798

One of the most energizing areas of Beijing is the 798 Art District. Like many of the best things in Beijing, it’s far from where we live (too far), and I didn’t get enough time there. Lesson learned. Next time we live in Beijing, we’ll make a point to live closer to it…

Over the last 10 years, the 798 district has taken over an area of the city where 60 years ago communist military factories were cranking it out in Beijing. Most of the factories were built as cooperative projects between the Soviet Union and the People’s Republic… and it’s quite refreshing now to see them in use as creative spaces. In block after block of great old buildings of form and function are hundreds of galleries, studios and living spaces. Art and I hit 6 or 7 of the galleries on this day, most notably the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Galleria Continua, and MR Gallery. Thrilled to feel something different than the vibe I often feel in China which is actually a sort of non-vibe. An absence of yearning…

My favorite work was in Swiss painter/sculptor Not Vital’s show Full On. Haunting gauzy-blurry self portraits (at the Ullens). The one or two examples of his paintings from this show that I can find online do no justice to the sum. Who is this man?

Also liked South African artist Kendell Geers’ show Fin de Partie. And then, because it strikes my heart… the photographs of archives of Chinese orphans by Jiang Jian.

A few snapshots, mostly as we wandered outside…