Nightlife and activities

Xie Nanxing: Spices

Date: March 31 - May 17 - 10 am

Venue: Ullens Center for Contemporary Art

Xie Nanxing: Spices presents a new series of seven major oil paintings created in the last two years, reflecting a shift in the artist's thinking away from his earlier attempts to mediate between realism and conceptualism, in favor of a more objective search for the roots of his artistic practice. In these works, common tropes and references from Western art history and techniques developed by old masters are deftly handled, obliquely or ambiguously brought onto the canvas. The enlightenment narrative that has undergirded contemporary painting in China throughout the past several decades of rapid development is expressed here as the confusion and complexity that lies between two vastly different visual and historical contexts. This exhibition is less a summary or an argument than a timely corrective: Xie Nanxing views his own "misreadings" of the Western classical tradition in the same vein as Columbus mistaking the tree bark he found in the Americas for Indian spices. The exhibition will also include sketches and supplementary materials that elucidate Xie's creative trajectory.

Longines Global Champions Tour

Date: April 20-22 - 10 am

Venue: South of China Art Museum, Shanghai

The Longines Global Champions Tour is the world's premier show jumping series, bringing together the top ranked athletes in the world to compete in prestigious locations for unprecedented prize money. Now highly respected as one of the most prolific social and sporting events on the calendar, the Shanghai leg of the Championship will welcome the world's best riders as they battle it out for the top spot in their season long campaign for the coveted LGCT Champion of Champions title.