West Bund Art & Design 2026
West Bund Art & Design 2026
Stand 1B10
10—15 November, 2026
West Bund International Convention and Exhibition Center, No. 7 Longyao Road, Shanghai, China
Shanghai—Pearl Lam Projects is delighted to announce its participation in the 13th edition of West Bund Art & Design. The gallery’s presentation brings together a diverse lineup of ten artists spanning three different continents: Alimi Adewale (b. 1974, Nigeria), Zahrah Alghamdi (b. 1977, Saudi Arabia), Mr Doodle (b. 1994, UK), Michal Korman (b. 1987, Slovakia), Ni Zhiqi (b. 1957, China), Qiu Anxiong (b. 1972, China), Su Xiaobai (b. 1949, China), Yang Jiechang (b. 1956, China), Zhu Jinshi (b. 1954, China), and Zhu Peihong (b. 1987, China). Grounded in explorations of tradition, the presentation features works that move fluidly between abstraction and figuration. By reinterpreting historical techniques through contemporary sensibilities, the participating artists delve into the interplay between heritage and modernity. Their practices offer new perspectives on material and form while reflecting Pearl Lam Projects’ ongoing commitment to fostering cross-cultural dialogue between the East and the West.
A pioneer of Chinese abstract painting, Zhu Jinshi presents a new large-scale work, First Tone(2025), that extends his signature “thick painting” practice. Layers of pigment more than ten centimetres deep form sculptural surfaces that pulse with movement and time. Zhu’s paintings merge the spirit of Chinese philosophy with the materiality of paint, transforming gesture into a meditation on matter, energy, and being.
Su Xiaobai’s lacquer works, distinguished by their textured, shell-like surfaces and gracefully curved forms, merge a deep respect for tradition with contemporary aesthetic. The artworks presented here continue the artist’s long-standing exploration of materiality and spiritual existence. The series on show at West Bund was also featured in the collateral exhibition held at Palazzo Soranzo Van Axel as an official Collateral Event of the 2026 Venice Biennale, organised by the Los Angeles County Museum of Art (LACMA).
Ni Zhiqi’s works, including Void.World (2023–26), continue his poetic exploration of perception and silence. Using handmade paper and linen to fuse collage and painting, he constructs minimal compositions that evoke lightness and introspection. Drawing from travel and memory, Ni’s restrained palette and soft surfaces turn simplicity into an emotional and spiritual presence.
As a pioneer of contemporary Chinese ink art, Yang Jiechang achieved international recognition in 1989 when he was invited to participate in the landmark exhibition Magiciens de la Terre at the Centre Pompidou in Paris. His iconic Thousand Layers of Ink series, featuring minimalist monochrome monumental works infused with Eastern philosophical reflections of Taoism and Zen, effectively dismantles long-standing Western stereotypes about Chinese ink art. In the exhibited work Qi of the Earth, Yang regards lines as direct traces of life and continues to explore the fluid states of the body and consciousness through the diffusion and extension of ink and brushstrokes.
Qiu Anxiong’s creations are deeply immersed in the aesthetics of traditional Chinese ink painting and rooted in classical Chinese philosophy. He creates new landscape works using the traditional vocabulary of literati ink painting, yet no longer confines himself to traditional mountain and river imagery. Instead, he incorporates new foundational structures of contemporary life into his canvases, including cities, industrial zones, and digital networks. Through dystopian natural scenes that depict displaced humans and animals, his works respond to the increasingly fractured connection between humanity and nature, prompting a re-examination of mankind’s persistent modern impulse to dominate the natural world.
Alimi Adewale’s richly textured paintings reinterpret African identity and urban experience through abstraction. His Nature’s Embrace (2024) portrays the embodiment of Mother Earth as a symbol of nurture and renewal. Bridging realism and abstraction, Adewale celebrates the divine feminine as a life-giving force.
While childhood pollen allergies initially kept Michal Korman away from flowers, blooms later became his most beloved creative motif in adulthood. His painting The Balustrade adopts vivid, saturated colours and a flattened perspective that eliminates hierarchical depth. Paired with a unique reverse technique of applying paint from the back of the canvas, Korman creates a bright, lively contrast between green and red. Breaking free from the representational logic of three-dimensional perspective, he uses the rhythmic flow of decorative colour blocks to transform the everyday garden into a timeless, spiritual sanctuary for meditation and healing.
Unlike traditional land art that pursues large-scale topographical transformation, Zahrah Alghamdi’s practice adopts a highly hands-on, intimate approach. She collects natural materials on-site, including sand, rock, and clay, and builds her works through intricate processes of shaping, stitching, and layering. Her featured work, Echoes of the One in Many(2026), consists of interconnected human figures arranged along an endless circular orbit, folded into a single, seemingly breathing whole. It dissolves the boundaries of the individual, pointing to a shared humanity rooted in common origins.
Completing the presentation are major works by Zhu Peihong and Mr Doodle. Zhu Peihong explores inner perception by constructing dynamic spaces of consciousness through dots, lines, and colour blocks. Meanwhile, Mr Doodle invites viewers into a playful, high-energy universe built entirely of fluid, interconnected lines. Together, these artists exemplify the gallery’s commitment to encouraging dialogue across material, culture, and time.
“West Bund Art & Design continues to be one of Asia’s most important platforms for cross-cultural conversation,” says Pearl Lam, Founder of Pearl Lam Projects. “Our presentation reflects the evolution of abstraction as a living language, bridging the East and West, and uniting the material with the spiritual.”
