no less interesting. Sun Xun's ink paintings of mosquitoes on back lit plastic are absolutely striking, his style is chaotic but compelling. Liu Weijian's exquisitely painted works seem to resemble Zixi's but they are a lot darker in colour and content. He shows long grey streets, that should be full of cars and people, as empty, presenting a loneliness that people can find in a city despite the crowds.
The top floor is American Artist Christina Shmigel's installation A View From Afar and although there is not much to it at the moment (it looked like work was being done in closed off areas) the pieces there are an interesting look at Shanghai from a westerner's perspective.
The middle floor is dedicated to experimental short films that have been shown at the museum for the past two years, and some are fantastic. Carlos Morelli's work caught my eye, in one instance he uses a split screen to deftly build up tension, you can see the collision coming, but he holds it off exquisitely pointing out coincidences that can mean a persons life or death. As it reaches the conclusion, the collision never happens and the split screens fade away into a song and dance number. It's hilarious and perfectly constructed, dragging your eyes one way then another.
There is so much to take from this museum that I would recommend everyone visit it despite its poor location outside the hub of the city. Each of the floors are worthy in their own right especially the "Future Landscapes" exhibit which clearly shows painting is neither old fashioned or dying out. It bears saying again that all this is only 10rmb, so even figuring in travel costs it is still a bargain.
All three exhibitions run until February 15th. Admission is 10rmb for adults, 5rmb for students and free if you're shorter than 1.1m! More details can be found on their website here