Fun with art

Adam and I went to Red Town last weekend and it was a lot of fun!  An old industrial site turned art space, Red Town consists of a public green space in the middle with art galleries, shops, and an art museum along the periphery. We stopped at Beca for some lunch, then wandered around taking pictures and checked out the new Minsheng Art Museum. The current exhibition "Thirty Years of Chinese Contemporary Art 1979 - 2009" runs until July 18 and is definitely worth a look. Admission is RMB20 and the museum is closed on Mondays. I liked the painting of a face (above), a fisheye effect makes it look like a head (sort of)! More pics from Red Town to come...

Pixel art + World Expo = Love it!

I saw this great postcard on the interwebs today - love it!

The original location is here: http://edge.neocha.com/pixel-art/pixel-art-rendition-of-shanghai-expo-by-booktalk/

Expo Countdown

World Expo preparations in Shanghai have been in high gear for a while now. Posters are up everywhere and I particularly liked this recent one, a quirky take on environmentally-friendly transportation choices (taxicabs with Fred Flintstone-esque legs, unicycles) and a slogan of "Love the Earth, Let's go!"

Weird, but fun.

Oil Painting Class Part II

Feeling more at ease, the second class seemed to be easier. I completed the details and layered on more shades of colour - tada! For those who are interested, check out Cherry's blog for information on her classes:
http://impressiongallery.blogcn.com/diary,24734705.shtml
and pictures of other students' work:
http://impressiongallery.blogcn.com/index.shtml

The environment at the studio is relaxing and calm, a great way to spend a weekend afternoon.

18Gallery

Enticed by a thumbnail picture in the event listing for Icon Tada's exhibition, I decided to check out 18Gallery at Bund 18. The exhibition seemed to have elements of things that I like: geometric shapes, clean lines, and a harmony of colors. The Pudong skyline loomed ahead as I reached the Bund and I quickly scurried into the cool building to avoid all the noise and dust of the construction outside. 18Gallery is on the fourth floor, attached to Lounge 18, which incidentally is closed for renovations until September. Open and airy, I browsed through the artwork. I wouldn't mind having one of the pieces in my home, but with the prices ranging from 4 to 5 digits, it wasn't meant to be. On the way out, I took the stairs instead of the elevator and saw an interesting installation made of rusty bicycles.

Oil Painting Class Part I

Looking to explore my artsy side, I went to painting class with Adam's co-worker, Liz. Her friend Cherry owns and runs a small art studio, teaching students of all ages and levels. This was my first time trying oil painting, so I was a bit nervous! Cherry had all the tools and materials prepared and carefully walked me through the basics. Here, I am working on the base colours. After the first layer dries, I can finish the painting the following week.

MOCA Shanghai

It was a blisteringly hot day, so Mom and I decided to check out a museum. I'm partial to modern art museums, so I suggested MOCA Shanghai. The museum is located inside People's Park, nestled in trees and right by the water lily pond. We entered the building through large glass doors, into an airy atrium where a walkway swooped up to the second floor. I read that the museum was formerly a greenhouse and the designers wanted to maintain the glass facades...only I don't think they figured out how to ventilate the place so that it would not feel like a greenhouse inside. We tried to give each exhibit our full attention, but we quickly ended up at the cafe/restaurant, where we used our ticket stubs for a discount on otherwise overpriced iced drinks to cool off.

We both reflected on how poorly some of the installations had been implemented (video rooms that were not properly soundproofed or dark enough, general lack of cohesion or impressiveness), but then read in the pamphlet that the museum is independently run, i.e. not government funded. My guess is that China doesn't have an established network or structure for fundraising in the modern arts, so for now it looks like MOCA Shanghai will be at a bit of a disadvantage as compared to the more famous Shangahi Art Museum.

I did enjoy one particular installation at the museum (pictured above): a miniature metropolis made of recycled rusty metal scraps. Makes one think of urban decay.