Artworks & exhibitions in Beijing

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Chen Wenling’s bull fart sculpture – What you see might not be real

Sculptures / 3 minutes of reading

The Bull Fart Sculpture was exhibited in a Beijing art gallery in 2009 by celebrated Chinese artist Chen Wenling. Chen titled the work What You See Might Not Be Real to take an in-depth look at the international financial crisis that the world was grappling with at the time. Chen created the farting bull …

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Michelangelo Pistoletto’s labyrinth at the Serpentine Gallery

Installations / 2 minutes of reading

Who is Michelangelo Pistoletto Michelangelo Pistoletto ranks as one of the most eminent artists of modern times. He was born in 1933 in the little Italian town of Biella. Since then, he has excelled as an artist. His works have redefined conceptual art. He has also played a leading role in furthering the popularity of …

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Olafur Eliasson’s fascinating colorful haze installation in Beijing

What was Feelings Are Facts? Feelings Are Facts was created as a result of a collaboration between Danish artist Olafur Eliasson and Beijing-based architect Ma Yansong of MAD studio. Feelings Are Facts was constructed within one of the rooms at the UCCA galleries. It measured approximately 60m by 20m and featured a moderately slanted floor …

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Who is photographer Li Wei?

Photography / 3 minutes of reading

Li Wei’s work is anything but cautious or wary. In fact, it can be described as peculiar or quirky, depending on your perception of life. Characterized by bodies that are often positioned in near-impossible angles, such as buried in windscreens and toppling off skyscrapers, Li Wei’s bizarre works are distinctive. Li Wei was …

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What is Xu Bing’s impressive Book from the Sky all about?

Installations / 3 minutes of reading

The Book from the Sky is one of the most intriguing Chinese art installations of the century and the nifty work of none other than the celebrated Chinese artist Xu Bing. This installation comprises a set of 4 hand-printed books, as well as wall and ceiling scrolls printed in the style of a wood …

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Lu Guang & pollution: Chinese regime doesn’t want you to see this

Photography / 3 minutes of reading

Lu Guang is an award-winning Chinese photojournalist and has done a lot of documentary projects highlighting social, economic and environmental issues and injustices. This renowned photojournalist’s exposures on pollution and environmental destruction have long been underreported in China due to the government’s penchant to mete out punishment to such activists. Due to his work …

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Do Yue Minjun’s self portraits make you laugh?

Paintings / 3 minutes of reading

Yue Minjun’s style is easily be recognized. His self-portrait oil paintings depict himself in vivid colors while grinning with his mouth gaping. An oxymoron of sorts, the self-portraits evoke feelings of sympathy as well as humor. The depictions of himself in various poses laughing draw numerous diverse interpretations. However, the general consensus is that …

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Zhang Huan’s iconic performance: A small mountain of naked people

Performances / 3 minutes of reading

Zhang Huang is one of the greatest and perhaps most popular controversial artists in contemporary China. He first started...

People Architecture Office & their giant Chinese character installation

Architecture, Installations / 2 minutes of reading

People’s Architecture Office’s metal pipe sculpture In 2015, a Chinese studio known as People’s Architecture Office made waves on art and archit...

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Banned: Sun Yuan & Peng Yu’s controversial dog video

Performances, Video Art / 3 minutes of reading

The video work titled Dogs That Cannot Touch Each Other has only recently been removed from Guggenheim Museum’s exhibition series known as Art and China after 1989: Theater of the World. The video series has been met with disapproval and disparagement not only by some art critics but animal lovers and welfare organizations as …

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Shirin Neshat’s Book of Kings captures the faces of the Arab Spring riots

Photography / 3 minutes of reading

The Gladstone Gallery and the Faurschou Foundation in Beijing, China are just some of the art spaces that have had the pleasure of exhibiting Shirin Neshat’s The Book of Kings. The exhibition consisted of a total of 56 black and white photos framed in unmated and black frames that were hung across the two …

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Zhang Huan – One of the most disgusting performance pieces ever made

Performances / 3 minutes of reading

Zhang Huan is no stranger to controversy. Having attended school when China was undergoing a dramatic time in its history, Zhang learned a lot from the years of protests and demonstrations that would be staged in front of Tiananmen Square in Beijing. As an avid fan of Avant-garde art, Zhang did not really have …

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Andy Warhol’s Silver Clouds & His plan to retire from painting

Installations / 3 minutes of reading

Why is Andy Warhol important? Andy Warhol is no stranger to critical acclaim; his various works introduced thousands of audiences to contemporary art, which helped to put American artists on the map, and it waged war against abstract expressionism. Warhol effectively managed, time and time again, to shatter distinctions in art and he helped to …

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Yue Minjun’s sculptures & The infectious power of laughter

Sculptures / 3 minutes of reading

About Yue Minjun Yue Minjun was born in Daqing in Heilongjiang, China in 1962. Yue moved from place to place for most of his life because his family had to move from oilfield to oilfield to find work. Before working as an electrician, he graduated from Hebei Normal University in 1989, where he studied oil …

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Ai Weiwei gives world his middle finger

Performances, Photography / 3 minutes of reading

About Ai Weiwei Ai Weiwei is a Chinese artist and activist. He has been vocal and openly critical of the Chinese government’s stance on democracy and human rights. His work has captured global attention and served to bring attention to social injustices, human rights violations and systemic violence. Ai never shies away from saying what …

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Wang Yuping – The best of his dark comic style paintings

Paintings / 1 minute of reading

Who is Wang Yuping? Wang Yuping (b.1962, Beijing) is known for his gritty, comic book style portraits of urban life in China. His paintings are playful, feature rough, tough or absurd Beijing characters and seem to spy on life in the inner city as a kind of Wang Shuo of the art’s world. By placing …

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Photographer Weng Fen’s girls stare into China’s future

Photography / 5 minutes of reading

Who is photographer Weng Fen? Born in 1961, Weng Fen is a Chinese photographer and an active contemporary artist since the late 1990s. He is famous for creating works related to nature, humans, and urbanization. The artist is a native of the Hainan province and studied at Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, where he graduated …

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Artworks & exhibitions in Beijing

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