Indian Highway

The Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA) is honored to announce the opening of Indian Highway on June 24 (press conference， June 23)， marking the exhibition’s first stop outside of Europe. Conceived and originally co-curated by Julia Peyton-Jones(Director， Serpentine Gallery and CoDirector Exhibitions and Programs， Serpentine Gallery)， Hans Ulrich Obrist (Co-Director Exhibitions and Programs and Director， International Projects， Serpentine Gallery)， and Gunnar B. Kvaran (Director， Astrup Fearnley Museet)， Indian Highway at the UCCA marks the most comprehensive presentation of contemporary art from India ever mounted in China.

The culmination and continuation of extensive curatorial research across India， Indian Highway features nearly thirty individuals and collectives whose creative practices span a wide range of media – incorporating sculpture， video， installation， painting， and performance – and subject matter are focused around the situation of modern India. The work of artists who have already made an impact on the international art world is displayed alongside newer practitioners.

After the inaugural exhibition of Indian Highway at the Serpentine Gallery in London in 2008， the show traveled to European institutions including the Astrup Fearnley Museet in Oslo(2009)， the Musée d’Art Contemporain de Lyon (2011)， and MAXXI in Rome(2011). Plans are underway for the exhibition to continue its Asian tour after this showing in Beijing. Each instantiation features new works， and in Beijing these will include a major installation by Sudarshan Shetty， a Bharti Kher triptych， a new photographic series by Dayanita Singh from her House of Love book project， and video work by Ayisha Abraham and Hetain Patel.

Indian Highway is a pioneering project in China – an opportunity to highlight the unique relationship between the neighboring countries within artistic context. It presents artistic commentary and analysis of the social， physical， and political movement that accompanies an economic boom. Human migration， infrastructure， and technological advancement (the title refers directly to the “information su-perhighway，” a development central to India’s global rise) are decisive dynamics in China as in India.

For all their proximity， geographic and discursive， knowledge of India and its vibrant creative scene has been slow to take root in China. In what， to many， will be an introduction to contemporary art in India， Indian Highway brings together the work of some of India’s greatest creative minds. The body of work examines social and political issues key to the contemporary Indian condition， including environmentalism， religious sectarianism， gender， sexuality， and class.

Indian Highway is curated by Julia Peyton-Jones， Hans Ulrich Obrist， and Gunnar B. Kvaran together with Philip Tinari from UCCA and organized in collaboration with the Serpentine Gallery， London， and the Astrup Fearnley Museet， Oslo， Norway.

Artists presented in this edition of Indian Highway at UCCA include: Ayisha Abraham， Ravi Agarwal， Sarnath Banerjee， Nikhil Chopra， Baptist Coelho， Sheela Gowda， Sakshi Gupta， Shilpa Gupta， Subodh Gupta， N.S. Harsha， Abhishek Hazra， M.F. Husain， Jitish Kallat， Amar Kanwar， Bharti Kher， Nalini Malani， Jagannath Panda， Hetain Patel， Prajakta Potnis， Raqs Media Collective， Tejal Shah， Sudarshan Shetty， Dayanita Singh， Kiran Subbaiah， Vivan Sundaram， Thukral Tagra， Hema Upadhyay， Avinash Veeraraghavan， and Studio Mumbai Architects. Indian Highway is supported by the Indian Embassy， Beijing.

A Lecture upon the Shadow-Images from Chinese and British Artists

Venue: ShanghART H Space， Bldg 18， 50 Moganshan Rd.， Shanghai

Duration: Jul.27-Aug.27， 2012. 1pm-6pm

A Lecture upon the Shadow-Images from Chinese and British Artists will be held in ShanghART H-Space from July 27th to August 27th.Three artists David Penny， Tabitha Jussa， David Jacques from Britain and three Chinese artists LIANG Yue， FAN Shisan， MAN Yi will bring you their unique images in the exhibition.

Circle of Ruins

ARTIST: Xie Caomin

DURATION : 2012.7.22 - 8.26

VERNISSAGE: July 21， 2012， 5-7pm

VENUE: OTHER GALLERY l Beijing Space

AD: 706 North 3rd street East， Jiu Xianqiao Road， 798 Art Zone， Chao yang District， Beijing， China

Xie Caomin’s creative work reveals an artist who routinely crosses boundaries; a continual process of negotiation between the disparate histories and modes of thinking that make up his own， unique， cultural understanding. The complex forms of these paintings refer to the metaphysical images of the Hindu and Buddhist traditions， images that serve as visualizations of the cosmos and aids to meditation. Indeed， in calling the series Mandala Xie Caomin reveals yet another facet of this artist’s creative persona; that is an active interest in Buddhist philosophy， iconography and spiritual practice. The OTHER GALLERY is presenting the latest works by the U.S.-based Chinese artist Xie Caomin now.

Different expressions of elegance

Recall the Old Times

Eve’s Temptation: 2012 Underwear Conference is themed Recall the Old Times. After a fed seeking for the unconventional and the unorthodox， the classic characteristic of the brand remains. In this season， the emphasis is on pursuing classic essence and fully expressing modern women’s dressing idea， with the famine， natural and enduring theme of ancient elements. In terms of color and style， we are seeking for novel and harmonious feelings. There are colors of enthusiastic red， verdant green， mysterious black， fantastic purple， calm blue， etc. Shining silk， elegant jacquard and a combination of embroidery and shining diamond are included in design. It fully expresses modern women’s dressing ides of both showing and pursuing delicacy.

Designer: Hong Lei

Soft， Romantic， Elegance and Passion

Aimer·2012 swimsuit conference can be divided into four themes: Rio dance， Romantic sailor， Tartu lace and Red passion. For the new women in the modern society， life is just like in the movies where women are always the changeable elves. When you are enjoying the holiday in the tropical forests of Amazon， your vision becomes soft for the flourish forest， and your breath turns to songs for the fresh trees. Sometimes you may change to a cool female sailor sending out a pure charming aura just as the ocean with the foil of the pure and fresh aquamarine color， which can fully shows your romance and handsome. When you are attending a gala dinner on the Mediterranean cruise ship with your splendid attire， your dignity and elegance would be hardly hidden in every part of your graceful figure. Moreover， you may change to a passionate girl of the evening， dancing with a enchanting Latin music while using the extreme alluring eyes to detonate your sensory world.

The Female Temperament of Nobleness and Elegance

The theme of TANYA couture·2012/2013， the cold season garment fair， has been set as the female temperament of nobleness and elegance. The TANYA Black Label series were shown with the advocate tone of black， white， naked color and the Chinese red color， using high-end fabrics just like plain silk and wool to publish the latest advanced customization series of this season. The main images are mainly two: delicate suit coat which can show the fig- ure of body perfectly matching with midi skirts or gown or sets of tops and pant combined. The other is one piece of 3D shape dress mixed matched by fabrics of lace and silk. The design combines the high-profile character and the graceful personality of today’s working women and brings their best of each other by adopting the new sewing skills and smooth shape. Meanwhile， the late outfit series named TANYA Privé， which has attracted many eyeballs in the previous shows， also published the naked satin ceremony skirt especially with its brand classic fishplate skirt design. The new design shows the extremely beautiful female temperament once again and depicts the noble and elegant style more delicately.

Designer: Yannan Wang

Sheguang Hu’s show theme is “Dark side”. Financial crisis， natural disasters， all kinds of doomsday prophecies began， from the dark side， to look for good things. Dark side doesn’t always mean dark. And there will be bright side in terms of any space. Abstract modernist technique of expression has been adopted， combined with dark colors and fabric material on its own merits， to express the desire to glorify the concept of the Dark side in people’s thinking of the strong survival of different times and societies.

Designer: Sheguang Hu