PHOTOFAIRS Shanghai, the contemporary art fair for photography, has announced its gallery and exhibitor line-up, alongside programming highlights for its forthcoming ninth edition, including a collaborative showcase with PHOTOFAIRS New York.
Reaffirming its position as Asia Pacific’s leading fair dedicated to photo-based and digital artworks, the forthcoming edition of PHOTOFAIRS Shanghai welcomes 46 exhibitors, comprising local and international galleries, leading arts organizations, and esteemed cultural partners. Showcasing the work of more than 150 artists, from well-established figures to emerging talents, PHOTOFAIRS Shanghai continues to be the meeting point for photography in China, convening a highly-curated selection of exhibitors from Asia Pacific and beyond.
Fan Ni, Director, PHOTOFAIRS Shanghai, said: ‘We are delighted to return to the Shanghai Exhibition Centre next month and to provide a platform to showcase the best of contemporary photography to audiences here in China. We are very happy to welcome back our collectors, exhibitors, institutions, and visitors for this ninth edition, and to provide the wider Asia Pacific region with a dedicated space to explore and appreciate this richly varied and rapidly-evolving medium.’
GALLERY HIGHLIGHTS
Representing more than 20 cities, including Paris, Beijing, London, New York, Amsterdam, and Tokyo, PHOTOFAIRS Shanghai features a curated selection of exhibitors in its Main and Platform sectors, from established photography dealers to emerging contemporary galleries presenting innovative work in the photographic medium.
Highlights from this year’s presentations include leading artists and galleries from China and the wider Asia Pacific region, such as ShanghART Gallery’s (Shanghai / Beijing / Singapore) solo showcase of 13 selected works by Singaporean artist Robert Zhao Renhui spanning various long-term projects from across his career, ahead of his forthcoming representation of Singapore at the Venice Biennale 2024; a presentation by UP Gallery (Hsinchu) of new works by American photographer Anastasia Samoylova from her ongoing project, in which the artist stages imaginary breakfast encounters with luminaries of photography that have inspired her practice; M ART CENTER’s (Shanghai) presentation of new works by Luo Dan from his recently completed No Man’s Land project, which explores our relationship with the world surrounding us; Gaotai Gallery’s (Urumqi) presentation of works by photographer Tian Lin from his series Yamalik Mountain, alongside new works by celebrated artist Xu Guanyu from his ongoing Resident Aliens project, and Ma Hailun’s latest series Kashi Youth, focusing on youth culture in China’s westernmost city; a booth of international artists from Matthew Liu Fine Arts’ (Shanghai) roster, including the likes of Candida Höfer, Valery Katsuba, Flor Garduño, and Yang Yongliang; and X Contemporary Art’s (Changsha) presentation of works by Li Weiyi and Jiang Zhi.
CULTURE
Elsewhere, RUIPIN Gallery (Shanghai) presents archival works by Meng Minsheng and Xu Haifeng, both documenting urban life in China in the second half of the 20th century; meanwhile C14 Gallery (Shanghai) exhibits leading photographer Mo Yi’s shots of Beijing and Tianjin in the 1980s and 1990s; HART Gallery (Hangzhou) displays new works by Lu Yanpeng and Taca Sui, whose practices examine Chinese traditional culture and how it blends in with the surrounding physical landscape; and Shun Art Gallery (Shanghai / Tokyo) presents a dual show of works by Chinese multimedia artist Maleonn and Japanese photographer Hirotaka Sato. Other leading Chinese galleries presenting at the fair include Three Shadows +3 Gallery (Beijing / Xiamen), presenting works by established artists from the region, including Koo Bohnchang and Yin Yunya; see+ Gallery (Beijing / Shenzhen / Chengdu); and A Thousand Plateaus Art Space (Chengdu).
Highlights from international galleries presenting at the fair include a solo show by leading French artist JR, known for his large-scale black-and-white photography installations, presented by Galleria Continua (San Gimignano & 7 locations), and a group presentation by ATLAS Gallery (London) of classic and contemporary photography from some of the medium’s most celebrated artists, including Hiroshi Sugimoto, Elliott Erwitt, Marc Riboud, William Klein and Terry O. Neil to name a few. Three new international galleries exhibiting for the first time at the fair are also joining this year’s line-up: Galerie Bacqueville (Lille / Vlissingen), presenting a dual show by French artists Thomas Devaux and David de Beyter; Green On Red Gallery (Dublin) presenting the works of Alan Butler and Aoife Shanahan, two Irish artists who both interrogate the boundaries of the medium through a scientific approach, the former documenting plant life through cyanotypes and the latter exposing film to bacteria to create abstractions that highlight the unseen presence of bacteria in photography; and MICK Galerie (Amsterdam), showcasing three emerging Dutch female photographers: Carlie Consemulder, Lotte Ekkel and Nanda Hagenaars.
Complementing the booth shows are special presentations by leading cultural institutions and fair partners, alongside a vibrant public and satellite program, offering an expanded view of the photographic medium.
Beyond the sector, PHOTOFAIRS Shanghai also collaborates with lifestyle social media platform Xiaohongshu to enrich the photography scene in Shanghai during the fair week. A special exhibition space for Xiaohongshu’s Discovery project will be presented at the fair, spotlighting the platform’s outstanding photographers and image creators, alongside the Guide for Photography Art project, linking up with several art institutions in Shanghai to expand the impact of photography and video art, and a newly-launched Visual Portfolio project, inviting the audience to learn more about the exhibitors and their artists.
A complete schedule of talks and participants will be announced in the coming weeks.
Organized by Creo and its majority shareholder Angus Montgomery Arts, the fair returns to the Shanghai Exhibition Centre April 25-28, 2024.
For more information on exhibitors and programming, visit photofairs.org/shanghai.
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