From pioneering institutions like TANK Shanghai to a new generation of independent galleries and creative collectives, Shanghai is redefining what an urban art scene can be.

Sotheby’s Institute alum and curator Nathan Yeomans shares his insider perspective on what makes Shanghai’s art scene one to watch right now.

The Cultural Pulse of Shanghai

What feels unique right now is the city’s pace—not just of production, but of intellectual and artistic momentum. Independent spaces and large-scale museums operate in close proximity, creating an environment where artists can move seamlessly between the two.

One often thinks of urban development as hedonistic, yet there is an intellectual and sophisticated manner in the way Shanghai’s art institutions are operating within its ever-changing ecosystem.

We were incredibly grateful to have recently won the TANK Curator Prize for Danwei Unfolding at TANK Shanghai, and we referenced Deleuze’s concept of the fold, alongside showcasing ten esteemed artists, to represent exactly this type of relationship with urban, social, and cultural development: one that folds inward and intersects, creating interdisciplinary connections and exciting new perspectives.

There is also a distinct aesthetic confidence within Shanghai. You find that a young generation of artists is engaging critically with technology, urbanism, and material culture in ways that feel rooted in the city’s own rhythms rather than in responses to Western discourse.

It’s not uncommon to see traditional Chinese mediums and influences being used to convey global and timely contemporary ideas. This has created a situation where new media, installation, and conceptual-based practice sit alongside a renewed interest in craft, archives, and the aesthetics of transformation.

Shanghai feels less like a developing art center and more like a place defining its own models—structurally, conceptually, and culturally.

Must-See Spaces

Shanghai’s art scene is anchored by world-famous fairs like West Bund Art & Design and ART021, which continue to draw global attention.

Last year, the 15th Shanghai Biennale coincided with both fairs, which only added to the anticipation, while West Bund Art & Design debuted a new dynamic venue.

Also in the West Bund area is TANK Shanghai—named for its circular, disused oil tanks—hosting monumental works by both emerging and established artists.

The venue continues to push boundaries through art and encourages thoughtful engagement with its architecture, an ethos championed by founder and art collector Qiao Zhibing.

Beyond the fairs and landmark institutions, Shanghai’s post-industrial space continues to be creatively repurposed.

Warehouses like the Shanghai Creative Warehouse, quietly host small studios and experimental project rooms, showing that important artistic experimentation still happens outside the main institutional circuit.

At the Long Museum, one of the city’s key contemporary venues, recent exhibitions—from Panorama: Timeless Imprints of Civilization to Daniel Crews-Chubb’s Immortals and Wang Yuyang’s Painting—highlight Shanghai’s ability to hold both deep cultural histories and global contemporary dialogues within the same institutional frame.

From a curatorial perspective—and having had the chance to speak with the wonderful curator Zhu-Nowell—another must-see is the Rockbund Art Museum, situated within the former French Concession.

Their exhibitions often grapple with the complexities of the building’s own histories and spatial politics.

The 2025 RAMa festival, for example, transformed the wider Rockbund neighborhood into a living architectural intervention, adopting a relational approach that encourages audiences not just to look, but to think, question, and participate.

“People are not coming to Shanghai merely to ‘discover’ its art scene—but to engage with an ecosystem that continues to develop and redefine its own language.”

Artwork Installation: Lin Ke, Installation view of 360°: why we paint? hosted at BY ART MATTERS, 2025.

Artists and Trends to Watch

Artist Wenjue uses oil paint as a sculptural relief, layering material to redefine the relationship between image and object, drawing inspiration from childhood experiences of deconstructing and rebuilding games.

In contrast, Lin Ke’s images, recordings, and computer paintings generate “ghostive” deviations, challenging the boundaries between tool, operator, and subject.

Together, they illustrate two of Shanghai’s emerging themes: experimenting with materials in tactile ways and exploring ideas through digital and tech-based practices.

Through our recent exhibition at TANK Shanghai, we had the privilege of featuring established artists such as Qiu Xiaofei and Xing Danwen, alongside emerging and mid-career artists including Dino Zhang and Zhi Wei.

Zhang explores memory, history, and identity through mostly expanded cinema; his recent work The Oriental Pearls exemplifies how intimate recollections intersect with Shanghai’s urban transformation.

Meanwhile, Wei’s multidisciplinary practice spans painting, textiles, sculpture, and installation, drawing on their family’s fabric business.

They incorporate familiar patterns into layered compositions that explore childhood, identity, and transformation, blurring boundaries between two- and three-dimensionality, abstraction, and figuration.

Together, both artists illustrate Shanghai as a site where personal histories, urban development, and creative experimentation intertwine.

Artwork: Dino Zhang, The Oriental Pearls, Three-Channel Film Installation, photographic archival images in colour, 15’00, 2024.

Shanghai on the Global Stage

Shanghai’s presence on the global stage is not defined by comparison.

What distinguishes the city is the way international collectors and art professionals are engaging with it not as an extension of the Western market, but as a place where new ideas, aesthetics, and forms of institutional collaboration are emerging.

While Hong Kong has historically acted as a gateway to China for Western collectors, Shanghai is marking its own global reputation.

We’re also seeing more global representation from within the city, with recent years highlighting both East Asian and Western artists.

People are not coming to Shanghai merely to “discover” its art scene, but to engage with an ecosystem that continues to develop and redefine its own language.

Collectors and institutions are also increasingly attuned to cross-Asian dialogues, engaging with emerging and established voices from mainland China and beyond.

This influx of perspectives has brought new textures and conceptual frameworks into circulation, making Shanghai an ideal site for research, curatorial projects, and speculative scouting.

The city offers a model of cultural production that is neither Western nor oppositional, but globally relevant, fluid, and ambitious—an ecosystem that keeps collectors and art professionals returning year after year.

Nathan’s Top Picks in Shanghai

  • Gallery: M50 Creative Park
  • Exhibition: Short Term Histories by Peng Zuqiang – Rockbund Museum (November 6, 2025 – April 26, 2026)
  • Café: Café del Volcán

Nathan’s Take

For me, Shanghai’s art scene thrives on intersections—between independent and institutional spaces, between new media and traditional craft, and between local histories and global dialogues.

The city’s artists and curators are constantly experimenting with form, material, and concept, while collectors and institutions engage across borders and disciplines. For me, what makes Shanghai exciting is this fluidity: the city continually invents its own models, making it a playground for creativity, collaboration, and cultural exchange.

At times the city may feel vast and slightly labyrinthine; I got lost more than once, yet these moments of wandering became part of the discovery.

My recommendation would be to simply embrace the pace of Shanghai and speak with anyone you meet along the way.

Some of the most fruitful conversations I’ve shared were over meals with artists, collectors, even professors—sharing new perspectives or marking key milestones over a plate of Hong Shao Rou.

Knowledge exchange and optics of progress all happened organically, and yet felt profoundly energetic, all at the same time. In Shanghai, engagement with art isn’t confined—it unfolds in the everyday where conversation, practice, and intellectual curiosity intersect.

Banner and inline images courtesy of Nathan Yeomans, TANK Shanghai, Xiangchu Han, Lin Ke, and BY ART MATTERS.