Beijing’s Grass Frontier
Exploring Beijing’s rising arts hub.
Caochangdi—which means “grasslands” — is a fertile breeding ground for modern artists. Compared with the more commercialized 798 Art Zone, the neighborhood is an epicenter of creativity, having attracted key galleries and studios with its low rents and “purer” artistic atmosphere.
It is essentially an unassuming village, inhabited by illustrious artists and rural migrants, the latter more concerned with making ends meet than deconstructing Dadaism. Its dichotomous setting is what lends the district its edge and distinct character.
Pekin Fine Arts Gallery
Much of Chinese contemporary art is an amalgamation of age-old techniques with modern-day themes. Artist Chen Shaoxiong, who held a solo show at Caochangdi’s Pekin Fine Arts gallery, created traditional Chinese ink paintings out of anti-war photographs that he found online, in a bid to humanize and elicit empathy for peace movements.
Pekin Fine Arts Gallery
Future superstars of modern art are given a platform at Pekin Fine Arts, a breeding ground for up-and-coming Asia artists.
Three Shadows Photography Art Centre
The Three Shadows Photography Art Centre is the first contemporary art space dedicated to photography and video art in China.
Red Brick Galleries
The Red Brick Galleries’ industrial brick-and-concrete structures provide the perfect neutral backdrop for their star attractions—avant-garde works of modern art.
Details
Pekin Fine Arts Gallery: 241 Caochangdi; +86 10 -5127-3220
Three Shadows Photography Art Centre: 155A Caochangdi; + 86 10-6432-2663
The Red Brick Gallery complex: Red Brick Area, Caochangdi
Written By: Rosewood Hotels & Resorts
4.1.17
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