Yin Xiuzhen, "Collective Unconscious", (2007)
Yin Xiuzhen
Beijing Commune
Until January 15
The artist has split a minivan in half and reconnected the two halves with ten metres of sewn clothing. The stitched piece effectively forms a long tube that visitors can sit in, listening to local rock music. This soft vehicle also echoes the Beijing of the 1990s when the minivan (referred to in Chinese as a bread loaf) was universally used by city cab drivers. Although the show is meant to suggest a collective unconscious for locals, the tactile softness of the clothing and the long narrowness of the space inside the vehicle inject this work with a seductive, relaxed intimacy. 4 Jiuxianqiao Lu, Chaoyang district (www.beijingcommune.com). Tel: 86 10 8456 2862.
Cui Guotai, "CCTV", (2007)
Cui Guotai
White Space
Until January 20
Cui hails from northeast China where tens of thousands of layoffs have left a lonely landscape of abandoned factories and unused machinery. The artist has resided in Beijing, however, for the past few years and the power of these acrylic paintings lies in how the artist captures China's capital with a uniquely dingy northeast-China perception. One of the most striking paintings in the show is Cui's gritty portrayal of the Rem Koolhaas-designed CCTV towers that has become one of the architectural landmarks in the city's pre-Olympic hoopla. (www.whitespace-beijing.com). No.2 Jiuxianqiao Rd, Chaoyang District, Beijing, 100015, Tel: +86 10 84562054.
Du Jie, "2007.7.26-2007.8"
Du Jie
Galerie Urs Meile
Opening January 26
About 30 paintings are on show here, including new and previous work. Each canvas is identical in size at 25 by 25cm. A sense of meditation pores throughout the work. The artist uses a small traditional Chinese brush to form a fluid labyrinthine line on each canvass. The line is calm, delicate and painstaking - a single mistake and the artist must restart from scratch. The show opens concurrently with the photo-realistic paintings of Xia Xing (see below) also at Galerie Urs Meile. Caochangdi N104, Chaoyang district (www.galerieursmeile.com). Tel: 86 10 6433 3393.
Michelangelo Pistoletto, 'Labirinto'
Michelangelo Pistoletto
Galleria Continua
Opening January 19
Mr Pistoletto will follow his sculptural show at another local gallery, Xindong Cheng, with a much-anticipated, site-specific work here at Galleria Continua. Since it is a site-specific, the show could not be viewed at time of this writing, but Continua has found a positive reception in the local art scene since 2005, when it became Beijing's first foreign gallery to focus on exhibiting non-Chinese artists. 2 Jiuxianqiao Lu, Chaoyang district (www.galleriacontinua.com). Tel: 86 10 6436 1005.
Robert Rauschenberg, 'Regular Diary Glut' (1986)
Robert Rauschenberg
Faurschou Gallery
Until January 26
Having operated in Copenhagen since 1984, the Faurschou's inaugural exhibition in Beijing features work from the last three decades of Rauschenberg's career. Photographic collages in the form of pigment transfers - mostly from 2006 and 2007 - comprises most of the show. Rauschenberg's work is historically and nostalgically important for many Chinese contemporary artists. In 1985, he became the first major living artist from the West to hold a solo exhibition in Beijing. 2 Jiuxianqiao Lu, Chaoyang district (www.faurschou.com). Tel: 86 10 8459 9316.
The Clayton Brothers, "Patient T"
Clayton Brothers
F2 Gallery
Until January 14
The Los Angeles-based brothers mark their China-debut with 'Patient', an extensive series of paintings that reflect their fascination with ordinary lives in the throes of illness. Most of the works depict characters that seem eerily calm in the face of their disease, although one or two of the pieces capture the agony and urgency of triage. 319 Caochangdi, Chaoyang district (www.f2gallery.com). Tel: 86 10 6432 8831.
Zhang Zhicheng, "Andy Warhol" (2007)
Zhang Zhicheng
Chen Linghui Contemporary
Until January 27
What makes these oil paintings so appealing - and visceral - are the glowing new colors that the Taipei-born artist has so painstakingly invented. Entitled 'Face', the show mixes iconic portraiture (including Freud, Beckett, Rilke and Scorsese) with the portraits of unnamed, local personalities. Zhang is a member of a growing number of Taiwanese artists who live, work and exhibit here on the Mainland. 4 Jiuxianchao Lu, Chaoyang district (www.chenlinghui.com). Tel: 86 10 6435 9665).
Xia Xing, "2006.12.20"
Xia Xing
Galerie Urs Meile
Opening January 26
This new show is a must-see for anyone interested in one of Beijing's most gifted painters. Xia Xing spends his days, as monotonous as it may sound, painting the front-page images from a local newspaper, the Beijing News, arguably the city's best Chinese-language daily. What emerges is a personal, photo-realistic diary of local news - a diary that builds hits the viewer with the force of documentary realism but also questions whether the news you're getting is the whole story. All the work on show for this exhibition comes from 2006. Caochangdi N104, Chaoyang district (www.galerieursmeile.com). Tel: 86 10 6433 3393.
Paolo Gioli
Paolo Gioli
offiCina
Until January 27
This is a small but gratifying exhibition from one of Italy's best experimental photographers. The show highlights Gioli's experimental Polaroid techniques, drawing on self-made cameras and reveling in the sensuality of the human torso. The artist's video works are also on show. 2 Jiuxianqiao Lu, Chaoyang district (www.officinaltd.com). Tel: 86 10 6436 1191.
Perry Hall, "Abstract Crowd Behaviour"
Perry Hall
Pekin Fine Arts
Until January 15
The American artist utilizes sound, video and paint in what is arguably the most abstract work in Beijing this winter season. Hall's videos capture the way sound waves alter and spontaneously invent ripples in the paint. No 241 Caochangdi, Cuigezhuang, Chaoyang district (www.pekinfinearts.com). Tel: 86 10 5127 3220.
Miroslav Tichy, "Untitled"
Miroslav Tichy
Beijing Art Now
Until January 9
The 82-year-old Moldavian born photographer also makes his own cameras - out of the cardboard rolls from toilet paper, tin cans and whatever else he can find. The results are at once charming and unaffected. After his exhibitions here at Art Now in Beijing (until Jan 9) and Art Now in Shanghai (until Feb 28), Tichy's photos will show at the Frankfurt MoMA and the Centre Pompidou. Beijing Workers' Stadium, opposite Gate 12, Chaoyang district (www.artnow.cn). Tel: 86 10 6551 1632.
Man Ray, "Untitled"
Convection
Three Shadows Photography Centre
Until February 24
Drawing on the Centre's permanent collection, most of the photography on show comes from Chinese artists in the 1990s but also includes a selection of international artists (Man Ray included). Three Shadows is not the first space in Beijing to focus on photography, but it is arguably the most experimental. 155 Caochangdi, Chaoyang district (www.threeshadows.cn). Tel: 86 10 8456 6147.
Zhou Jun, "Development Zone No 1, Nanjing (2006)"
Altered States
Red Gate Gallery
Until Feb 28
Altered States is a mixed-media group exhibition of artists represented by the gallery. The show is held at both Red Gate in the 798 art district and the gallery's original space downtown in the Dongbianmen Watchtower. Red Gate was the first gallery to open in Beijing - back in 1991 - and we still find the Watchtower space to be one of the city's most attractive. Dongbian Watchtower, Chongwen district (www.redgategallery.com). Tel: 86 10 6525 1005.
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