Moganshan Art Galleries

Today I ventured out to the cradle of Shanghai's modern art scene, M50 at 50 Moganshan Road eager to check out the work of the 100 artists in residence in the former factories and warehouses on the banks of the Suzhou Creek. OK well I knew I wouldn't get to all 100 artist today but I was curious to see what contemporary art looked like in China.

I spent 2 hours walking around the place and I think I only saw 1/5 of the work. The galleries are small but there are tons of them sprinkled throught this area. Some galleries were dedicated to one artist and their one show, while other galleries had multiple artist and still other galleries were actually the bottom floor of the artist studio and you could see them working on a piece as you stolled through their gallery space.

The works were wonderful, some contemporary abstract works, lots of paintings and mixed media, a lot with Chinese themes - historic, tai chi, ceramics, fashion - but all with a modern twist. The majority of the works were paintings, but there was sculpture sprinkled throughout the area that I saw. There was one photo studio and here there were wonderful images of Shanghai, not postcard images, more artistic shots. The images were more of the everyday life of someone or many people that live in this pulsing metropolis. There was a show on the barcode and how its taking over our lives and we don't even realize it, and a show on all of the laundry that gets hung out the window to dry here in Shanghai. There was a gallery filled with Art Deco furniture and another studio/gallery of an artist that only worked with found metal pieces and they were welded into different animal or people shapes. Each gallery was quite different from one to the next.

I will have to venture back out that way to see more of the wonderful artwork, as it is always inspiring to see what others are working on and gives me ideas for my own artwork.

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