Chinese galleries surprise New York audience

Mixed Midea, 303x144x303cm, 2014, by Liang Shuo. Photos provided to China Daily

Sometimes curating an art exhibition is like painting a masterpiece. That's how it is with Armory Focus: China, where Chinese galleries debut as a whole at one of New York City's marquee art expos.

Curator Philip Tinari compares curating the show to painting a work of Abstract Expressionism. "Certainly, you have a clear direction of how it goes, only that you can't control every thing," he says.

"All you can do is to trust galleries and artists. And they pay you back with surprises," says Tinari, who is also the director of the Beijing-based Ullens Center for Contemporary Art.

He brought a selective lineup of Chinese galleries to surprise curators, critics and collectors to the Armory Show which was held from March 6 to 9.

The show shed new light on the dynamics of China's budding cultural landscape.

As competitive art fairs in Sao Paulo, Hong Kong and Mexico City are pulling collectors in different directions, the Armory Show reacts sensitively to the change by attracting more international audiences and galleries.

"If you look at the list of galleries at the Armory Show nine or 10 years ago, it would be much more concentrated on Western European and American markets," executive director Noah Horowitz says.