Ocula Report Sharjah Biennial 14: Leaving the Echo Chamber 15 Mar 2019 : Stephanie Bailey for Ocula In Meiro Koizumi's three-channel video installation, The Angels of Testimony (2019), the central frame features an interview with Hajime Kondo about his time as a solider of the Imperial Japanese Army during the Second Sino-Japanese War. The conversation centres on war crimes perpetrated in China, including the beheading of Chinese prisoners for...
Ocula Conversation Diana Campbell Betancourt Diana Campbell Betancourt is a curator working predominantly across South and Southeast Asia. Since 2013 she has been the founding artistic director of the Samdani Art Foundation and chief curator of the Dhaka Art Summit in Dhaka, Bangladesh, a transnational art event that has grown in size and scale ever since its first edition in 2012. Backed by...
Ocula Report Chinternet Ugly at Manchester’s Centre for Chinese Contemporary Art 7 Mar 2019 : Mike Pinnington for Ocula China, home to 802 million internet users, is subject to sophisticated online censorship. This shrouded state of affairs, unsurprisingly perhaps, serves to reinforce stereotypes around conformity elsewhere. Any realm, digital or otherwise, subject to such strict scrutiny must necessarily be bland and uncritical, right? I was mulling over such...
Since its establishment in 1992, Galerie Urs Meile has contributed to the presentation and dissemination of contemporary art, from painting and sculpture to photography, installation and video. The gallery is working from two locations: Lucerne (Switzerland) and Beijing (China). While its center of operations is based in Switzerland, the Beijing gallery has established itself as an international meeting place for collectors, curators, artists and aficionados of the arts.
Galerie Urs Meile was one of the first international galleries to focus on the Chinese art scene and has been working on an international level with Chinese artists since 1995. The gallery represents established artists such as Wang Xingwei, Xie Nanxing, Qiu Shihua, Not Vital, Tobias Rehberger (in Asia), as well as emerging artists such as Cao Yu, Chen Fei, Cheng Ran, Li Gang, Zhou Siwei, Hu Qingyan and Julia Steiner.
The opening of Galerie Urs Meile’s new space in the 798 Art District in Beijing in May 2017 marks a further stage in the expansion of the gallery’s activities. The new space is located in one of 798’s historical buildings that once made up the Dashanzi factory complex. The former warehouse has been completely renovated under the guidance of the Japanese architect Mitsunori Sano. On 520 square meters, it contains generous exhibition and reception areas, offices, and storage rooms. Offering perfect conditions for exhibitions and events featuring its diverse roster of contemporary artists, the new venue represents Galerie Urs Meile’s commitment to the city’s vibrant art scene.
The artist-in-residence program supported and run by Galerie Urs Meile in Beijing offers Western artists the opportunity to work in China for several months and establish a network within the Chinese art scene. In the frame of this cooperation, emerging and established artists present projects that have been specifically made for the Beijing gallery space.
Ocula Photolog Art Basel in Miami Beach 2018 6 December 2018 'This year, over 200 of the world's leading international Modern and contemporary art galleries display artworks by over 4,000 artists, including paintings, sculptures, installations, photography, film, video, and digital art.' –Art Basel in Miami Beach (6–9 December 2018).
Ocula Photolog West Bund Art & Design 2018 9 November 2018 'With a strong selection of returning exhibitors, the 2018 edition welcomes 87 galleries in the Galleries section, among which 39 are participating for the first time.'– West Bund Art & Design (8–11 November 2018).
Ocula Photolog Art Basel 2018 15 June 2018 'The anchor of Art Basel's show is its Galleries sector. Art Basel 2018 edition welcomes 16 galleries that join the fair for the first time, further rejuvenating the show and giving younger galleries the opportunity to present their program alongside today's leading established galleries.' –Art Basel (14–17 June 2018).
Ocula Photolog Art Basel in Hong Kong 2018 29 March 2018 'The sixth edition of Art Basel in Hong Kong brought together a uniquely global mix of galleries spanning six continents, outstanding artworks by established and new artists from across theworld and a singular gathering of international collectors and institutions.' –Art Basel in Hong Kong (29–31 March 2018).
Related Press Strange Days review – fishy kisses, naked prancing and ribald revenge The Guardian : 3 October 2018 Strange Days: Memories of the Future is overwhelming: complex, at times annoying and confusing, repetitive, uplifting and baffling. Like life, really. Films and videos by 21 artists are spread over three floors of the Store X on London's Strand.
Related Press Sydney Biennale modestly comes of age with moments of curatorial brilliance The Conversation : 16 March 2018 If a 21st birthday "coming of age" observance can be applied to cultural events, 2018 marks the launch into adulthood of the Biennale of Sydney. In some ways Sydney's biennale was a precocious child, turning its back during infancy on mainstream Eurocentric art in favour of exploring its local geographic region, early on including...
Related Press Picturing Ai Weiwei in Istanbul Hyperallergic : 5 January 2018 In an era where superstar Chinese artist Ai Weiwei feels ubiquitous, this past summer I experienced the full extent of that reality over the course of two months. After attending a New York preview for his new film about migrants, Human Flow (2017), I traveled to Israel to visit a major exhibition of his work at the Israel Museum in West Jerusalem,...
Related Press Critic’s Guide: Beijing Frieze : 14 November 2017 From explorations into the varied meanings of 'Asia' to an uncomfortably personal solo show, highlights of the best shows across the cityDiscordant Harmony: Observations of Artistic Practices in East Asia at the Transition between the 1980s and 1990s, Beijing Inside-Out Art Museum, 4 November – 4 February 2018.Beijing is the final stop in a...
Related Video & Audio Not Vital at Yorkshire Sculpture Park Yorkshire Sculpture Park : 9 June 2016 An exhibition film showing interviews with Not Vital and Clare Lilley, YSP Director of Programme.
Related Video & Audio Not Vital Interview: Moments You Never Forget Louisiana Channel : 22 October 2015 Swiss artist Not Vital is an intriguing example of how the gap between art and architecture is narrowing. The artist, who is renowned for his unorthodox architectural structures around the world, here describes how his projects derive from moments in his own life.
