(That's Shanghai)
Updated: 2008-01-08 10:57

The bund 18 Creative Center has finally launched its sleek new lounge bar-which unfortunately has substantially reduced the size of its exhibition space to 450 sqm. Nevertheless, creative director Kim Sunhee plans to extend her influence beyond the small confines of the gallery. "From the ground floor to the top, I want the whole building to have more art; I plan to commission designs for lamps and chairs from top Chinese artists."

Indeed, Kim, a Korean curator who previously worked at Toyko's Mori Museum, aims high. She plans to make the space a showcase that offers a true representation of art across Asia. The gallery's opening show features the work of mainly Chinese artists; titled "Shanghype-A Portrait of the City from Dawn to Dusk," it features several videos exploring the complex fabric of this heaving metropolis. This exhibit will be followed by a Korean video show, and in February, a Japanese group show.

"Shanghype", their January show, is curated by BizArt's Davide Quadrio, former co-curator at the old Bund 18 Creative Center. It showcases several video works by well-known artists, including “My Pretty Zhangjiang“ by Song Tao, "Na Xiong Na Er" by Yang Zhenzhong and “Shouting We Will Come Back” by Xu Zhen, as well as some videos by foreign artists, such as Olivo Barbieri and David Cotterrell.

One of the show’s highlights is a video by another of Shanghai’s video luminaries Yang Fudong, whose early work, “Robber South”, explores identity issues in the context of Deng Xiaoping’s maxim, ‘Development is a Hard Necessity’. Quadrio explains: “A peasant arrives in the city and by late afternoon he’s been transformed into a white collar worker. But the question is, was it worth it?” Lastly, visitors should note Zhang Ding’Fellini-esque piece, which was specially commissioned for “Shanghype“. In this work, a man rides a white horse through Shanghai’s less developed areas, avoiding the hyped glamor and glitz of People’s Square, for instance. “In doing so,” comments Quadrio, “the artist offers his view on ‘minimalia’, the small things and actions which provide real context to life in Shanghai.”

Shanghype
Location: Bund 18 Creative Center 4/F, Bund 18, Zhongshan Dong Yi Lu
Date: January 9-31
Open: Daily 10am-7pm
Tel: 021-6323 5080