After 6 months of strategic planning, Longmen Art Projects, located in building 23 of 1930 Shanghai’s French Concession property – Sinan Mansions, has finally completed its preparations and will open its doors on October 23rd, 2010.
During their preparations, gallerists Lily Lee and Jeffrey Lee gathered many spectacular works of 20th Century Chinese Art and Asian Contemporary Art through the support of private collectors, galleries, dealers, artists, and friends. Next Heritage, the opening exhibition of Longmen Art Projects, will open to the public from October 23 to November 30, 2010.
The establishment of Longmen Art Projects in Shanghai not only extends the solid foundations of Lung Men Art Gallery, which operated from 1975-2001 in Taiwan’s art market, it also adopted the breadth of knowledge gained through the business management and operations of Tiandi Lungmen Shanghai Co., Ltd., established in 2002. Lily and Jeffrey are also incorporating their expertise and experience of working in auctions for the past 6 years at Beijing Hanhai Auction Co. and Sotheby’s New York and Hong Kong. Shanghai Longmen Art Projects will aim to continue building upon its solid footing in 20th Century Modern Chinese Art, and march towards the 21st Century Asian Contemporary Art field. Lily Lee will focus primarily on art consulting, art estate management and investment, and the marketing and promotion of modern art; while Jeffrey Lee will lead his team into managing Asian Contemporary Art.
Highlights from the 20th Century Chinese Art exhibition include fine works by modern masters who combined the East and the West such as White Jar by Lin Fengmian from the 1960s; Rhyme of Beijing Opera by first-generation abstract artist Wu Dayu, executed in the 1950s; as well as Bateaux Bleus (1952) and 6.10.68 by Zao Wou-Ki, who resides in France. Also featured in the exhibition are works by first-generation oil painting artists Yan Wenliang (Spring), Wu Zuoren (Still-life – Fruits), Zhou Bichu (The Park), etc. Works by the always-colorful Walasse Ting, who grew up in Shanghai and recently passed away in New York this past May, will also highlight the exhibition, along with a large work by Hong Ling, and oil landscape paintings by Pang Jun.
The Asian Contemporary Art category can be split into two groups: paintings and sculptures. Highlighting the Contemporary Chinese paintings category is Zeng Fanzhi’s Mask Series – Going to the Party executed in 1998, Feng Zhengjie’s China No. 18, as well as works by Ji Dachun, Zhou Chunya, Pang Maokun, along with works by notable young artists Lin Hairong and Luo Dan. The exhibition will also include paintings by Taiwan’s Zeng Zaidong and Yao Rui-Chung, and Japan’s Aya Takano, Chiharu Nishizawa, Akira Yamaguchi, Tomoko Konoike, Tetsuharo Kamatani, Debbie Han, Rhee Da, etc. Contempoary Sculptures will include works by leading sculptors Sui Jianguo, Zhang Huan, Liu Jianhua, Xiang Jing, Qu Guangci, Cai Zhisong, Liu Liguo, Kohei Nawa, Hiroto Kitagawa, etc. Notably, recently discovered Chinese young artist Chen Changwei will display two large painted and polished stainless steel sculptures Deer and Dog in the plaza in front of Longmen Art Projects, within the public space of Sinan Mansions.
The representation of Asian Contemporary Art in the opening exhibition of Longmen Art Projects not only captures the vigorous and exciting development of this category in the international marketplace over the past 10 years, it also demonstrates its commitment and confidence in the Asian Contemporary Art Market. Through its wide variety of expressive styles and use of different media, this market has already started to regain much of its momentum in recent months. With the strength and depth of the Asian Contemporary Art Market, it is sure to continue to progress and grow in the near future.
Within the beautifully restored Sinan Mansions building no. 23, Longmen Art Projects occupies all four stories of the 1930’s mansion, retaining the building’s original design and form. Overall useable space is 608 square meters, with the main exhibition galleries on the first two floors, where it will welcome art-loving visitors. A private VIP viewing room and management offices are on the third and fourth floors, and will only be accessible by appointment only. The plaza directly in front of the mansion features a vertical garden, greenery, and seating area where visitors may enjoy the arrangement of sculptures, stones, and gardens, hidden from the bustling metropolis, in the heart of Shanghai.
To Lily Lee, who settled in Shanghai since 2002, the establishment of Longmen Art Projects has multiple meanings. As one of the pioneers heavily involved in the development of Taiwan’s art market, she has almost 30 years’ experience in the art business and has already proven her own status in the collective history of the art market development in Taiwan, China, and Asia from 1980 – 2010. Returning to the gallery business shows Lily Lee’s desire to revisit this unique business in which art and business are compatible with each other, to re-taste the special feeling of pursuing humanity in commercial activities, and most importantly, she deeply believes in the future of Shanghai, a city that will become Asia’s financial center as well as an international art center.
