Before Closure, Red Gate Gallery's Expat Owner Looks Back
Staying active for 30 years is no easy feat for any gallery, not to mention one that has been competing within the Beijing art world all this time – but that’s just what Red Gate Gallery has done.
Red Gate opened its initial space on a series of floors in the Dongbianmen corner tower of what’s now called Ming City Wall Relics Park, and quickly gained traction by hosting exhibitions of local and often up-and-coming artists. After a move to 798 four years ago, Red Gate has continued to keep going strong. But after 31 years in the capital, Australian owner Brian Wallace is shutting the gates for now – mostly thanks to Covid.
Red Gate founder and owner Brian Wallace outside the gallery's original location at Dongbianmen
"Two years of Covid, plus not being here for one year, has wrecked the programming. Normally we'd have eight solo shows a year plus some guest shows, but this year there's no hope," Wallace explains. "The authorities and 798 galleries association confidently say, 'Oh in a couple of months it'll be fine,' but the truth is, for now, it's not fine."
Despite the impending closure, Wallace says that in a way, it's a relief. "Just going through this whole process over the past couple of years – thinking of the future of Red Gate, and then finally coming to a decision – has just lifted this weight off my shoulders."
Like many who have ended up in Beijing long enough to call it a home, Wallace didn't come to the capital with a larger plan. "I came here as a backpacker in 1984 and then came back in 1985 to do a language course… and then in 1986, I came back on a scholarship for more language study."
An invitation to one of Beijing's earlier exhibitions, which took place at Guozijiannt
While studying at Renmin University, Wallace made friends with a number of Chinese artists. "Knocking around with them all the time, we noticed there were no galleries, so we started to organize exhibitions," he said. In 1989, Wallace found work at Beijing Today, where he worked for a year – all the while hosting exhibitions in his apartment – before ending up at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, where he enrolled in a one-year program on Chinese art history.
From there, Wallace found himself at a crossroads. "In '91, after being here for five years, I said to myself, 'What am I going to do?' Get a job? Go home? Work at the embassy? Then I thought, why not open an art gallery?"
The first of Red Gate's final shows, Countdown 4, opened on Mar 26
One of the places Wallace and his friends had been exhibiting art was in the Ancient Observatory near Jianguomen. They embarked on a visit to inquire about the possibility of opening a gallery permanently, but were promptly declined. Instead, they were pointed in the direction of the remnants of the Ming Dynasty city wall nearby. And the rest is history.
But with the doors finally closing on Red Gate, this doesn't mean Wallace will be leaving China, or Beijing for that matter. Covid has rendered Wallace's gallery unviable, but the closing means that he will be able to focus full time on his other pursuits, not least of which include his art consulting and attending the occasional auction.
Wallace and Red Gate have also collaborated on art shows with other venues, including The Opposite House in Sanlitun
"We've been consulting with places like The Opposite House for a while now," Wallace explains, "and they've asked us to help with curating art for some of their rooms as well."
In all, Wallace anticipates a smoother ride ahead. "Not having to come to work six days a week will be nice," he quips. "And once Covid is resolved, maybe I'll be able to move in and out of the country more often."
The Countdown 4 show will run til Apr 17
Red Gate isn't going out without a bang, though! A final series of ambitious shows, titled Countdown 4 – 3 – 2 – 1, is planned until Jul 17. Wallace tells me the gallery has exactly 32 artists on the books who have been participating in exhibitions with Red Gate for some time, and with a few good months left, the exhibition concept fell into place.
The series will consist of four shows featuring eight artists each, starting with the ones who have recently joined the gallery. "Countdowns 3 and 2 will be artists who have joined us in the 2010s and 2000s, and Countdown 1 will be artists who joined us way back in the '90s," says Wallace, noting that the format will allow the gallery to go out with the artists who have been with them longest.
The 798 space is the second space Red Gate has called home
Meanwhile, the Archives of Contemporary Art of China in Songzhuang has just completed the digitization of Red Gate's document archive and library. A total of 14,469 scanned images have been assembled in the two main categories of Artist Materials and Exhibition Invitations – all part of the Red Gate 30th Anniversary Memory Wall Project in 2021. The archive material will be available to researchers and the public in the near future.
After 30 years of art and working with 32 artists on a continuous basis, there is no doubt that Red Gate have left a lasting impression on Beijing's art scene – and we can be sure that there are more great things to come from Wallace.
Be sure to follow Red Gate on WeChat (RedGateGallery) to stay up to date with the final countdown!
Red Gate Gallery 红门画廊
2 Jiuxianqiao Lu, 798 Art District, Chaoyang District
潮阳区798艺术区酒仙桥路2号
Images courtesy of Red Gate Gallery
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