Contemporary Chinese Art Magazine
Contemporary Chinese Art, Explained
Portraits of Chinese artists, city guides to Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing, and the traditions today’s artists build on.
In a nutshell: China Artlover is an independent English-language magazine about contemporary Chinese art. Most of what gets written about the subject is either in Chinese or buried in auction reports, so we write artist portraits, city guides and background pieces to make it readable for everyone else.
Where to see contemporary Chinese art
China’s art scene is spread over a handful of cities, and each one works a little differently. These three are where most of the important museums and galleries are, and each has its own guide.
Latest artist portraits
New portraits usually go online when an artist has a current show somewhere, so each one tells you where to see the work.
- Yunyao Zhang: A Painter Who Trusts the Surface to Remember
Artist Portrait Yunyao Zhang: A Painter Who Trusts the Surface to Remember In a nutshell: Yunyao Zhang (b. 1985, Shanghai) is a Paris-based painter… - Zhang Xiaogang – An Artist Portrait And Biography
Artist Portrait Zhang Xiaogang: The Bloodline Paintings and Fifty Years Beyond Them In a nutshell: Zhang Xiaogang (b. 1958, Kunming) is a Chinese painter… - Demos Chiang: A Painter’s Bestiary of Feeling in Hangzhou
Quick Answer: Demos Chiang (b. 1976, Taipei) is a Taiwanese-Canadian designer turned painter whose anthropomorphic animal paintings blend Chinese ink tradition with Western abstraction.…
Discover Chinese Art Beyond the Headlines
New artists, exhibitions and places worth knowing, curated by China Artlover. Free, usually 1 to 2 emails a month.
The background to it all
Contemporary Chinese art makes more sense once you know what it grew out of. Three good places to start, and many more in our resources section.
Chinese Ink Wash Painting
Shui mo hua, the technique of black ink, water and empty paper that many contemporary Chinese painters still start from.
Chinese Silk Painting
Painting on silk goes back more than two thousand years. How it works, and why it looks so different from painting on paper.
Chinese Cork Carving
Tiny landscapes carved from cork bark, a craft from Fuzhou, and what the pieces are worth today.
Who’s Behind China Artlover
China Artlover is run by Sascha Kurfiss. The site began as a personal project during the more than ten years he lived and worked in China, and has grown from a passion for discovering artists, exhibitions and places into a dedicated platform for Chinese contemporary art.
Today, Sascha is based in Germany but returns to China regularly for business, research and guest lectures at Chinese universities. His professional background spans the creative industries, marketing and consulting, giving China Artlover a perspective that connects art, culture and contemporary China.
He is joined by editor Cila Brosius, curator and founder of Bridge Contemporary. Together, they are developing China Artlover into a go-to resource for anyone interested in Chinese contemporary art beyond China, from emerging and established artists to exhibitions, museums, galleries and the stories behind the work.
Run a gallery or museum in China? You can suggest it for our art guides through the form on each city page, for example the Hong Kong guide.
China Artlover: Frequently Asked Questions
China Artlover is an independent English-language magazine about contemporary Chinese art, run by Sascha Kurfiss in Hamburg. It publishes artist portraits, art guides to Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing, and background articles on Chinese art traditions.
Most portraits start with a current exhibition. They are based on gallery and museum material, press coverage and the artists’ own statements, and every article lists its sources at the end. Many photos come from our own exhibition visits.
New artist portraits appear regularly, usually when an artist has a current show. The newsletter goes out every month or two with the best new articles and upcoming exhibitions in Hong Kong, Shanghai and Beijing.