A Sneak Peek at Art Beijing 2017

By That's Beijing, April 28, 2017

Art Beijing is back for the 12th year. Bringing together hundreds of exhibitors from countries all around the world, Art Beijing is a bona fide feast for the eyes. As in the past, this year’s Art Beijing is divided into four parts: contemporary art, classic art, design gallery and public art.

What does that mean exactly? Let us break it down:

The classic section presents artworks and objects spanning from the Italian Renaissance to 20th century pop art, while the contemporary section will feature a range of international and local works. The design area explores the intersection of art, design and life. Meanwhile the art park is all about urban art and environmental protection. The exhibition area spans over 25,000sqm so lest you tire of the walking and art admiring, take a break and enjoy some of the delicious food and drink on offer.

If we haven’t piqued your interest enough already, Art Beijing Director Dong Mengyang took a few moments to answer our questions about this year’s event ahead of its Sunday opening.

201704/Dong-Mengyang.jpg
Art Beijing Director Dong Mengyang

What is your role in this year’s Art Beijing?
I’m responsible for planning the whole expo and determining the direction of the brand and exhibition.

That sounds like a tall order. How many people do you expect to turn out this year?
We got 95,000 visitors last year. I expect more than 100,000 visitors this year. It’s rapidly increasing every year, which indicates that people are more and more interested in art.

How many artists are participating this time around?
Art Beijing 2017 selected about 160 exhibitors from 15 countries and regions. While in fact, with the globalization of the art market, the galleries actually bring artists from all over the world.

And what role does Chinese art play in this year’s Art Beijing?
China is a country that embraced 5,000 years of culture deposit. Western art forms must also be combined with Chinese culture as the root, especially for oil painting and contemporary ink painting.

With so many exhibitions, can you explain how the works be organized?
After years of exploration, Art Beijing gradually formed into four sections (contemporary art, classic art, design art and public art) according to the changes of the art market. The contemporary art section mainly showcases ongoing art works. The classic art section is mainly for classical sculptures and paintings. The design art section pays more attention to the function of art. The public art section is to provide a template for art to step into public life.

Can you describe the theme of “Locally Based and Asia-Oriented” in more detail?
Art Beijing embraces the qualities of Beijing, as it was born and developed here in the city. In China, Beijing is certainly a center for the arts, as well as a center for the creation and transaction of artworks. [It also] accommodates the largest number of artists, galleries, auction houses and other artistic forces. Hence, it has not only become a place that displays the latest development of art in China, but it has also gradually become a metropolis for culture and arts in Asia and has presented the current situation to the whole world.

Tell us a little about the Art Park?
Art Beijing has dedicated itself to the practice of public art and art education in recent years. In art park projects and other relevant themed exhibitions, Art Beijing has demonstrated its advantage of utilizing the place and platform for the experimentation and exploration of “Art in Public Space,” which cannot be duplicated by any other exhibitions, and in turn also provides a practical example for art to enter the public’s everyday life in a more natural way. The Art Park this year has plenty of content: sculptures, installations and multimedia interactions [and] features the art work of Xu Bing, Sui Jianguo and Guan Huaibin.