Art Districts in Chengdu?

[Adam Hersh]

Short term visitor. Have heard that Chengdu has a vibrant modern art community, but not finding much info online. Looking to this forum for suggestions for where I can spend a day seeing galleries and possibly buying art. Would also like to know if the North Village Art District (北村艺术区) is still operational, as I’ve seen conflicting information online.

Staying in city center. To the extent possible if you can reply with addresses in  汉语 it will help me with taxis.

Thanks!

[Charlie]

The Chengdu East Music Park (????????) is worth visiting, there is some interesting art there and it was designed and constructed with the intention of being an artists enclave in Chengdu. Unfortunately it hasn’t really realized that potential.

The other place I recommend is the Songxian Bridge Art Market (????????) which is filled with dozens of artists, mostly painters. You can buy art for cheap there, or if you speak Chinese, just hang out with artists and drink tea, etc.

We have a number of articles about local artists as well, all of these were published by Tabitha:

The Artist, Interrogating Performance: Zhou Bin

Liang Wei’s Shifting Landscapes

Portrait of a Chengdu Artist: Luo Fahui

Tang Wugang: The Armory of an Artist

[Lucy Knowles]

So glad somebody posted this! I’ll definitely be checking out the art market, so Adam if you fancy going together just let me know!

[Adam Hersh]

Thanks. Wish I was spending more time here and made my inquiry sooner. Will have to check this next time. @Charlie, also noticed your post on rock climbing. Will hit you up about that next time I’m in town.

Cheers.

[Adam Hersh]

P.S. did make it to Song Xian Qiao yesterday. Lots of fun and interesting art and artifacts to look at. For those who are interested, it is almost exclusively traditional Chinese art styles and media: landscape ink paintings, bird and flower and bamboo paintings on scrolls, calligraphy, etc. Also, some Tibetan art, antique furniture (very cool, wish I could afford it and take it home).

Unfortunately, I was looking for modern/contemporary Chinese art, but it was a fun way to spend half a day.

[Will K]

@ Adam – wish i had caught your note yesterday….there’s a great show right now at Chengdu MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) of paintings by Yue Minjun, curated by Lu Peng. Yue Minun is pretty recognizable for painting large, graphic faces…this show is quite a departure from this style which makes it interesting. It’s a good show. Chengdu MOCA is a 10 minute walk south form Century CIty (the final stop south on Metro Line #1) and this show is Free admission, if you happen to be back in Chengdu before December. (for any collectors, i believe some works are for sale)

[Charlie]

Quote:

@ Adam – wish i had caught your note yesterday….there’s a great show right now at Chengdu MOCA (Museum of Contemporary Art) of paintings by Yue Minjun, curated by Lu Peng.

Great suggestion, the Chengdu MOMA is the best gallery for modern art in the city. Will definitely knows what he’s talking about when it comes to art in Chengdu.

[Will K]

ha – art in Chengdu is pretty expansive, i know just a sliver. there are great local artists making work in both the new and old Blue Roof art districts, and also in pockets all around the city. 1000 Plateaus Art Space (1000plateaus.org) is one of the best commercial (and forward thinking) galleries in all of China – always something interesting to see there. and like Charlie said – MOCA is always good to check out too – aside from the Picasso exhibit last spring, they’ve shown some of China’s best emerging and mid career artists all year.

[Author]

Posts