Armed with her “Marco Polo” travel guide artist Jian Ce set forth to visit and experience all the places, Do’s and Don’ts of Shanghai.

Born in Shandong in 1984, Jian Ce moved to Germany when she was just four years old and has since lived and been educated there.  Her latest visit to Shanghai was for her artist in residence with Andrew James Art and JIA Shanghai.  The residence allowed the artist the opportunity to rediscover her Chinese roots and explore Shanghai.

Talking to the artist she explained that the “Marco Polo” travel guide is the most popular book there is in Germany for holiday destinations.  With a strict criteria and time scale the artist worked to a punishing timetable visiting the famous landmarks and side streets during the day, eating at restaurants recommended and observing Shanghai life.  The evenings were spent working hard in the studio documenting what she had observed, oil paintings, photography and collage were all used to represent the vibrant pace of life in Shanghai.

After one month of residency, more than 80 pieces of artwork were produced which comprise the solo show “Marco Polo. A Travel Guide”.

The exhibition reflects a personal discover of a foreign city but historically documents a period of time offering a snap shot of the chaos before the storm of Shanghai in 2010 the world expo.