SHANGHART
Shanghai and Beijing, China; Singapore
Focus: Contemporary
Artists: MadeIn Company, Sun Xun, Tang Maohong, Yang Fudong, Zhang Ding
Lorenz Helbling, Founder and Director
What was your biggest show of the past year?
In 2012, ShanghART organized 26 exhibitions, plus 12 art fairs, which we often curate as exhibitions. Some exhibitions were international, like “Place of Residence,” which included artists from Brazil, and some were curated by young artists, like “EDIT: Image Fetish and Phobia” and “Distance Produces Beauty,” while most of our exhibitions were solo shows. Looking at size, “Yang Fudong: Close to the Sea & The Revival of the Snake” in our Beijing space and [our collaborator ARTMIA’s] space was probably the biggest, and Zhang Enli’s “Part,” the opening exhibition of our Singapore space, was the smallest.
How has the gallery changed since its founding?
The gallery has been changing all the time—exhibitions, art and artists, ways to do things, etc. At the same time, strangely, we have quite a lot of continuity, with many artists we have been cooperating with for 10 or more years, and we moved only twice in 17 years.
What are your plans for the next five years?
Looking and changing, adapting.
What’s your favorite place to eat near the gallery?
Bandu Music here in M50.
What emerging artist are you excited about?
Zhang Ding, Shao Yi, Shi Qing, Huang Kui, and, of course, Sun Xun—if he is not already “too emerged.”
