With Art Stage Jakarta just around the corner, Asia has a diverse set of stellar shows presenting a horde of famed artists from the region to attract visiting art fair aficionados and collectors.BLOUIN ARTINFO presents a list of the top 10 exhibitions to see in August at museums and galleries from Hong Kong, Shanghai, and Singapore to Tokyo and Seoul.“The Uncertain and the Shelved,” ShanghART gallery, ShanghaiMore than 30 established Chinese artists, including the likes of Zhang Enli, Liu Yue, Xu Zhen, and Yang Fudong, present paintings and installations which have been abandoned, or are simply unfinished. Entitled “The Uncertain and the Shelved…,” the show provides a visual mind map of creativity and the process of an artist. The exhibition runs through August 31.“SHE: International Women Artists Exhibition,” Long Museum (West Bund), ShanghaiIn a first for China, the co-founder of the Long Museum, Wang Wei, has brought an all-female exhibition to Shanghai to highlight the importance and talent of women artists. An exhaustive selection of works is on show by more than 105 artists from 13 countries. Divided into four chapters, the exhibition explores the history behind the evolution of women artists, their accomplishments, as well as the topic of feminism as touched upon and interpreted in the works. The exhibition runs through October 30.“Host” by Antony Gormley, Galleria Continua, BeijingThe Italian gallery’s Beijing space is presenting a solo exhibition of British sculptor Antony Gormley entitled “Host.” This is the project’s third iteration; it was previously shown in the United States in 1991, where it was conceived, and in Germany in 1997 at Kunsthalle zu Kiel. This site-specific installation sees the exhibition space covered in approximately 95 cubic meters of clay extracted from Beijing’s Changping district, mixed together with seawater from the Tianjin Coast. Alongside it, Gormley’s popular human body sculptures are featured, which have been fixed horizontally on the wall so that they stand perpendicularly. The intent behind this is to mend the division between the inside and outside, “and bring the elemental world into a cultural frame.” The exhibition runs through August 20.“Andy Warhol: Contact,” M Woods Museum, BeijingIt’s been three years since Andy Warhol’s last retrospective in China, but the iconic Pop artist is now back in Beijing. The private art museum M Woods is taking a different stance on Warhol's prolific career by showcasing photography, film, and interactive installations, illustrating his pioneering work in portraiture. A rare selection of installations will be on show, such as “Silver Cloud,” which was last shown at Leo Castelli Gallery in New York in 1966. Polaroid portraits of the artist and of other celebrities are also exhibited, including the likes of Marcel Duchamp and Bob Dylan, who were regulars at the Factory. The exhibition opens on August 6 and runs through January 7, 2017.“Summer Triangle,” OCAT, ShenzhenArtists Adrian Wong, Jon Rafman, and Lantian Xie present a multitude of perspectives about Hong Kong’s cityscape in OCAT Shenzhen’s newest group show “Summer Triangle.” Named after an astronomical navigation coordinate or star pattern, the show aims to illustrate how components of mass culture, history, and language form the identity and image of a city. In this exhibition, Hong Kong is perceived from different eyes and disparate angles. Jon Rafman’s photographic and video works explore Hong Kong through mechanical or technological lenses such as Google Street View and the virtual platform Second Life.Lantian Xie employs the city’s most favourite pastime — eating — to expose the connection between food and the human body through sensory experiences. Adrian Wong integrates architectural elements ubiquitous to Hong Kong’s cityscape in his works. The exhibition runs through October 23.“Hai Bo,” Pace Hong KongRenowned Chinese photographer Hai Bo’s nostalgic photographic landscapes are exhibited at Pace HK for his first solo show in Hong Kong. His signature “Northern Series” is exhibited, representing the ghostly landscape of his hometown in Northeast China. His maternal uncle is also featured in the series, which documents and records the stages of his life. This series is characteristic of Hai Bo’s poetic rendering of the passing of time and what endures of it. These photographs are thus a collection of archives from his personal history rather than a cultural one, conveying an emotional resistance to change. The exhibition runs through September 14.“The Sovereign Forest,” NTU Center of Contemporary Art (CCA), SingaporeNTU CCA in Singapore shows, for the first time in Southeast Asia, “The Sovereign Forest” by acclaimed Indian filmmaker Amar Kanwar. It is the artist’s longest ongoing project as he continues to add more videos and artworks expanding the installation’s premise. The project investigates the exploitation of Odisha’s rich lands. Kanwar has been documenting and archiving its devastating effect as well as the rise of violence and crime as a result of these interventions. The project thus questions politics of power, violence, justice, and human rights as the artist presents a collection of archives as poetic evidence of what may not be seen. The exhibition runs through October 9.“Han Sai Por: Secret Landscape,” The Private Museum, SingaporeLeading Singaporean sculptress Han Sai Por’s recent body of work is currently being exhibited at The Private Museum. Although renowned in the art world for her sculptural works — more specifically, her organic shaped stones — the museum is showcasing 15 of her acrylic-based paintings. Nature continues to be the artist’s key source of inspiration, and the paintings depict scenic landscapes of Indonesia and Bali, from beaches to mountains and rice terraces. The exhibition runs through September 25.“The Universe and Art: Princess Kaguya, Leonardo Da Vinci, and teamLab,” Mori Art Museum, TokyoMori Art Museum has recently opened a comprehensive exhibition uniting astronomy, science, and art. Over 200 objects and artworks spanning from the Renaissance to today are on display, ranging from fossils and meteorites to high-tech interactive installations, as well as the latest from the frontline of space development. Divided into four sections, the museum attempts to answer the Universe’s most enigmatic questions, presenting both Eastern and Western empirical research and its potential future developments. Additionally, contemporary artists’ works respond to the theme of the show, including their own interpretation of space and beyond – aliens included. The exhibition runs through January 9, 2017.“Kimsooja: Archive of Mind,” National Museum of Modern And Contemporary Art (MMCA), SeoulAcclaimed Korean performance artist Kimsooja was selected by MMCA Hyundai Motor Series last month for its 2016 exhibition, taking place at the MMCA in Seoul. She follows the footsteps of renowned Korean artists Lee Bul, who participated in 2014, and Ahn Kyu-chul last year. The exhibition “Archive of Mind” features unseen performances, artworks, and installations, including Kimsooja's new large-scale commissioned piece. The interactive performance “Archive of Mind” is also on show, as well as the sculptural installation “Deductive Object” and the ongoing film series “Thread Routes.” The exhibition runs through February 5, 2017.
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