The Fifth Edition of Armory Focus Will Showcase the Strength and Diversity of Contemporary Art in China

Philip Tinari, Director of The Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing Appointed Curator of Armory Focus: China The Fifth Edition of Armory Focus Will Showcase the Strength and Diversity of Contemporary Art in China

NEW YORK - Armory Focus, the curated section of The Armory Show, highlights the gallery and artistic landscape of a chosen geographic region. For the 2014 edition of the Fair, Philip Tinari, Director of The Ullens Center for Contemporary Art, Beijing, will curate Armory Focus: China, shining new light on the country’s contemporary cultural practice. In recognition of the dynamism of the Chinese art scene, The Armory Show will present an exciting selection of contemporary Chinese galleries, providing a forum for an ever-expanding international conversation at the fair. On lending his curatorial vision to the project Philip Tinari notes that, “China is central to the makeup of the world system today in ways that are well understood on the level of geopolitics but have not yet been fully elaborated in the realm of culture. The wave of national surveys—the so-called "China Shows"—that introduced the first generation of Chinese artists to New York has come and gone, leaving even a decade later an aftertaste of gaudy, symbolic, often derivative work. This persistent memory clouds efforts by individual actors to illuminate the dynamism, seriousness, and originality of the Chinese art scene and system today. This section aims to change that.” Noah Horowitz, Executive Director of The Armory Show states, “Just as Focus: China hopes to showcase the strength and diversity of players who now make up the country’s cultural scene it also seeks to complicate and destabilize prevailing Western notions about its artistic situation. The project ultimately aims to demonstrate that China is not just a site for great new art, but a place where current art world models are being made and remade, and where serious collecting is happening at an ever larger scale. We are honored to collaborate with such a visionary curator as Philip on this project and look forward to presenting the results of his extensive efforts at the fair next March.” Aiming to showcase the diversity of both artistic production and the art system in China, the section will include curated presentations by some twenty artists coming from diverse generational and regional backgrounds, ranging from the "Stars" generation of the late 1970s through the booming post-Mao generation born after 1975. A program of talks will elaborate some of the key issues for contemporary art in China today, from the development of the institutional infrastructure to the ongoing diversification of the Chinese market. The Armory Show is New York’s leading fair for modern and contemporary art. A seminal event in the annual New York arts calendar, the fair spearheads Armory Arts Week, a city-wide program of cultural events and exhibitions.  The Armory Show 2014 will again feature an acclaimed VIP program, a lively opening night party at the Museum of Modern Art and the engaging Open Forum discussion series. Next year’s fair will also coincide with the opening of the 2014 Whitney Biennial in early March, further enhancing the line-up of Armory Arts Week events planned in partnership with New York’s cultural institutions, and attracting a wide scope of international collectors, curators, scholars, and press. NOTES TO EDITOR About the Armory Focus Curator Philip Tinari is director of the Ullens Center for Contemporary Art in Beijing. There he oversees an exhibition program devoted to established figures and rising talents both Chinese and international, aimed at UCCA's annual public of more than half a million visitors. Prior to joining UCCA he was editor-in-chief of LEAP, the international art magazine of contemporary China, which he founded and ran from 2009 to 2011. He has worked as China representative for Art Basel, contributing editor to Artforum, and lecturer in art criticism at the China Central Academy of Fine Arts. Tinari, who speaks fluent Mandarin, holds degrees from Duke and Harvard, and was a Fulbright fellow at Peking University. About The Ullens Center for Contemporary Art (UCCA) The Ullens Center for Contemporary Art is an independent, not-for-profit art center serving a global Beijing public. Located at the heart of Beijing's 798 Art District, it was founded by the Belgian collectors Guy and Myriam Ullens and opened in November 2007. Through a diverse array of exhibitions with artists Chinese and international, established and emerging, as well as a wide range of public programs, UCCA aims to promote the continued development of the Chinese art scene, foster international exchange, and showcase the latest in art and culture to hundreds of thousands of visitors each year. The History of Armory Focus Armory Focus was initiated in 2010 to highlight the contemporary gallery and artistic landscape from a specific geographic region. This unique section of the fair has quickly become one of the defining features of The Armory Show, presenting a survey of a region’s contemporary cultural practices as framed by a singular curatorial vision. Armory Focus booths are located in a dedicated section on Pier 94 and associated projects will be presented throughout the fair. Talks and lectures will also be organized around topics pertinent to Armory Focus: China as part of The Armory Show’s popular Open Forum program of panels. Armory Focus 2013: USA featured the following galleries: Churner and Churner, New York; CONNERSMITH, Washington DC; DODGEgallery, New York; Gagosian Gallery, New York; Gavlak Gallery, Palm Beach; The Suzanne Geiss Company, New York; Higher Pictures, New York / On Stellar Rays, New York; Invisible-Exports, New York; Magnan Metz, New York; Anthony Meier Fine Arts, San Francisco; Aisho Miura, Tokyo;  moniquemeloche, Chicago; Gallery Wendi Norris, San Francisco; Samson Projects, Boston; Jessica Silverman Gallery, San Francisco; Various Small Fires, Los Angeles. Armory Focus 2012: Nordic Countries featured the following galleries: Galerie Anhava, Helsinki; Martin Asbæk Gallery, Copenhagen; Beaver Projects, Copenhagen; Gallery Niklas Belenius, Stockholm; Galleri Bo Bjerggaard, Copenhagen; Crystal, Stockholm; D.O.R., Oslo;  Dortmund Bodega, Oslo; ELASTIC, Malmö; Fruit & Flower Deli, Stockholm;  i8, Reykjavik; IMO; Copenhagen; Galleri Magnus Karlsson, Stockholm; Christian Larsen, Stockholm; NOPlace, Oslo; Galleri Susanne Ottesen, Copenhagen; David Risley Gallery, Copenhagen; Galleri Christian Torp, Oslo; V1 Gallery, Copenhagen. Armory Focus 2011: Latin America featured the following galleries: A Gentil Carioca, Rio de Janeiro; Galeria Isabel Aninat, Santiago; Arroniz, Baro Gallery, Mexico City; Caja Blanca, Mexico City; Casa Triângulo, São Paulo; Galeria Casas Riegner, Bogotá; Lucia De La Puente, Lima; Faría Fábregas Galería, Caracas; Galeria Enrique Guerrero, Mexico City, Galeria Leme, São Paulo; Ignacio Liprandi Arte Contemporaneo, Buenos Aires; Galeria Laura Marsiaj, São Paulo; Mendes Wood, São Paulo; Nueveochenta, Bogotá; Revolver Galeria, Lima; Galeria Nara Roesler, São Paulo and Vermelho, São Paulo. Armory Focus 2010: Berlin featured the following galleries: Galerie Guido W. Baudach, Buchmann Galerie, carlier|gebauer, COMA, Galerie Crone, Galerie Cinzia Friedlaender, Johnen Gallery, KLEMM'S, Johann König, Tanya Leighton Gallery, Loock Galerie, Christian Nagel, Galerie Giti Nourbakhsch, Produzentengalerie: ph-projects, Reception, Galerie Aurel Scheibler, Esther Schipper, Galerie Thomas Schulte, Galerie Barbara Thumm, Galerie Barbara Weiss, Wentrup, Galerie Barbara Wien. The Armory Show The Armory Show, a leading international contemporary and modern art fair and one of the most important annual art events in New York, takes place every March on Piers 92 & 94 in central Manhattan. The Armory Show is devoted to showcasing the most important artworks of the 20th and 21st centuries. In its fifteen years the fair has become an international institution, combining a selection of the world's leading galleries with an exceptional program of arts events and exhibitions throughout New York during the celebrated Armory Arts Week. 2014 Fair Show Dates March 6-9, 2014 Piers 92 & 94 Twelfth Avenue at 55th Street New York City Opening Hours Wednesday, March 5th – VIP Preview for invited guests Thursday, March 6 - Sunday, March 9, noon to 7 pm Press Contact Allison Rodman Communications Manager The Armory Show (646) 616-7433 a.rodman@thearmoryshow.com #fineartmagazine