BEIJING: 798 ART DISTRICT

August 26, 2011

tags: 798 art district, beijing art scene, contemporary art, inspiration in china, lucien freud, sculpture, the pace gallery

As you know, I recently took an inspiration trip to Asia where I visited both Tokyo and Beijing. I wanted to go to Beijing for a couple of reasons. Oustide of the fact that Beijing is on the hot list for luxury brand designers’ latest retail outposts, Beijing is China’s largest growing city. The city is finally catching up with its bigger counterparts such as Hong Kong and Singapore with a ton of growth and developing wealth.

But it hasn’t always been this way in Beijing. The city is still very rootsy and is a beautiful combination of new growth mixed with their past culture. As in any developing city, there is usually an under-current of creativity that drives the forward movement. In Beijing, this is the creative Art scene.

My favorite picture of the trip. An interactive installation outside of a building.

I have been hearing about the Beijing Art scene for a year or so now and I wanted to get over there to witness firsthand the creative growth of this remarkable city. There are several art districts in Beijing that serve as a conglomerate of galleries, shops and outposts for artists to show their work. The 798 district is one of the bigger and most popular of the districts and is the one that we chose to visit. It is located in the Dashanzi area on the sit of state-owned factories which originally produced electronics. In 2002, artists and cultural organizations began to divide, rent out, and re-make the factory spaces, gradually developing them into galleries, art centers, artists’ studios, design companies, restaurants, and bars.

Entrance to 798 District

It became a “Soho-esque” area of international character, replete with “loft living,” attracting attention from all around. Bringing together contemporary art, architecture, and culture with a historically interesting location and an urban lifestyle, “798″ has evolved into a cultural concept, of interest to experts and normal folk alike, influential on our concepts of both urban culture and living space.

Just the galleries in the 798 district...there were even more elsewhere. Takes days to go through here thoroughly.

798 stands for much more than a three digit number: in Beijing these numbers symbolize the country’s cutting edge art movement led by the Chinese vanguard, unchained artistic personalities with alternative life goals.

What is so amazing about the galleries is that the viewer can walk through and take pictures and interact with the art without someone guarding your every move. The Chinese are proud of their work and they want it to be shared all over the world. This excited me to no end and I can’t express to you how completely blown away I was during my visit. It was by far the most inspiring and amazing day on my trip which is why I wanted to share it with you first. I’ve got a lot of pictures of the pieces that moved me the most so hopefully you will be inspired by them as well.

: Unexpected sarcasm.

: Large pieces work great in the huge spaces in Beijing

: I love horses and am a big fan of this artist.

: An installation in a cigar bar.

: Sculptures were all over the place..in the streets, on the roads, in the alleys. Every walking step was inspired.

: LOVE this color palette. Totally feels like Spring 2012!

: The men’s urinal at a cafe in the district.

: Random space outside of a gallery.

: The Pace Gallery, such an amazing space.

: So eerie but so beautiful at the same time. Love this piece.

: Great magnitude of scale in all the buildings

: Something so fantastic about the laughing men…such a contrast to the Chinese culture

: Unexpected art

: Love the shape of her head combined with the fresh color palette and the texture. She’s a favorite.

: The spaces themselves were art. Each space was so unique and so beautifully put together.

: Lucian died during the duration of this exhibit of his photographs and paintings

: Such a great piece. Loved the rainbow colors.

: Lucien’s assistant painted this portrait of him

: Love this see-thru wall in the space. Such a tranquil moment and reminiscent of some new European boutiques I’ve seen lately with live botanical walls in the stores.

: I’ve never seen anything like this. This was one of the two featured artists at the Pace Gallery. Such a modern interpretation of sculpture. LOVE!