Scan our QR code to stay updated with the recent news and upcoming events.
Scan our QR code to stay updated with the recent news and upcoming events.
2025.11.11- 2025.12.30
B1-6, Sunken Garden, Lane No.9, Qufu Lu, Jing An District Shanghai 200085
Art+ Shanghai Gallery and TBCA are pleased to announce "[useless]," a group exhibition curated by Wu Shu, featuring works by Liu Gang, Sabrina J, Tong Xindi & Shen Ting, Yen Hsiao, and Yu Mengtong. The exhibition runs from November 11 through December 30, 2025, coinciding with Shanghai's major art week.
Drawing inspiration from Laozi's insight—"what is, is for benefit; what is not, is for use"—the exhibition examines how emptiness and the seemingly non-functional contain profound creative power."[useless]" presents a philosophical response to contemporary society's obsession with efficiency, offering viewers a spiritual enclave to breathe, reflect, and return to authenticity.
The exhibition brings together five distinct artistic practices that explore the concept of uselessness: Yu Mengtong's ceramic vessels investigate spatial relationships and the philosophical significance of emptiness; Sabrina J transforms fashion industry scraps into soft sculptures that preserve memory and emotion; Yen Hsiao creates meditative bronze sculptures integrated with flickering flames; Liu Gang reassembles discarded industrial components into sound and interactive installations; and Tong Xindi and Shen Ting translate mathematical algorithms into ceramic art through custom machinery and programming.
About the Artists
Liu Gang is a contemporary Chinese artist based in Shanghai with a career spanning over three decades. His practice functions as a profound meditation on temporality, creating visual dialogues between historical consciousness, contemporary concerns, and natural phenomena. Recent solo exhibitions include "Dimensional Dialogue" at Art+ Shanghai Gallery (2024) and "From Logic to Ontology" at Mei Bo Art Museum.
Sabrina J is a French artist born in Reunion Island, based in Shanghai for the past decade. Her multifaceted practice spans art, interior design, product design, and fashion, blending cultural influences and unexpected materials. She celebrates traditional crafts while pushing boundaries through innovative combinations. Her solo exhibition "Memory & Metamorphosis" was held at Art+ Shanghai Gallery in 2023.
Yen Hsiao is a sculptor whose practice is deeply rooted in Zen meditation. Trained in Jewellery Design at Central Saint Martins, he now works primarily in bronze and brass sculpture. His recent series integrates oil lamps into sculptures, exploring the interplay between permanence and ephemerality. His work was most recently exhibited at London Design Week in 2025.
Yu Mengtong (b. 1996) is a Beijing-based ceramic artist currently pursuing her doctoral degree at Tsinghua University. Her practice explores themes of life, space, and individual existence through clay. She was a finalist for the 62nd Faenza Prize (2023) and twice a finalist for the "Blanc de Chine" International Ceramic Art Award. Her works are held in prestigious collections including the Faenza Art Foundation and Tsinghua University Art Museum.
Tong Xindi and Shen Ting are an artist duo who use custom-built machinery and computer programming to control ceramic crafting processes. Tong graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, while Shen graduated from the China Academy of Art. Their work "Blue-green Curtain" was acquired by The Victoria & Albert Museum in London in 2021.
Art+ Shanghai Gallery and TBCA are pleased to announce "[useless]," a group exhibition curated by Wu Shu, featuring works by Liu Gang, Sabrina J, Tong Xindi & Shen Ting, Yen Hsiao, and Yu Mengtong. The exhibition runs from November 11 through December 30, 2025, coinciding with Shanghai's major art week.
Drawing inspiration from Laozi's insight—"what is, is for benefit; what is not, is for use"—the exhibition examines how emptiness and the seemingly non-functional contain profound creative power."[useless]" presents a philosophical response to contemporary society's obsession with efficiency, offering viewers a spiritual enclave to breathe, reflect, and return to authenticity.
The exhibition brings together five distinct artistic practices that explore the concept of uselessness: Yu Mengtong's ceramic vessels investigate spatial relationships and the philosophical significance of emptiness; Sabrina J transforms fashion industry scraps into soft sculptures that preserve memory and emotion; Yen Hsiao creates meditative bronze sculptures integrated with flickering flames; Liu Gang reassembles discarded industrial components into sound and interactive installations; and Tong Xindi and Shen Ting translate mathematical algorithms into ceramic art through custom machinery and programming.
About the Artists
Liu Gang is a contemporary Chinese artist based in Shanghai with a career spanning over three decades. His practice functions as a profound meditation on temporality, creating visual dialogues between historical consciousness, contemporary concerns, and natural phenomena. Recent solo exhibitions include "Dimensional Dialogue" at Art+ Shanghai Gallery (2024) and "From Logic to Ontology" at Mei Bo Art Museum.
Sabrina J is a French artist born in Reunion Island, based in Shanghai for the past decade. Her multifaceted practice spans art, interior design, product design, and fashion, blending cultural influences and unexpected materials. She celebrates traditional crafts while pushing boundaries through innovative combinations. Her solo exhibition "Memory & Metamorphosis" was held at Art+ Shanghai Gallery in 2023.
Yen Hsiao is a sculptor whose practice is deeply rooted in Zen meditation. Trained in Jewellery Design at Central Saint Martins, he now works primarily in bronze and brass sculpture. His recent series integrates oil lamps into sculptures, exploring the interplay between permanence and ephemerality. His work was most recently exhibited at London Design Week in 2025.
Yu Mengtong (b. 1996) is a Beijing-based ceramic artist currently pursuing her doctoral degree at Tsinghua University. Her practice explores themes of life, space, and individual existence through clay. She was a finalist for the 62nd Faenza Prize (2023) and twice a finalist for the "Blanc de Chine" International Ceramic Art Award. Her works are held in prestigious collections including the Faenza Art Foundation and Tsinghua University Art Museum.
Tong Xindi and Shen Ting are an artist duo who use custom-built machinery and computer programming to control ceramic crafting processes. Tong graduated from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, while Shen graduated from the China Academy of Art. Their work "Blue-green Curtain" was acquired by The Victoria & Albert Museum in London in 2021.
