2col wang

Wang Guangyi, “Beuys,” 2002, from the “Great Criticism” series, oil on canvas.

2col yue

Yue Minjun, “Happiness,” 1993, oil on canvas.

Pics sent down 2b scanned 7-17

MUST RUN 8/1

‘OUR FUTURE’ ON VIEW AT BEIJING’S ULLENS CENTER w/2 cuts

avv/lsb set 7/23 #746146

BEIJING, CHINA — “Our Future: The Guy & Myriam Ullens Foundation Collection” is on view through October 12 at the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art.

Through a series of exhibitions, site-specific commissions and educational projects involving the Guy and Myriam Ullens Foundation collection, Chinese artists of today and tomorrow and contemporary art collectors, the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art is opening its door to the future of art in China.

Following the center’s inaugural exhibition, “‘85 New Wave: The Birth of Chinese Contemporary Art,” which leapt into the past to examine the foundations of Chinese contemporary art, “Our Future” presents a wide-angle view of the work and artistic practice of several generations of Chinese artists. Special commissions and new acquisitions of work rarely seen before will be on view to the public for the first time.

“Our Future,” the fourth exhibition since the center’s opening in November 2007, is a reassertion of the center’s mission to focus on China’s contemporary cultural stature by fostering an open platform for dialogue between China and the rest of the world.

Coinciding with the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, “Our Future” will tell the story of Guy and Miriam Ullens’ long-term commitment to Chinese artists and their work. This far-reaching exhibition is co-curated by director Jerome Sans, chief curator Guo Xiaoyan and international curator Kate Fowle.

Featuring 55 Chinese artists, the exhibition will present no fewer than 97 works by such prominent names as Chen Zhen, Huang Yongping, Gu Wenda, Wang Guangyi and Zhang Xiaogang. New projects, performances and educational works from Yang Jiechang Cao Fei, Qiu Zhijie, and He Yunchang have been especially created for “Our Future.”

The exhibition includes sculpture, painting, video, photography, sound and installations from the collection. The selections presented in the exhibit includes groundbreaking works that explore how these artists are developing critical responses to the coexistence of many diverse experiences in China, such as small gestures that are significant in daily life, mass media’s blurring of reality, fantasy, expectations and history, as well as urban construction and destruction cycles.

The Guy and Myriam Ullens Foundation collection is one of the largest and most significant holdings of contemporary Chinese art in the world. Developed throughout 20 years, the collection represents several generations of artists at various stages of their development, providing creative insight into the artists’ shifting social, cultural and philosophical perspectives.

Guy and Myriam Ullens have actively supported the practices of a wide range of artists, often before they became known to a wider international audience. In this way the building of the collection has been important to the growth of the contemporary art scene in china.

The center is at 798 Art District, No. 4, Jiuxianqiao Lu. For information, +860 0 10 8459 9269 or www.ucca.org.cn and click “en” circle in upper right-hand corner.