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The Art World in Focus
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Zhang Ruyi

ZHANG RUYI

Speaking Softly UCCA 23 December 2022–9 April 2023 UCCA Beijing
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Press Release

UCCA presents Zhang Ruyi Speaking Softly, the artist’s largest institutional solo exhibition to date. The show brings together more than 20 new artworks commissioned by the museum, comprehensively presenting several creative threads from the past decade of the artist’s practice, as well introducing her recent explorations of transparent materials.

From 23 December 2022 to 9 April 2023, UCCA presents Zhang Ruyi, Speaking Softly. As Zhang Ruyi’s (b. 1985, Shanghai) largest institutional solo exhibition to date, the show features more than 20 new works commissioned by the museum. These pieces offer a systematic overview of how the artist has adopted cacti, concrete, grids, and other elements as symbols through which to explore the relationships between people and society, people and architecture, and the natural and industrial worlds. Speaking Softly also offers the first focused presentation of Zhang’s use of glass, plastic films, and other standardized, transparent materials, reflecting on transparency’s myriad connotations. ‘Zhang Ruyi: Speaking Softly’ is curated by UCCA Curator Neil Zhang.

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About the Artist

Over the past decade, Zhang Ruyi has developed a precise and delicate sculptural material language. Engaging the grammar of the built environment, she creates installations and sculptures that evoke a post-apocalyptic aesthetic of detachment. Zhang’s work occupies a unique space that reconciles artefacts, the industrial experience, and urban life.

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Also Exhibiting at UCCA

All Exhibitions
Carsten Höller UCCA 6 June–11 October 2026 UCCA Beijing
Duan Jianyu UCCA 1 May–30 August 2026 UCCA Beijing
John Baldessari UCCA 19 September 2026–3 January 2027 UCCA Beijing
About the Gallery

UCCA Center for Contemporary Art is China’s leading contemporary art institution. Committed to the belief that art can deepen lives and transcend boundaries, UCCA presents a wide range of exhibitions, public programs, and research initiatives to a public of more than one million visitors each year. UCCA Beijing sits at the heart of the 798 Art District, occupying 10,000 square meters of factory chambers built in 1957 and regenerated in 2019 by OMA. UCCA Dune, designed by Open Architecture, lies beneath the sand in the seaside enclave of Aranya in Beidaihe.

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Address
798 Art District
No 4 Jiuxianqiao Lu
Chaoyang District
Beijing
China
Opening Hours
Tuesday – Sunday
10am – 7pm

Closed Monday
(1)
Beijing 798 Art District, No 4 Jiuxianqiao Lu
UCCA contemporary art institution in Beijing China
UCCA
798 Art District, No 4 Jiuxianqiao Lu, Chaoyang District, Beijing, China
+86 10 5780 0200
http://www.ucca.org.cn/en

Opening hours
Tuesday – Sunday
10am – 7pm

Closed Monday
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