What Are Galleries Showing at West Bund Art & Design 2023?

Founders and directors at Capsule Shanghai, MAKI Gallery, gallery rosenfeld, Don Gallery, ShanghART, and Zilberman give an early glimpse into their booths at this year's West Bund Art & Design fair from 9 to 12 November.

Enrico Polato, Founder of Capsule Shanghai, Shanghai

I'm excited to present Wake (2023), a work from Chris Oh's new series. Painted on an iridescent abalone shell, the work depicts a detail from Mater Dolorosa, painted by Dieric Bouts workshop's ca. 1470–1475, whose face filled with pearl-like tears emerges from the iridescence of the shell's colour-filled nacre. Evoking the formlessness of the sea and the potentiality of creation, it also carries a primordial history as an emblem of life and the nature of being.

Concurrently with the art fair, we will open Oh's first solo exhibition in China at the gallery in Shanghai.

Alice Wang's most comprehensive institutional solo exhibition of a survey of her sculptures, films and photographs opened recently at UCCA Dune.

At West Bund Art & Design, we will showcase three sets of sculptures that are a continuation of her ongoing research on quantum computers. The paired porcelain sculptures, one a highly reflective black, the other with a cracked white surface, are connected by their twinned shapes and the optical effects they produce.

Masahiro Maki, Founder of MAKI Gallery, Tokyo

We have been participating in the West Bund fair since 2021, as we consider the Chinese market important, and we would like to keep our presence in the market.

One of the featured artists in our booth is Jason Bereswill. We had his solo show earlier this year and it was very well received. In his vibrant landscape paintings, the artist captures the colours, light, and energy of the locations he paints.

Another highlight is female Japanese artist Ayumu Yamamoto. Yamamoto's work is a kaleidoscope of colours in the dream world.

Hovering between representation and abstraction, the paintings attempt to depict the real world and its complicated nature through the artist's unpredictable application of oil paint.

Riccardo Freddo, gallery rosenfeld, London

Through the works of artists such as Nicola Samorì and Yuxiao Ran, we aim to ignite thought-provoking conversations, spark curiosity, and offer a glimpse into the multifaceted tapestry of contemporary artistic expression.

One of the highlights of our booth is Sofa Snooze (2023) by Ndidi Emefiele, a captivating artwork that embodies a compelling exploration of cultural heritage and gender identity. Emefiele's use of collage, textiles, and traditional materials in the 'Armrest' series beautifully encapsulates her ability to challenge societal norms and expectations through vibrant, self-confident female figures.

Another striking work is Blue Turmoil (2023) by Keita Miyazaki, whose transformative art journey emerged from the 2011 tsunami in Japan. In this mesmerising piece, Miyazaki ingeniously repurposes discarded car engine components into intricate forms, symbolising rebirth and transformation.

The addition of vibrantly coloured origami-inspired elements from Japanese paper adds depth and meaning to this profound artistic exploration.

Silvia Sun, Art Fair and PR Manager of Don Gallery, Shanghai

Don Gallery is happy to showcase a solo project by Wang Ningde at the fair, marking the official launch of his most recent series, 'Photograms'. We plan to exhibit the entire series for Chinese audiences after it was first shown at Frieze London in October.

This is the gallery's second presentation of Wang's solo project at West Bund Art & Design after 2021, and reflects the unified and complete thematics of his work in recent years. He analyses photography in terms of light, shadow, and phase, as well as in terms of both technical and philosophical ontologies.

Adapting the outdated photographic technique of 'photograms', Wang uses his own ink on waterproof Epson paper process to represent mountain vegetation at a 1:1 scale. One of the largest works we are presenting at the booth is nearly three metres wide.

The artist's direct touch on the grass and trees of his homeland is an investigation and analysis of nature that is distinct from his imagination of it. In Wang's words, he hopes to create a portrait of his hometown.

Lorenz Helbling, Founder of ShanghART, Shanghai

In our booth you will find a strong selection of works by artists we have been working with in the past decades, including Ding Yi, Geng Jianyi, Zhang Enli, and Sun Xun. There will also be photography by Yang Fudong and a look into works from South East Asia by Robert Zhao Renhui and Apichatpong Weerasethakul.

Zhao Bandi's peaceful morning landscape painting from 1991, pictured above, is the earliest work in our booth, while Su Chang's sculpture Continuous Space (2022), below, is among the most recent.

I would also like to share Han Mengyun's solo exhibition at our West Bund space. The exhibition marks the gallery's future trajectory—a diversified conversation with the world.

Han's unique background in Classical Indology and Sanskrit, coupled with her broad interest in global art history, enabled her to envision a new paradigm for image-making beyond the Eurocentric model, which can be observed through her recent paintings, works on paper, and architectural and video installations.

Nazlı Yayla, Director of Institutional Relations at Zilberman, Istanbul

We are presenting works by Azade Köker, Alpin Arda Bağcık, Carlos Aires, Isaac Chong Wai, Larry Munoz, and Sim Chi Yin. Each artist's distinctive perspective and practice provides a unique lens through which to reexamine the complex layers of our modern world, prompting viewers to challenge conventional beliefs and actively participate in critical discourse.

I would like to highlight Azade Köker's From a Bee's Perspective, which challenges our perception of nature as a cultural construct open to negotiation. This particular piece masterfully combines serenity and morbidity, emphasising diversity, transparency, and sensitivity as its starting points.

Carlos Aires' In the Mood for Love is part of the series 'Love Songs for Times of Crisis', which features large-format images sourced from banknotes of various countries. In this work, Aires employs an image from a 100 Hong Kong dollar banknote featuring a portrait of a young woman in traditional Cantonese opera attire.

The complete lyrics of the popular 'In the Mood for Love' are cleverly hidden on the work's surface, achieved through a trompe l'oeil effect using golden pins, akin to a taxidermist preserving a butterfly. —[O]