Yuz Museum presents the debut exhibition of “Rain Room” in Shanghai

TEXT:Sue Wang    DATE: 2015.8.3

Poster of Rain Room

"Rain Room makes you feel the force of nature." — Klaus Biesenbach, Director, MoMA PS1 and Chief Curator at Large, The Museum of Modern Art.

China's preeminent museum of contemporary art, the Yuz Museum in Shanghai, will present the first showing in Asia of a major installation from the Yuz Collection entitled Rain Room (2012) by the artists Random International. Rain Room was first presented at the Barbican in London (2012) and then at The Museum of Modern Art, New York (2013). It will be premiered in Asia at the Yuz Museum Shanghai from September 1st to December 31st 2015. The presentation in Shanghai has been made possible with the support of Volkswagen Group China.

This exhibition is inspired by an installation at The Museum of Modern Art, on view from May to July 2013, as part of the exhibition EXPO 1: New York, which was organized by Klaus Biesenbach, Director, MoMA PS1 and Chief Curator at Large, MoMA. EXPO 1: New York at MoMA PS1 and The Museum of Modern Art was made possible by a partnership with Volkswagen of America.

Rain Room is a large-scale environment of perpetually falling water that ceases to pour whenever a person walks.

Conceived of by the artists Random International, Rain Room is on view courtesy of Yuz Collection who commissioned a site specific installation of 150 sq. meters in response to the vast space of the Yuz Museum. In presenting the most ambitious scale of the work to date, the Shanghai exhibition will have over 50% more capacity than the previous exhibitions.

Extended viewing hours and a “view only” queue where visitors can engage with the installation at very close range but without walking directly below the rain, ensures everyone inspired to visit can experience Rain Room in person.

Rain Room responds to the presence and behaviour of its participants, offering visitors a surreal environment and unique relationship with water. Exploring ecological challenges through art, this presentation of Rain Room also offers another perspective to the multi-layered Yuz Collection and the forthcoming programming of spectacular temporary exhibitions at the Yuz Museum.

After the presentation in Shanghai Yuz Museum, Rain Room will tour China and Asia, starting with Beijing during spring 2016. Rain Room is on view at Yuz Museum, courtesy of Yuz Collection and made possible by a partnership with Volkswagen Group China.

About the exhibition

Dates: Sep 1, 2015 - Dec 31, 2015

Opening: Sep 1, 2015, Tuesday

Venue: Yuz Museum

Courtesy of the artist and Yuz Museum for further information please visit www.yuzmshanghai.org.