Art Districts

ByLaraine Armenti, visual artist May 10, 2015March 21, 2025

ARTIST RESIDENCY CHINA — BEIJING, no. 4

On Saturday the Inside Out Art Museum academic director Liang Shuang and I attended openings in two art districts in northeast Beijing. We saw a wide spectrum of work in museums and galleries. I felt unbelievably lucky to meet so many people working in contemporary art. And it was inspiring to see the range of work and exhibition venues.

ABOVE: Today Art Museum, Building no. 1 — towers were not there five years ago

Yue Minjun in front of Today Art Museum

(l to r) Friend & Wu Hwa, solo artist, with Liang of Inside Out Art Museum, my guide for the day

Jessie in front of her favorite painting by Wu Hwa solo show Sheng at Today Art Museum. She heard our conversation about art on the subway and asked to join us. Instant best friends.

Wu Hwa solo show Sheng at Today Art Museum

Today Art Museum, Building no. 2

Xu Qi — Today Art Museum, Spark : The Programme of Discovering Contemporary Youth Artists in China

Li Zi (on right in long dress) — Today Art Museum, Spark : The Programme of Discovering Contemporary Youth Artists in China

in a private gallery, we all liked this one & someone else did too: it had sold

exchanging we-chat contacts by QR

taxi ride dropped us off north of Caochangdi artist district

short walk through a village market

Caochangdi Art District, designed by Ai Wei Wei

Cipa Gallery poster for show of Kong Ning oil paintings

Kong Ning oil paintings at Cipa Gallery

Liang with Cipa Gallery friend

a nice place to play

Wang Huangsheng, Anitya at CAFA International

Wang Huangsheng, Anitya

razor wire and lights installation for Anitya

ink drawings in Anitya show

Caochangdi alleys felt like being in a modern version of Raise the Red Lantern, (Da hong deng long gao gao gua — original title)

posters for the CAFA Spark show at Today Art Museum

Chambers Fine Art courtyard

a pot of hot water with an excellent meal at the end of a day of art in Beijing

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