New art space breathes life into upscale mall

Xu Zhen's abstract paintings are displayed from floor to ceiling in the lobby of bund 18. Photos provided to China Daily

Champagne in one hand and lamb kebab in the other, art lovers celebrated the opening of the new art space at Bund 18 in Shanghai on May 11.

It was Xu Zhen, the artist featured in the gallery's first exhibition, who came upon the bold idea of serving street-style food at the cocktail party.

His exhibition, Turbulent, consists of a site-specific installation that takes up the ground floor lobby of Bund 18, which hosts fine eateries and luxury brands such as jeweler Cartier.

Xu created a series of paintings - not done with brush but by piercing the canvas with spray nozzles. The pictures are all black and white abstract geometric patterns. Xu built frames to arrange six pieces, big and small, from the floor to the ceiling of the 7-meter-high lobby space.

"I want to create, with abstract expression, a presence of religious feeling," Xu tells China Daily in Shanghai's suburban Putuo district.

Bund 18 used to be the office building for Standard Chartered Bank in the 1920s. It faces the Huangpu River, and backs onto bustling Nanjing Road. The building was refurbished to become a high-end shopping and dining establishment in 2002.