ALM 20_China_Beijing On October 1st the country and specifically the capital Beijing came to a standstill to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China, a mass celebration intended to demonstrate the endearing support for and power of the regime. The government’s attempts to bolster its power have been ideological and far - reaching, from its trade war with President Trump and the US, it s embroilment in the Huawei scandal following the arrest of Men g Wanzhou, the company’s deputy chairman an d daughter of the founder, it’s decision to essentially censor NBA matches in China following a coaches Tweet in support of protesters in Hong Kong. The government’s response to the protests in Hong Kong also c ame to define the year for China. BEIJING Funded by the Ministry of Culture, China’s major state - run art institution is the National Art Museum of China (NAMOC) , which h eld almost 70 shows over the course of 2019. The vast majority of these short - running exhibitions play into tropes of nationalist ideology and use artworks from across history to display a unified national identity , as in “ Mount Meru in the B ey ond, Lotus of the Other Shore – Exhibition of Treasure Tibetan Thang - ga Art” (7/5 – 14) and “ The Love of Rivers and Mountains – Exhibition of Qin Dahu ’ s Oil Painting Works” (7/4 – 14). On the east ern flank of Tiananmen Square is the National Museum of China , which chiefly hosts ethnographic presentations in support of a similar cohesive nationalist narrative, epitomized by shows like “ De ri ved from Futan: Zen Monk Paintings” ( 11/ 6 – 17) and “Beautifu l China: the World in Colour” ( 7/17 – 12/30). Further outside of Beijing’s center is the Central Academy of Fine Arts Museum (CAFAM) , the museum for the prestigious art school the Central Academy of Fine Arts (CAFA). While the institution does also focus on narratives of Chinese art histo ry with exhibitions like, “ The Formation of Ancient Impression – Ming and Qing Calligraphy and Painting” (8/26 – 10/25), there is also more of an attempt made to offer a more comprehensive selection of shows, including, “Leonardo and his Outstanding Circle ” (9/12 – 12/8) and British artist Anish Kapoor’s first solo museum show in China (10/25 – 1/1/ 20), which also saw works placed at the Taimiao Art Museum of the Imperial Ancestral Temple by the walls of the Forbidden City. Opening in 2016, the Tsinghua University Art Museum h o ld s academic exhibitions including , “ Accomplishment – The First Generation of Chinese Architects from the University of Pennsylvania ” (7/23 – 10/13) and “ Utensils and Ornament s Endlessly Fine: National Treasures from Afghanistan at the Cultural Crossroads of East and West ” (4/18 – 5/23). Sponsored by the China Minsheng Banking Corporation, Beijing Minsheng Art Museum , is a less prominent outpost than its two Shanghai stations , but opened a series of strong shows, often of prominent mid - career Chinese artists, including sculptor Sui Jianguo (9/28 – 11/1) and realist painter He Dan (11/20 – 12/15). Located in the 798 Art District , t he Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA) completed its significant refurbishment early in 2019 , opening with a survey of leading contemporary artist Qiu Zhijie (1/19 – 5/5). UCCA’s biggest show was a mass undertaking , displayin g 103 of Picasso’s early to mid - career works, most lent by the Musée N ational Picasso - Paris (6/15 – 9/1). This was followed by a solo exhibition of American artist Matthew Barney, which focused chiefly on his two - hour video work about a wolf - hunting expedition, Redoubt (2019) (9/28 – 1/12/2020). The two - part exhibition “Society Guidance” (5/18 – 8/18; 8/31 – 11/24) looked at artistic practice in relationship to economic changes in China of the 1990s. In November, the institution also revealed that it would be opening a Shanghai outpost in 2021. An exhibition of Chinese - American artist Hung Liu’ s paintings, scheduled for December, was cancelled when Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture refused to grant p ermission for the works to be imported. It was a big year for another 798 - located museum, M Woods , wh ich opened M Woods Hutong in the cent er of the city , inaugurating the space with the first solo exhibition in China of British artist David Hockney, an exhaustive survey of his career with works borrowed from the Tate (8/30 – 1/5 /2 0 20 ). A t its original location, M Woods presented showings of American minimalist Richard Tuttle (3/16 – 6/16) and staged an immersive exhibition for Chen Tianzhuo (10/31 – 2/23/2020), whose began the show with three daily, 12 - hour genre - defying performances The privately owned, noncommercial Faurschou Foundation , which also has a space in Copenhagen, had one long - running exhibition of large - scale and new - media works from American i nstallation artist Doug Aitken (3/23 – 10/ 27 ). Also located in 798, Hyundai Motorstudio Beijing focused on the theme of “Future Humanity.” The first exhibition on this topic was curator Wei Ying ’s survey of historical and contemporary media art , “Quasi Nature – Bio Art, Borderline and Laboratory” (3/22 – 6/16) , follow ed by “Lying Sophia and Mocking Alexa” ( 7/11 – 10/21 ) curated by Long Xinru . Both curators were winners of the 2018 Hyundai Blue Prize. In November, the winners of the 2019 awards were announced: Chen Min and Zhang Yehong for Creativity and Chen Jiaying for Sustainability. Each will curate exhibitions at Hyundai Motorstudio Beiji ng in 2020. “Human (Un)Limited: Between Human Limitations and Limited Humanity” (11/19 – 2/29/20) was a collaboration with Ars Electronica, looking at the junction of art, science, and technology. Outside of Beijing’s two main art districts on the outskirts of Beijing, the Red Brick Art Museum hosted a group show of significant contemporary artists, many of them already forming a part of the museum’s collection, including Olafur Eliasson, Dan Graham, Huang Yong P ing , and Xiao Lu (7/19 – 10/13). British a rtist Sarah Lucas also held her first solo exhibition in China , a well - received and wide - ranging survey of her career to date (11/2 – 2/16/ 20). On the other side of the Beijing is Inside - Out Art Museum , led by curator and researcher Carol Yinghua Lu and artist Liu Ding. Its shows are marked by often - attained academic ambitions, including a 28 - artist show that posed varied responses to China’s move into the “New Era” (4/18 – 8/4). “ Yvonne Rainer and Wen Hu i: Dance Only Exists When It Is Performed” (8/24 – 11/24) studied two artists whose practice revolves chiefly around dance and choreography. The centrally located Today Art Museum , which is partially funded by the Beijing district governmen t, presented a series of somewhat obscure and ambiguous shows, including “LOVELOVELOVE: A Journey in Love” (3/30 – 6/30), which saw artists Colin Chin n ery and Lei Lei, among others, responding to the works of Andy Warhol and French electronic music pioneer J ean - Michel Jarre. Of Beijing’s foreign cultural institutes, the Goethe Institut and the Danish Cultural Institute were the most active, organizing a number of events, talks and exhibitions. The Goethe Institut held events around its burgeoning partnership with new Beijing nightclub Zhao Dai, wh ich co - hosted a number of talks at the institute throughout the year, including “The Dancefloor as Emancipatory Space: Queer Visibility, Self - discovery and the Emergence of Electro nic Dance Music” ( 11/8) , while the Danish Cultural Institute , hosted exhibitions including, B j ørn Nørgaard ’s sculptures of zodiac figures in “ Lost in Perception” (6/8 – 9/1 ) Many of Beijing’s independent non profit spaces faced continuing difficulties in the city’s hutongs. One space that has managed to resist relocation is I: project space , which hosted numerous small exhibitions of young Chinese and internati onal artists, many of whom were also taking part in the long - running residency program , such as artist Rachele Maistrello (10/19 – 27) , and curator Vaida Stepanovaite who organized the exhibition “Ghost Islands” (7/14 – 28) I: project space also organized the fourth edition of Independent Art Spaces (9/6 – 8) , a Beijing - wide series of workshops and exhibitions that takes places across almost all of the capital’s independent art spaces Many other hutong spa ces fared less well Institute for Provocation (IFP) moved from its popular hutong digs to join art book in China (abC) at its location in 798, where it continued to host showings from artists of its 3 - month long residency program. Salt Projects, Wyoming Project and Arrow Factory all shuttered , ending Arrow Factory’s impressive 11 - year run in the hutongs. Nonetheless, a handful of other independent spaces outside of Beijing’s art districts continue their difficult work, including, DRC No.12 , Bunker , and de Art Center I n Caochangdi, Taikang Space , sponsored by the Taikang Insurance Group , held innovative group show looking at the modern history of dancing in China ( 12/13/ 18 – 3/2/ 19), including works related to dance from artists including Yao Qingmei, Chen Wei , and Hao Jingban. To coincide with Gallery Weekend Beijing in March , Taikang also took over a larger space in 798 to exhibit works from the Taika ng Collection (3/21 – 5/5), showing a wide - range of works , from Socialist Realist paintings by Jiang Zhaohe, to works by Zhang Peili that signaled a new Chinese contemporary art, and Liu Chuang ’s widely shown three - channel video Bi tcoin Mining and Field Recordings of Ethnic Minorities (2018) Also, in the Caochangdi area long - running space Telescope showed a Li Boyan - curated showing of works by Sima Yuan (10/26 – 12/31), while relatively newly opened space PPPP has made a name for itself by hosting impressively packed group shows in its small space, including “The Second Scene” (9/15 – 10/15), presenting works by artist s including Cai Guojie and Zhao Chen. In 798 , Video Bureau continues its unique work of collecting and archiving artists’ entire oeuvre of video works, adding editions by Liu Yujia, Li Ran , and Dai Chenlian in 2019 Beijing’s commercial galleries remain i n mostly one of two clusters: the 798 Art District , and nearby Caochangdi, a former migrant village. Caochangdi’s future has been uncertain for some time, catalyzed by government destruction of Beijing’s outlying “villages , ” leading to the steady closure of a number its galleries. Although 798’s outlook seems brighter, it was a surprise to many when in July Pace Beijing announced its closure, citing the difficulty of doing business in mainland China amid in the US - China trade war Rising space Gallery Yang also closed in 2019. Many other galleries continue their work including 798 stalwart, Long March Space , which organized the long - running solo survey of Wu Shanzhuan ’s paintings and textiles “ Today Became a Holiday” (3/16 – 10/13). Later in the year, Long March Project Space , organized an deeply resear ched group show with 20 artists and groups looking at the concept of deficiency in “The Deficit Faction” (11/2 – 1/8/ 20). Elsewhere in 798, Galleria Continua hosted an ambitious large - scale solo exhibition of Leila Alaoui (3/23 – 10/13), including photography works created during her stay in Beijing. For it s 15th anniversary celebrations, the Beijing outpost of the gallery held, “15 Artists x 15 Years in China” (10/25 – 3/1), including works by Antony Gormley, Kan Xuan , and Loris Cecchini. Next door is Boers - Li Gallery , which hosted a Fang Lu show of new video works (10/26 – 12/8) and earlier new expressive paintings by André B utzer (3/2 – 4/14) One more door along is Tang Contemporary Art , w here Cui Cancan curated a show of figurative paintings spanning over 50 years by Chen Danqing (11/2 – 12/28). Earlier in the year, “Formless Things” (5/10 – 6/29), was the largest solo presentation of Hu Wei to date. Nearby , Galerie Urs Meile , showed a group of paintings by Wang Xingwei including mocking portraits of disgraced Chinese politicians (3/21 – 5/12), and ma de use of its original Caochangdi location to show a group of his cityscapes of Shenyang (3/21 – 31). Another significant show was a solo show of new works exploring female ide ntity in China by rising artist Cao Yu (4/17 – 5/25). Opposite Galerie Urs Meile is Magician Space , w hich presented a series of hybrid photography and painting works by Shi Guowei, curated by Karen Smith (3/22 – 5/11). A fter a five - year hiatus, Li Jinghu presented a number of his introverted works that study relationships and companionship (10/24 – 12/7). Tabula Rasa impress with innovative and interesting shows like that of the quaint drawings of daily life by comic artist anusman (3/16 – 5/4) L ater in the year there was a hybrid show taking in theat er , live performance, video, installation and sound art by Wang Ziyue (8/31 – 9/20), as well as a pre sentation of bright paintings by Julia Long (9/28 – 11/10) Other 798 galleries include Beijing Commune , which was taken over by a number of large - scale, immersive installation - and - paintings by Liang Shuo (3/21 – 5/4), and later in the year by Ma Qiusha, who presented a number of new video and installation works about car culture in China (9/24 – 11/9). Space Station continued its exploration of art and science, with the group show “Techne and Art: Ecologies of Pre - and Post - modern Subjectivities” (7/6 – 8/4), which included works by young duo Hyperbation. “Psychical Reality” (8/29 – 9/29) was a presentation of Zhao Yinou ’s drawings and etchings exploring the divide between the mind and reality. Star Gallery hung a collection of photographs taken in the 1970s and ’ 80s in China by Liu Heung Shing ( 3/ 20 – 5/18), and later installed a group show of well - known artists, includin g Zhao Bandi, Zhou Yilun , and Pang Kuan, titled, “I Love Beijing New Wave” (9/7 – 11/30). Pifo Gallery has made its name by hosting shows of significant abstract painters, this year including German artist Franz Ackerman (3/21 – 4/27). In Caochangdi, White S pace Beijing has led the pack in presenting alluring shows by established mid - career Chinese artists, including Liu Shiyuan’s series of multimedia works exploring the tensions between the individual and the collective (3/9 – 5/1 ) and Tong Wenmin ’s debut show of performance - based video and multimedia works (11/2 – 1/18/20) ShanghArt , had a quiet year, perhaps related to rumors that they would be closing their Caochangdi branch , present ing a group show of the three established artists Geng Jianyi, Liang Shaoji and Apichatpong Weerasethakul (7/13 – 8/25) and a grouping of sombre oils by painter Yan Bing (9/14 – 11/10). Ink Studio , focused almost solely on the medium of ink, showed previously unseen early works by well - known Chinese painter Li Jin (3/22 – 6/2), and also a du a l solo show of Chen Haiyan and Tao Aimin , built around the theme of ordinary women sharing previously untold stories (6/22 – 9/1) . At Chambers Fine Art , Song Hongquan exhibited a series of sculptural works, many of them deformed classical busts (6/22 – 8/12), while later in the year husband - and - wife Song Dong and Yin Xiuzhen presented “The Way of Chopsticks IV (Coming of Age)” (11/11 – 1/11/ 20) exploring their personal relationship and changes in China more broadly. Among other exhibitions, Pékin Fine Arts held two solo shows of the painter Lin Jing (3/23 – 7/10 ; 7/6 – 10/30). Just outside the main gallery area of Caochangdi is Three Shadows Photography Art Centre , a nonprofit founded and run by artist - couple RongRong and inri. The dark landscapes of Xiao Ribao ( 8/30 – 9/30 ) was a key show for the year. Long - running Art Beijing (4/30 – 5/3) has seen its popularity wane, with the introduct ion of the two new art fairs in the capital : Jingart (5/30 – 6/2), which has a more international selection of exhibitors, including Perrotin and Whitestone Gallery, and Beijing Contemporary (8/29 – 31) with a greater focus on Chinese galleries With its t hird edition , Gallery Weekend Beijing (3/22 – 29) has been slowly but surely securing itself a place on the global art map, attracting art - world folk on their way to Art Basel Hong Kong , with openings and a weekend symposium B eijing Art Summit at UCCA (3/22 – 24) The world’s top - three auction houses by sales of Chinese art objects are now all based in Beijing: Beijing Poly International Auction , Beijing Council International Auction and China Guardian Auction , and run regular s ales throughout the year in a wide variety of categories. Key avant - garde artist Huang Yong P ing died in October. Looking forward, it has been a strong year for Beijing. The capital has arguably gained significant ground on art rival Shanghai and loo ks set to continue to close this gap and cement itself as a global center for art in 2020. In January, CAFAM will host the Techne Triennial 202 0 , “ Topologies of the Real ,” in collaboration with ZKM | Center for Art and Media Karlsruhe In March, Hyundai Motorstudios will hold the first of its annual Hyundai Blue Prize exhibitions, followed by the second in June , on the theme of “Social Intelligence ” After leaving M Woods, collector Michael Xufu Huang , in collaboration with business wom an Theresa Tse, is planning to open Museum X in March during Beijing Gallery Weekend in the Chaoyang District , not far from Red Brick Museum UCCA will host a solo show of popular artist Cao Fei in 2020.