Sam Gaskin

Awakenings: Art in Society in Asia 1960s–1990s, a major retrospective at Singapore’s National Gallery (14 June–15 September 2019), opens emphatically in flames. At the exhibition’s entrance, viewers encounter a wall-sized image from 1964 titled Burning Canvases Floating on the River. The photograph captures a performance by Lee Seung-taek, in which he took three figurative oil paintings, … More Aesthetic Radicalism in ‘Awakenings’ at Singapore’s National Gallery

Despite official censorship of LGBTQI content in China, a number of global fashion brands have stepped up to sponsor this year’s Shanghai Pride festival in pursuit of the $300 billion ‘Pink Yuan’. BEIJING, China — Last month, Taiwan became the first place in Asia to approve same sex marriage. The excitement spilled over into mainland China, … More Is China Ready for LGBTQI Marketing?

Two years ago, Kerry Ann Lee’s father dreamed he was flying over Xi’an, the northern Chinese city famous for its Terracotta Warriors. Though he has never been there, having moved to New Zealand from the south of China when he was 12, he told her he knew it from pictures. “He doesn’t like travelling that … More Wellington artist Kerry Ann Lee’s dreamy new artwork in response to the Terracotta Warriors

Dr. Apinan Poshyananda takes great pains to point out the connections between the inaugural Bangkok Art Biennale and the high-profile event upon which it and dozens of similar happenings around the world are modelled. Indeed, it was during the vernissage of last year’s Venice Biennale that the chief executive and artistic director of the Bangkok … More Bangkok’s Inventive New Biennial Brings Contemporary Art to Buddhist Temples

Bitter black coffee is one thing, but a bacon-and-egg sandwich shouldn’t taste like a mouth full of batteries. Recently, for several days, everything I ate was accompanied by a harsh metallic taste that negated all the usual pleasure of eating. And the culprit, it seems, was pine nuts. At first, I had no idea why … More Chinese Pine Nuts Can Fuck You in the Mouth

Art021 is a real success story, a Shanghai art fair that’s a hit with young Chinese collectors, because it was started by young Chinese collectors. Now in its sixth edition, which runs from November 8th through 11th, it has grown to accommodate 103 galleries—but David Chau, who co-founded the fair with Kelly Ying and Bao Yifeng, … More The 10 Best Booths at Art021

West Bund Art & Design opened its fifth edition to VIPs on Wednesday, having more than doubled in size to welcome 115 galleries. The fair feels big this year: In addition to the huge main hall—once a manufacturing warehouse—a new hall has been added, creating a combined floor plan of 20,000 square meters (about 215,000 square … More 10 Must-See Works at Shanghai’s West Bund Art Fair

Interior view of the UCCA Dune, Courtesy of Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, UCCA. For over a year, one of China’s most esteemed contemporary art museums looked like it would close. Founded by Belgian art collectors Guy and Myriam Ullens in 2007, the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA) had been operating on a budget that was … More Back from the Brink of Bankruptcy, China’s UCCA Launches New Seaside Museum

Ai Weiwei’s willingness to confront the Chinese government over censorship, shoddy building practices, and even his own detention—along with his mastery of Twitter and Instagram—has helped him hoover up news headlines outside China. Inside China, he is less well-known, and even in the art world there, it can be hard to find people who wholeheartedly admire … More 10 Artists Who Defined Chinese Contemporary Art