About Us

Somo Gallery is your window into the world of Chinese contemporary art, and into the "Cultural Evolution" taking place in the largest and most rapidly changing society in the world. We offer you a rare view of China through the eyes of its own artists. Those accustomed to seeing China through the lens of international relations and Western media will find this inside-out view to be surprisingly multifaceted.

As China has risen to prominence on the world stage, Chinese artists have achieved prominence in the global art community. From the revaluation of dynastic masterpieces to millionaire auctions of contemporary pieces, Chinese art has become a major element of world art markets. In spite of the all the buzz, however, access to these works has been limited to exclusive circles of collectors and art world professionals.

Our mission is to connect carefully selected Chinese artists with a broader worldwide audience, provide context and insights into their work, and make these pieces accessible in a high-quality format affordable to anyone who is interested in China and enjoys art. To accomplish this, we work with professional curators, art writers and video producers.

Somo Gallery offers limited edition, museum-quality prints, created with archival-quality pigment inks and 100% cotton rag acid-free paper. Each print is accompanied by a Certificate of Authenticity, personally signed and numbered by the artist. A share of the revenues from each purchase goes directly to the artist.

Our name, SOMO (搜墨), comes from the Chinese characters 搜(sōu), "seek" or "search", and 墨 (mò), "ink". We work with both well established and younger artists. We aim to bring you fresh and interesting creative expressions that both exemplify and provide insights into the "Cultural Evolution" happening in China today.

Behind every piece of art is a tangle of stories, emotions and allusions, all of which originate in the life of an individual artist. We introduce each of our artists video interviews filmed in the artists' studios, as well as biographical essays, CV’s and personal statements. For each artwork, we try to highlight aspects that might easily go unnoticed in the first viewing on a small screen.