Art Class Field Trip
A converted industrial area, Beijing’s 798 district houses more contemporary art galleries, book stores, and cafes than anyone could visit in one day, but we still tried. For me, casually wandering from gallery to gallery stirred up many questions about contemporary China, freedom, and expression. I don’t know much about art, but there was no end to my fascination with most of what I saw in 798. Though subversive, it was first time I encountered something in China that could be considered contrary to the status quo. It was refreshing to see a scratch in the veneer of perfect contentment, however small.
The Fifth Element Gallery housed the pieces that struck me the most. Artist Xiao Se’s paintings featured a common theme of distorted, anime faces, stark landscapes, subtle jabs at technology, and broken or stitched-up apples—an element I don’t quite understand.
While it was (strangely) acceptable to photograph the art in a number of galleries, I mainly stuck to snapping shots of the graffiti peppered throughout the area. You can see more in my photo gallery.
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