The fair’s five-part structure gave visitors several ways to read the contemporary art landscape. MAIN GALLERIES provided the central gallery selection, while APPROACH introduced emerging gallery programmes. DETOUR, BEYOND and SPECIAL PROJECTS expanded the visit through additional perspectives, installations and collaborations.
International galleries and focused presentations
The 2025 field included 34 galleries exhibiting at ART021 for the first time. That made the fair a useful place to compare established programmes with unfamiliar voices, without assuming that the largest booth or most recognisable name would necessarily provide the most rewarding encounter.
Lisson Gallery’s debut included sculpture by artists such as Leiko Ikemura and Tony Cragg. David Zwirner’s presentation brought together artists including Huma Bhabha and Joe Bradley alongside an important historical work by Felix Gonzalez-Torres. Such presentations offered different approaches to material, scale and the relationship between an artwork and the space around it.
Chinese and other Asian gallery programmes remained central to the fair’s identity. Focused solo and two-person presentations allowed visitors to follow the development of a practice rather than viewing every work as an isolated object. Looking across these stands made the local and international character of the event visible at the same time.
The opening-day forum added discussion of the art market, collaboration and contemporary practice. Beyond the stands, the fair’s connections with the Jing’an arts landscape encouraged visitors to think of ART021 as one part of a wider Shanghai art itinerary.
