eager to satiate the wannabe artist in me, i visited two “artsy” places in shanghai.

it is thrilling to check out contemporary art here, and this excitement stems from so many things. what i really struggle with articulating is how it feels for an art-loving chinese american to see art created by people with whom i share an “ancestry,” but that’s really about it in terms of similarities.

i guess it all boils down to identity. something that perpetually surfaces, for me, is the all-too-common salient reference in art to mao and the cultural revolution. i wonder if i’m being too insensitive if i perceive it something of a gimmick, like a default topical approach if there’s a creative drought. what if i was a chinese (without the hyphenated “american”) artist of a certain generation? would i make allusions to mao in my art? or is it almost impossible to avoid?

i try to curb this criticism and remind myself that that particular chunk of history is such a powerful, integral part of the collective psyche. as an outsider (a minor in chinese studies), i couldn’t even come close to imagining the impact mao and co. has had and will continue to have on generations to come.

but that’s enough of that asian american studies 101 blathering. i apologize for the mental diarrhea. maybe i’m just feeling hormonal and weird.

back to the “artsy places”:

the first, taikang road art centre/street, was a little disappointing but charming in its own right. it was expat haven, with more cafes and boutiques than actual galleries worth perusing. however, its location — a tangle of narrow residential alleys off a bigger street — was enchanting and neat, like stumbling upon a commercial secret garden. i too retreated into an air conditioned cafe after wandering and thus melting.

the second, 50 moganshan, resembled 798 in beijing in concept and appearance. i guess they’re trying to brand it as “m50.” nestled against suzhou creek, it’s more of a community and industrial park, with galleries, boutiques, few cafes, design studios, and open artist workshops/studios. this was also fun to explore, and showcased a handful of intriguing pieces.

TAIKANG

(this made me sad)

50 MOGANSHAN

this one’s simply titled: derek + anthony: ham sandwiches

there goes the neighborhood

upon closer inspection

a fantastic little cafe that played and sold chinese folk music, where i had…

refreshing grapefruit tea and sesame tang yuan (glutinous rice dumplings) – pegs, i thought of you with every bite i took

This entry was posted on Friday, September 28th, 2007 at 6:25 am and is filed under arts, asia, travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.