Shanghai art mall hosts Monet exhibit

"If you can shop and eat in a museum, why can't you have a museum where you go shopping and dining?" Cheng says. "I am an artist. Let's try to think outside the box.

"We are surprised and encouraged to see the audience-art lovers-their love and respect for art."

A dedicated art lover and supporter himself, Cheng started the K11 Art Foundation, with the mission of promoting contemporary Chinese art, as well as art education.

Chi K11 Art Space in Shanghai has presented many exhibitions of contemporary art. KAF also regularly supports contemporary Chinese artists, bringing their works to international audiences.

This year KAF began a three-year collaboration with Palais de Tokyo in Paris, to jointly hold a series of exhibition tours and exchange programs. Later this year, KAF will present a large exhibition by Shanghai-based artist Zhang Enli.

"I love his work and I admire him for his academic attitude, as well as his low-key personality," Cheng says.

To curate an art mall is to initiate a dialogue. From the interior design and products for sale, to the ambience, everything has to be spontaneous and artistic, Cheng says.

"If an artist's work needs interaction with the audience, I will consider placing them in a location with more passenger flow," he says.

Digital video artworks from emerging group Island6 projects dancing LED images in the elevators; a series of sculptures by Liu Jianhua are placed in the hallway; and Damien Hirst's bronze sculpture Wretched War greets shoppers by the escalator on the second floor, opposite an Armani Jewelry store.

Cheng considers the Chi K11 Art Space to be a place for community engagement. He plans to present a group exhibition of video and installation art in June.

The show will bring together six Chinese artists and four young French artists. It's part of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of diplomatic relations between China and France.

More importantly, Cheng says, "many people will be curious after watching the Monet show: What's next? Who's the next master? This will be the answer. The exhibition will take them to the future."

Cheng doesn't consider K11 his private museum. "It's a new museum, creative, contemporary, a different museum ...you tell me what it is?"

Future K11 spaces may include office spaces or other malls. "Anything will do for me," Cheng says. "Maybe even an amusement park with art, as long as there is art."

Part of the profits from Cheng's commercial establishments will go to his foundation.

Cheng says he picked the name K11 without any specific meaning in mind. "I picked the combination randomly from a sheet of paper," Cheng says. "I am an artist, after all."

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