Beijing’s X Museum to Open in Former Textile Factory

An interior view of the new X Museum. Courtesy X Museum.

By Shanyu Zhong – 25 May 2023, Beijing

Beijing‘s X Museum will open at its new location at Langyuan Station on 28 May.

The museum was co-founded by collector Michael Xufu Huang and Sino Biopharmaceutical chairwoman Theresa Tse in 2020 north of the city, outside the Fifth Ring Road.

It built a strong reputation following solo shows by Issy Wood, Christina Quarles, and Trey Abdella, among others.

Heidi Bucher, The hatching of the parquet dragonfly (Der Schlüpfakt der Parkettlibelle) (1983). Textile garment, latex, and mother of pearl pigment. 130 x 105 cm. Courtesy the artist and Lehmann Maupin, New York, Hong Kong, Seoul, and London.

The inaugural exhibition in the new space, a former textile factory at Langyuan Station, is called X Pink 101.

It features 49 works from the museum’s collection by artists including Zhang Zipiao, Jes Fan, Heidi Bucher, Sin Wai Kin, and Marguerite Humeau. X Pink 101 investigates how the body is aestheticised, gendered, and otherwise socially constructed.

‘The exhibition marks a new beginning for X Museum,’ Michael Xufu Huang told Ocula Magazine. ‘We hope it will serve as a “gateway course” for the public to understand the world of art collecting.’

Michael Huang. Courtesy Michael Huang.

‘We aim to engage more with the public and invite the public to make their own artwork,’ he said.

The museum will be more accessible, having moved to Langyuan Station, just two kilometres from Beijing’s main art hub, the 798 Art District.

Jes Fan, Function Begets Form, 2018, Aqua resin, pigment, wood, fibreglass, glass, oestrogen, semen, blood, 127 x 193 x 41 cm, Courtesy the artist and Empty Gallery, Photo: Lance Brewer.

‘As an emerging cultural park still undergoing renovation, Langyuan Station aligns with the museum’s vision of pioneering, exploring, and not being confined,’ explained Huang.

Occupying a space formerly known as Warehouse No. 10 of the Beijing Textile Warehouse, the museum’s renovations were designed by Studio NOR. The two-storey building has a footprint of approximately 1,700 square metres and over 3,000 square metres of total floor space.

An interior view of the new X Museum. Courtesy X Museum.

Prior to launching X Museum, Huang had been collecting art for 10 years. He co-founded the M WOODS museum in Beijing in 2014.

Huang recently found himself in the spotlight for his connection with the Russian fraudster Anna Delvey (Sorokin) after a character based on him appeared in the Netflix series Inventing Anna (2022).

Looking ahead, Huang said, ‘We are preparing for the second edition of the X Museum Triennial, and towards the end of the year we will present highly anticipated exhibitions with young talents.’ —[O]