Leo Xu Projects Gallery in Shanghai

Editorial Profile

Leo Xu Projects was a Shanghai-based contemporary art gallery active from 2011 to 2017, founded by curator, writer, and dealer Leo Xu. Rather than functioning as a conventional commercial gallery with a broad decorative program, it was positioned as a project-driven space for younger Chinese and international artists whose work engaged the visual languages of urbanism, architecture, cinema, consumer culture, and contemporary Chinese social change. Located in the former French Concession area, and associated here with Jing’an, it formed part of the more intimate gallery geography that existed alongside Shanghai’s larger institutional and fair-oriented districts. Within contemporary art in Shanghai, the gallery’s identity was closely tied to experimentation across media, including photography, video, painting, installation, and conceptually structured projects. Its exhibition history included artists such as Cheng Ran, Chen Wei, Cui Jie, Guo Hongwei, Li Qing, Li Shurui, Liu Chuang, Liu Shiyuan, Michael Lin, aaajiao, and Apichatpong Weerasethakul, reflecting a program attentive to both local conditions and transnational visual culture.

Its role among galleries in Shanghai was significant because it helped articulate a generation of artists working between rapid urban transformation, new image economies, and the internationalization of Chinese contemporary art. The gallery’s projects often extended beyond a single white-cube format, with off-site collaborations, talks, and presentations connected to institutions and events such as Rockbund Art Museum and ShContemporary. Its international relevance was also visible through participation in fairs including Art Basel Hong Kong and Frieze New York, where its program circulated within a broader Asian and global contemporary art market. Seen retrospectively, Leo Xu Projects remains important less as an ongoing venue than as a compact but influential platform within Shanghai’s 2010s gallery ecosystem.