[press release]
The 2015 ART021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair will be held at the Shanghai Exhibition Center (No. 1000 Yan’an Middle Road) between November 19th and 22nd, with a themed forum happening on November 17th.
An officially sanctioned project of the 17th Shanghai International Arts Festival, ART021 has two years of experience behind it. Focusing on local resources while adopting a global perspective, ART021 strives for excellence, professionalism and a high level of quality. This year, ART021 is further raising standards by presenting a larger number of prestigious galleries with a wider range of works, and highlighting its public artworks, new media and video works.
2015 ART021 will once again focus on 21st century contemporary art in its Main Galleries section, as well as present BEYOND Public Projects, the Collectors’ Invitational Exhibitions, the Museums & Non-profit Institutions Promotion and a series of symposiums. This year’s multi-faceted 1+1 Projects section will showcase solo exhibitions by emerging artists, special exhibitions with one established artist presenting an emerging artist of his/her choice, and group shows with works selected according to themes by curators put forward by individual galleries.
In addition to the various exhibitions to be held throughout the Art Fair, the forum that will precede the fair will offer the audience a taste of what is to come, and an online discussion platform will also be launched. These additional pathways for participation will broaden the public’s access to contemporary art through diversified media. The fair will also reach out to younger generations of collectors to join our strong collectors’ community. ART021 is dedicated to maintaining strong services for collectors and facilitating international communication between collectors, museums, art centers and patrons, in order to promote the internationalization of China’s contemporary art by combining global perspectives and local collectors’ resources.
2015 ART021 will be hosted at the Shanghai Exhibition Center. This building, emblematic of Classical Russian-style architecture and formerly called The Sino-Soviet Friendship Mansion, was built in 1955. ART021 will reflect the classical architecture with its layout and design of the space.
As ART021 grows and develops, it continues to add strong new members to its team. This year, Ms. Donna Chai was brought on board as Operations Director. In recent years, Ms. Chai has been dedicated to international art fair organizing. In 2013 she co-founded Art in the City, which merged the organization of an annual festival and a digital information platform. Ms. Chai is currently the Managing Director of Art in the City. Through their strategic partnership, the two Shanghai-based organizations, ART021 and Art in the City, will work together to further turn the city into the art market center of China and Asia. In addition to Ms. Chai, the Executive Committee of 2015 ART021 is comprised of Co-Founders Ms. Kelly Ying and Mr. Bao Yifeng, and Art Director Ms. Zhou Ying.
2015 ART021 will be the third consecutive year this event has been held. Gallery surveys approves that ART021 has accurately positioned itself relative to the market, with its superior quality and international vision. Original projects including its special exhibitions for collectors and cultivation of young collectors have become widely recognized and have inspired other art fairs and organizations. The art fair has become one of the most acclaimed art events in Shanghai, receiving high praise from Shanghai Arts Festival, collectors, galleries, museums, media and the public, gaining a professional reputation as well as influencing the art world. Today, ART021 has become an important annual event in Shanghai and China’s contemporary art scene.
We look forward to seeing you this autumn at the Shanghai Exhibition Center for 2015 ART021.