Chambers Fine Art Beijing is pleased to announce the opening on November 24th of From Chelsea to Caochangdi. When Chambers Fine Art opened in New York in 2000, it rapidly established itself as one of the primary showcases in the United States for work by the younger generation of Chinese artists who were just beginning to attract international attention. Now, with the opening of Chambers Fine Art Beijing in September, the gallery program has undergone a significant expansion as it opens its doors to some of the leading galleries from the United States. First to initiate the new program is Metro Pictures which opened to the public in New York in 1980.
The interests of the founders of the gallery, Helene Winer and Janelle Reiring, complemented each other very well. Janelle Reiring had been gallery director for the legendary dealer Leo Castelli while Helene Winer had been director of Artists Space for five years. At a time when there were very few galleries of significance dealing in contemporary art, Artists Space was an alternative space that showed young artists not represented by galleries. As described by Helene Winer, “it was a generation comfortable with cross media work and the first generation that worked naturally with photographic, film and video, as well as more conventional forms. They were conceptually based, but not restricted to the non art object methods of the conceptualist and not opposed to visually seductive art. Photography, staged or appropriated, was really a new medium for artists to sue, as was having work executed by someone else.”
The first group show at the gallery included work by Sherrie Levine, Robert Longo, Richard Prince and Cindy Sherman, many of whom went on to have solo shows. While continuing to represent many of the artists associated with the gallery in the early years, both directors recognize the need for the gallery to grow and change and they continue to add younger artists. For the current exhibition they have selected a group that represents the span of the gallery. Starting with two artists who began with Metro in 1980 – Cindy Sherman and Robert Longo – it continues with two artists who joined the gallery in the 90s, Tony Oursler, represented by a projection piece and Gary Simmons with two new paintings. The selection concludes with a film and a collage by T.J. Wilcox and work by Olaf Breuning and Paulina Olowska, both of whom have recently become associated with the gallery.
Christophe W. Mao comments that he is “particularly pleased that Metro Pictures has agreed to be its first foreign “gallery in residence.” In Metro Pictures, Helene Winer and Janelle Reiring have achieved something truly remarkable, a gallery that is significant historically and yet totally up-to-date in its interests. They have the ability to discover new talent and work with the artists as their careers take off. As new galleries seem to open weekly in Beijing, both artists and dealers could learn a lot from the example of this outstanding New York gallery.”
北京前波画廊将有幸于11月24日起举办题为《从切尔西（ Chelsea）到草场地》的展览。前波画廊于2000年在美国纽约开创，并迅速发展，如今已经建立了自己的声誉，成为在美国展示中国年轻一代艺术家创作的最主要的画廊。今年9月，前波画廊又在北京建筑了新的展览场地，同时也有效地扩展了画廊展览活动的范围，为美国的主要画廊在北京举办展览创造了条件。率先实现这一可能性的美国画廊是早于1980年就在纽约创建了的Metro Pictures画廊。
Metro Pictures画廊的两位创始人海伦维勒（Helene Winer）和洁奈尔莱陵（Janelle Reiring）兴趣相辅相成，从画廊初始一直合作到现在。洁奈尔?莱陵曾担任有着神奇声誉的Leo Castelli艺术商的画廊主管，而海伦?维勒也曾任“艺术家空间”（Artists Space）的馆长职位长达5年的时间。当仅仅只有很少画廊开始经营当代艺术时，“艺术家空间”是一个展示没有画廊代理的年轻艺术家作品的主要另类空间。就像海伦?维勒自己所说的，那里所展示的艺术家“能够轻松地运用跨媒体创作，属于第一代自然地使用摄影、电影、录影，及其他传统形式的艺术家。他们以观念为根底，但却不局限于观念艺术家使用非艺术物品的创作方法，同时也不反对具有视觉诱惑性的艺术。摄影，不论是摆拍还是重新改造，就像由其他人执行制作一样，都为艺术家提供了一种新的创作媒体。”
Metro Pictures画廊举办的第一次群展包括艺术家Sherrie Levine、Robert Longo、Richard Prince及Cindy Sherman等，他们中的许多人后来又陆续在Metro Pictures画廊举办了个展。这两位画廊的创始人不但一直保持与从画廊开创之始就开始合作的艺术家之间的关系，同时也清楚地认识到画廊发展和变化的重要性，她们至今一直仍在不断增加新的合作艺术家。为了这次展览，她们特意挑选了能够代表画廊广度的艺术家，包括两位从1980年起就一直与Metro Picture 合作的艺术家：Cindy Sherman和Robert Longo。90年代加入画廊的艺术家则以Tony Oursler（一件投影作品）和Gary Simmons（两幅新绘画作品）为代表。展览还将包括T.J.Wilcox的一部电影和一件剪贴作品，以及最近刚开始与Metro Pictures画廊合作的艺术家Olaf Breuning及Paulina Olowska。
前波画廊主管茅为清（Christophe W. Mao）表示，他“非常荣幸Metro Pictures能成为北京前波画廊的第一家国际“驻村画廊”。海伦维勒和洁奈尔莱陵的合作取得了令人敬佩的不同寻常的成就，使Metro Pictures不仅有着重要的历史意义，还同时在国际上一直保持着领先的趣向和地位。她们既能发现新的才能，同时在这些艺术家成名之后还能与他们保持和谐的合作关系。今天的北京每天都有新的画廊开幕，也许艺术家和画商都能从Metro Pictures这个著名的纽约画廊学到些东西。