This is the gallery’s third current location in Shanghai, joining its twin exhibition spaces and offices at 50 Moganshan Lu, locally known as M50, and a warehouse in the northern suburb of Taopu. ShanghArt has additional outposts in Beijing and Singapore. “Moganshan was good 15 years ago, when there was nowhere else to go; here, it is very specifically for contemporary art,” says ShanghArt’s owner Lorenz Helbling. He opened the gallery in 1996, in the lobby of the Portman Ritz-Carleton in downtown Shanghai, before moving it to the similarly central Fuxing Park.
The gallery’s expansion to the West Bund follows the lead of many local artists, such as Ding Yi and Zhou Tiehai, who recently moved their studios to the district. Zhou also directs the West Bund Art and Design Fair and unofficially spearheads the area’s development. Last year, the Yuz and Long Museums opened there and were joined by the Shanghai Centre of Photography this May. “There are lots of spaces [in the West Bund], it is the beginning of something,” Helbling says. “Moganshan was like this when it was something new, a bit far away. It is quite seducing.”
Less alluring is the cost, which “is more per square-meter than Moganshan Lu,” says Helbling, although since it is a new building, it comes with amenities like air conditioning. The building, designed by Margo Renisio, resembles stacked shipping containers. It is due to be topped by a rooftop a terrace. The inaugural show of works by Geng Jianyi (until 22 October) occupies the first floor of three. Since the upper floors are still under construction, after the show ends, the gallery will temporary close until the spring so that the building can be completed. “It is a step for us that is not too easy,” Helbling says, but he adds that the gallery and the neighborhood “can mature together”.
