The WSJ’s Scene Asia blog covers the opening of SH Contemporary:
Shanghai’s independent galleries and museums unveiled their best works this week alongside SH Contemporary — many are calling it “Art Week,” with the end in sight at a Sept. 11 event dubbed “Art Detox.”
Several dozen galleries and studios located in the Moganshan Road art district of converted factories threw open their doors Wednesday night and concluded the festivities at a raucous group dinner for hundreds of artists, gallerists, curators and collectors. Moganshan Road highlights include the “Waterworks” group exhibition and a solo show of husband-wife team Ji Wenyu and Zhu Weibing at ShanghArt’s two Moganshan Lu spaces. One of Mr. Ji and Ms. Zhu’s cloth sculptures also joined “Learning from the Literati II,” a collection of modern takes on Chinese traditions at OV Gallery.
SH Contemporary has struggled to define itself against regional Asian fairs, particularly due to competition from Art HK, and to appeal to the local contemporary art scenes in Shanghai and the rest of China. This year it has aggressively pursued local galleries, and domestic participants this year include Beijing Art Now, Beijing Commune, Red Gate, ShanghArt and Tang Contemporary.
Shanghai’s Art Fair Begins (Scene Asia/WSJ)