Rockbund Art Museum 上海外滩美术馆

The first exhibition of Barbara Chase-Riboud (b.1939, Philadelphia) in Asia proposes a reassessment of her legacy beyond national or disciplinary boundaries, engaging with the broader discourse of transnational modernism and postcolonial exchange. It also signifies a profound return, nearly 60 years after her transformative visit – an experience that deeply influenced her artistic vision.

Chase-Riboud is an internationally celebrated sculptor, novelist, and poet, renowned for her radical fusion of cast bronze or aluminum with supple materials like wool and silk. Barbara Chase-Riboud returns to China foregrounds her momentous 1965 journey on which she accompanied her spouse the renowned French photographer Marc Riboud, re-examining how this encounter with a revolutionary political landscape reshaped the Black American artist’s conceptual and material strategies. Confronting the ideological weight of Maoist China’s vision, Chase-Riboud interrogated the nature of commemoration, drawing from Buddhist sculpture and ancient Chinese craftsmanship to reimagine the sculptural object. The exhibition will present a selection of her most iconic works, alongside unpublished poetry and archival materials.

Barbara Chase-Riboud returns to China is organized by X Zhu-Nowell, Executive Director and Chief Curator, with the support of Karen Wang, Curatorial Assistant and Researcher.