Finding stillness and strength within the bustle of the fair.

The 13th edition of ART021 Shanghai Contemporary Art Fair arrived as scheduled this November. As a platform that gathers leading galleries, artists, and collectors from around the world, ART021 SHANGHAI has grown into a barometer of the contemporary art market, rooted in its own cultural traditions while exploring the evolving visual grammar of contemporary art.

This year’s fair brings together 141 galleries and projects from 22 countries and regions and 50 cities, with 34 galleries making their debut—offering a vibrant and diverse artistic landscape. During the VIP preview, collectors and art professionals gathered in high spirits; while expectations for the market remain positive, the atmosphere is more rational than speculative, with a focus on artworks with long-term collecting value rather than chasing “names” or “sizes.”

As of publication, gallery sales have been steady and within expectations, with acquisitions from both institutions and private collectors. Several galleries performed impressively—with some selling out on the first day—while many works remain under reservation or negotiation. Major galleries arrived with strong presentations of star artists: Perrotin reported nearly half of its booth under reservation, with Takashi Murakami’s Pastel Purple priced at USD 280,000 as the booth’s most expensive work; Mennour presented Ugo Rondinone’s Blue, Yellow, Pink Mountain, currently the highest-priced confirmed sale at USD 180,000. Lisson Gallery made its ART021 SHANGHAI debut, bringing a major signature work by Anish Kapoor priced above RMB 8 million to attract the attention of young collectors. De Sarthe Gallery offered works ranging from several tens of thousands to several million RMB. Hive Center for Contemporary Art sold nearly 30 works, with Zhang Yingnan’s Footprint being the most expensive. Song Art Museum sold over ten works. Bluerider ART presented a tight edit of works priced under RMB 700,000. BANK Gallery sold out its booth on the first day. Newcomer PETITREE from Shenzhen presented emerging artists at more accessible prices—from a few thousand RMB to around RMB 100,000.

With the thinning of market “foam,” both galleries and collectors now show greater pragmatism and long-term thinking. Collecting patterns form a clear ladder: works under RMB 100,000 provide an approachable entry point for new collectors, while works under RMB 500,000 continue to gain steady attention from more experienced collectors building their systems.

Amid the dazzling multitude of works, those rooted in Eastern aesthetics stood out—embodying a distinctive cultural depth. From the mid-career generation to the post-90s artists, many Chinese artists are bringing traditional Eastern aesthetics into contemporary abstraction, while Western artists living in the East draw fresh insights from cross-cultural encounters.

If the Ancients Played With the Universe

For Chinese artists, ink painting is not merely a medium or technique—it is an emotional and aesthetic lineage. Its underlying worldview, encapsulated in the idea that “one flower contains an entire cosmos,” reflects a metaphysical inquiry into time and space.

Sun Yanchu’s Views of Water 1#，Homage to Ma Yuan and Tang Hui’s Cliff Cypress Stream the spirit of landscape through mixed media; Xia Jianning observes leaf cells under a microscope, merging micro-pulsations with classical landscape imagery; Xu Lei reworks images into the spatial logic of traditional painting—The Moon Embraced by the Mountain, adapted from the Japanese stone compendium Record of Weathered Stones, forms a cross-cultural meditation.

Phillips presented new works by Liu Dan, a leading figure in contemporary ink. Whether depicting rocks or flowers, his Papaver Rhoeas-Purple a new order beyond the motif itself, articulating an expansive temporal consciousness that unites the micro and macro.

Between Eastern Control and Improvised Gesture

For years, Around Space Gallery has upheld a long-termist vision, presenting works of serene elegance. This year they showcased Liang Quan, whose practice—among the earliest to merge ink with abstraction—uses torn, dyed, and collaged xuan paper, along with tea stains and perforated packing materials, to form layered washes.

Chen Qiang’s abstract practice combines traditional xuan paper and ink with Western linen and pigments. His brushstrokes shift between dense and airy, controlled and improvisational, as colors flow, pool, and converge between order and chance.

The Weight of Materiality

Materiality and temporality hold special significance in Eastern aesthetics. Artists foreground the accumulation of time, leaving traces of labor and gesture that extend beyond surface appearance. Through layered pigment, texture, and material characteristics, they create structures that are calm yet full of tension.

Emerging artist Yiwen continues her exploration of natural and organic forms—from plants to shells—using spirals and logarithmic curves found in mollusks to contemplate primordial life, weaving together natural rhythms and human traces.

Tang Jiaxin pierces paper with rhythmic repetition, recording her bodily pulse and shifting mental states. Drawing on The Art of War and the I Ching, her work meditates on the balance between destruction and fragility.

Shen Chen began pushing experimental ink and abstraction in the 1980s. Rooted in calligraphy, he paints meditatively with long-handled brushes on canvas laid on the floor, applying dozens of layers of acrylic. Overlapping and spacing brushstrokes create lines of varying density and tonal transitions—evoking a minimalist “void.”

Traditional lacquer has seen a revival among young artists. Its inherent unpredictability is also its allure. Guo Tiantian works primarily with natural lacquer, incorporating mother-of-pearl, leather, and metal to create multisensory works that merge color resonance, sonic texture, and historical consciousness—embodying synesthesia and mono no aware.

When Living in the East Sparks New Passions

Contemporary Eastern aesthetics has moved far beyond symbolic appropriation or retro styling, returning instead to fundamental questions: nature and humanity, myth and reality, East and West.

Kyungmi Shin often employs Eastern symbols to challenge Western stereotypes of “the East.” Traditional motifs—cranes, snakes—merge with family photo memories to explore the layered experiences of Asian diaspora. Xie Qun reflects on Orientalism through zisha clay, copper, and ink, constructing bodily mythologies that reimagine fragmented histories.

Many Chinese artists who studied abroad have undergone a shift in perspective—first entering a foreign culture as “outsiders,” then returning home to reassess their traditions. This cross-cultural movement opens new mental horizons—from “being lost in the mountains” to “seeing the mountain as itself again.”

After years in France, Qi Zhuo returned to China to study the history of Buddhist sculpture. His Bubble Game series reflects on cultural multiplicity, combining ceramics, glass, and metal. Blown glass bubbles act as “restoration bases” for reconstructed Northern–Southern Dynasties figurines, stitching together new interpretations of historical fragmentation.

For Cai Yaling, “rooting oneself in one’s own soil brings deeper wisdom.” Chinese philosophical perspectives on gender have informed her practice. During her residency in Paris, she deepened this inquiry. In her blown-glass florals, blooming branches emerge from traditional vessels, with layered colors and nested forms echoing classical Chinese arrangement. Using flowers as metaphors for the female interior, she explores how the body connects with consciousness. Her mixed-media paintings expand these reflections into intimate, sometimes melancholic narratives.

After a residency in Taipei, Benjamin Spiers created Remains. Known for grotesque and surreal scenes, here he paints flowers glowing faintly in darkness—petals curling, approaching decay. The work evokes an Eastern acceptance of life’s impermanence: budding, blooming, withering, and returning to earth as part of an endless cycle.

Through personal language and cross-cultural perspectives, these artists revisit and reinterpret traditions, engaging not with superficial motifs but with underlying methodologies, philosophies, and cosmologies. Eastern aesthetics remains a pathway connecting past and future—an inward, contemplative approach rooted in profound inquiry.