Beijing's Summer Art Season: Six Must-See Institutional Shows

Gallery Weekend Beijing celebrated its 10th anniversary in May 2026, launching the capital's annual art season. Six institutional exhibitions stand out. At UCCA Center for Contemporary Art, Duan Jianyu's midcareer survey 'Daisies, a Light Breeze, No Relatives Writing Poems' (May 1–Aug 30, 2026) showcases her naive-style paintings blending Western canon, Chinese painting history, and everyday life. Taikang Art Museum presents 'The Shape of Content: Fu Luofei's Realist Painting and Wartime Art in China' (Apr 19–Jul 5, 2026), featuring over 400 works by the overlooked realist Fu Luofei (1897–1971). 798CUBE hosts 'Kairos Resounding' (Apr 25–Aug 30, 2026), the first institutional presentations in China for Julian Charrière and Laurent Grasso, curated by Zhang Ga, exploring time through geological materiality and perceptual installations. Red Brick Art Museum presents Tesfaye Urgessa's 'Primordial Paths' (Mar 21–Aug 9, 2026), his Asian debut with over 60 works since 2019, fusing Ethiopian iconography, European Surrealism, and German Neo-Expressionism. MACA Art Center features Michele Chu's 'gasp' (May 17–Aug 23, 2026), her first institutional solo in Mainland China, using salt-encrusted fabric and Himalayan salt brick sculptures for mourning. Espace Louis Vuitton Beijing presents Jean-Michel Othoniel's 'Dazzling Trilogy' (Apr 15–Sep 6, 2026), including site-specific glass pool 'Rivière Rose' (2026) and works from Fondation Louis Vuitton's collection.