LONDON.- In September, 3812 Gallery - the pioneering Hong Kong gallery specialised in Chinese contemporary art - will open a new outpost in London. The 2,800-square-feet space, spread over two floors, will be located on the ground floor of The Whiteley. Once the world’s largest emporium, the West-London landmark has been transformed into a luxury residential, retail and hospitality destination following a five-year redevelopment.

The launch of the new space will be highlighted by two major exhibitions this autumn, each demonstrating 3812’s commitment to promoting the work of Mainland China and Hong Kong’s greatest living artists and to fostering a better understanding of Chinese contemporary art in the West.

The inaugural exhibition, running from 10 September until 12 October, will be a solo show dedicated to former dissident artist Ma Desheng (b. 1952) whose career, spanning almost five years, has been the subject of an exhibition at the Centre Pompidou, Paris in 2022. This will be followed by the first UK retrospective devoted to the celebrated Hong Kong artist and multi- award-winning designer Stanley Wong, also known as “anothermountainman”. The show will open on 14 October, during Frieze Week and run until 22 November.

Calvin Hui, Co-founder and Chairman of 3812 Gallery: “It is a huge honour to inaugurate our new London space with exhibitions dedicated to Ma Desheng and anothermountainman. In their own way, both artists exemplify the raison d’être of 3812, which is to foster a better understanding of Chinese contemporary art and ignite a dialogue between Asian and Western art.”

Mark Peaker, Co-founder and CEO of 3812 Gallery: “W2 is confirming its status as a vibrant new ‘art postcode’ in the capital. We are very excited to relocate in the Whiteley which will enable us to be closer to our international clientele and engage with many more collectors living and staying in the area of Hyde Park”.

Woman, Ma Desheng Solo Exhibiࢼon | 10 September – 12 October

Co-founder of The Stars (Xingxing), the first post-Maoist dissident art movement in 1979 (Ai Weiwei was the youngest member), the 72-year-old master played a major role in the birth of China’s artistic avant-garde. Today, his early monochromatic woodblock prints and his later large canvases, blurring the boundaries between figuration and abstraction, feature in the world’s most prestigious museums, including the British Museum, the Pompidou Centre in Paris and the M+ in Hong Kong.

A self-taught painter, sculptor, engraver, calligrapher, poet and performer, Ma Desheng is perhaps most famous for his Rocks series. Depicting precarious stacks of stones, these works are metaphysical conceits for the human condition and a metaphor for the life of the artist himself. They symbolise the resilience and thirst for life of the wheelchair-bound artist, who contracted polio as a child, left his native China, and had to relearn how to paint after a life- changing car accident.

3812’s inaugural show will focus on a recurring subject in the oeuvre of the Chinese master: the female form. Entitled Woman, the 23-work strong display is the largest and most comprehensive exhibition of this body of work ever presented in the UK. Curated by 3812’s co- founder Calvin Hui under the academic advisory of Dr. Jiang Jun, curator of the Chinese Pavilion at the 60th Venice Biennale (2024), the never- or rarely-before-seen works trace the evolution of the female nude in Ma Desheng’s practice, from his subversive, late 1970s woodblock prints to his most recent monumental canvases.

soul & social – anothermountainman first art solo in London | 14 October – 22 November

The show will shed light on the multifaceted work of the advertising-guru-turned artist and feature some of his most iconic designs, photographs and videos. Blending art with social, political and philosophical commentary, the exhibition will be highlighted by Wong’s one-of-a- kind 3-metre by 6-metre "Hong Kong Walk On" carpet. Symbolising Hong Kong’s positivity and resilience since the 1997 handover, the work invites viewers to “walk on” with pride and perseverance despite social and political challenges. Anothermountainman (Stanley Wong) has also designed the new logo for 3812, capturing the gallery’s pioneering role in introducing the work of Chinese artists to a Western audience.