Occupying an elegant shikumen-style town house built over a century ago, Rén Space is distant from the Bund—the art-rich territory more familiar to the Chinese and international art scene. The way it operates is also distinct from the conventional gallery model; pursuing its stated mission of supporting ‘the initiation, funding, realisation, and promotion of innovative projects’, the gallery functions as an international platform for collaborations between artists, studios, and fabricators, as well as art institutions, collectors, and the public.

Working with artists ranging from Zhang Peili—the heralded father of video art in China—to young, emerging artists like Lu Yang, the gallery challenges the artists and provides the resources and space, to develop and expand their creative practice. Randian’s Thomas Eller has compared this approach to the ‘Renaissance “patron-artist” dynamic where a few very sophisticated art patrons challenged “their” artists to achieve utmost excellence in their art.’Rén Space introduces artists to new methods and materials through its collaborative programme. In 2015 the gallery’s group exhibition Off Canvas (Rén Space, Shanghai, 15 November–30 December 2015) led to a range of prominent visual artists such as Zhang Peili, Yu Youhan, Wang Xingwei, and Chuck Close producing tapestries reflecting their particular styles.

New avenues for unique art are created by collaborations coordinated by the gallery between its artists and various studios and workshops around the world; working in close collaboration with practitioners in Japan, Yu Youhan combined ancient paper-making techniques with advanced technology to create New Life; 1987 Mosaic (2017): five monumental paper mosaics paying homage to the lost ceramic mosaic work he made for the Shanghai Art and Design Academy. Ren Space also provided the inspiration and the resources to harness new 3D digital technology and 3D robotic carvings which were instrumental to Chen Yujun’s new venture into Sculptural works as well as Zhang Peili’s latest works in The Annual Report of OCD (Rén Space, Shanghai, 6 November 2019–6 May 2020).

Rén Space Artists

Opening with an exhibition by Yu Youhan—one of the pioneering figures of the Political Pop Movement—Rén Space has collaborated with several influential Chinese artists. These include leading performance artist Li Binyuan and leading sculptor Zhan Wang. The gallery also works with emerging artist such as Chen Yujun and Lu Yang, giving their practice a broader footing.

For her 2014 solo exhibition at Rén Space titled Kimo Kawa Cancer Baby, Lu Yang created a range of colourful 3D-printed objects and animated videos that turned cancer cells into animated characters reflective of the vibrant anime-dominated popular culture of the modern internet era. Through the exhibition the artist, encouraged and emboldened by the gallery, drew upon various cutting-edge technological methods of production to send a message on a dark topic.

Rén Space Exhibitions and Art Fairs

Expanding its reach beyond the Shanghai art scene, Rén Space has participated in several international art fairs including Art Central, Hong Kong; PHOTOFAIRS | Shanghai; ART021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair; and Art16, London.