On September 17th during Asian week in New York, Chambers Fine Art will open to the public in spacious new premises at 210 Eleventh Avenue. Chambers Fine Art, a partnership between Jerry Chen, owner of Art of Chen in Taipei, and Christophe W. Mao is named after the distinguished British architect, Sir William Chambers who, in addition to his architectural practice, was a leading exponent of Chinese principles in garden design. The Pagoda in Kew Gardens is one of his most celebrated works in the Chinese style.

Well known for his expertise in Chinese furniture and decorative arts, Jerry Chen will be using the new gallery space for the display of furniture of the late Ming and early Qing dynasties as well as the scholar's objects that he finds on his frequent travels to Mainland China.

Born in China, Christophe W. Mao has a wide knowledge of the contemporary art world in China and will be introducing to New York the work of some of the most promising young artists in China as well as selected examples of works by the first generation of avant-garde artists.

Located in the heart of Chelsea, the new gallery will thus be a showcase for the best of the old and the new, breaking down the barriers that exist between the traditional arts of China and the activities of a younger generation of artists, frequently born during or immediately after the Cultural Revolution. The furniture will be displayed in the kind of wide-open space generally reserved for paintings and installations, emphasizing the sculptural qualities of objects that can also be used in daily life, while the contemporary works will benefit from the proximity of more traditional forms of Chinese artistic expression.

The first exhibition - Approaching China - is devoted to furniture of the late Ming and early Qing periods as well as a collection of scholar's objects. This will be followed in November by the first exhibition in New York of the work of Lu Shengzhong.