ART021 Shanghai 2020

I want my mountains to exude a sense of freedom that is open to pluralistic interpretations. They should be something that viewers can relate to on a personal level. I don’t want them to be either “Eastern” or “Western”; nor should they be historical or literary. I want to rid my paintings of the sense of history or even the sense of time—to remove all external references. 
—Jia Aili

Gagosian is pleased to participate in ART021 Shanghai 2020 with a solo booth of new paintings by Jia Aili. Along with the gallery’s booth at West Bund Art & Design 2020, on view between November 12 and 15, this will be Gagosian’s first in-person art fair since the COVID-19 lockdown in March.

Moving between genre painting, portraiture, fantasy, and abstraction, Jia creates epic tableaux that both emerge from and challenge art historical assumptions in the context of a rapidly changing world. In this new series, Jia depicts mountain ranges from around the globe, including sites in China and Switzerland. One of these mountain paintings will be presented as a special installation in the gallery’s booth.

On the occasion of the presentation of Jia’s new body of work at ART021, Gagosian Quarterly online will publish an interview with the artist by critic and curator Dr. Shen Qilan.

Jia’s work is currently on view through April 25, 2021, in Duration: Chinese Art in Transformation, a group exhibition at Minsheng Art Museum, Beijing.

Download the full press release in English (pdf), Simplified Chinese (pdf), or Traditional Chinese (pdf)