We looked at each other and thought, ah, maybe not. We were literally on our way out when they very kindly said, “You know what, stay. You know the owner.”

Thank goodness we did. Pillars is an amazing space inside the historic Guang’er Warehouse, an old industrial building along the river. The gallery only opened in 2025, and its name comes partly from the extraordinary columns running through the building. It is one of those spaces where the architecture is almost as interesting as the art.

And then we discovered Li Chuangli. Born in Wuhan in 1991, Li Chuangli studied oil painting at Hubei Normal University and graduated in 2014. His work takes images and references from contemporary life, popular culture, advertising, commercial products and social media and turns them into these wonderfully strange oil paintings. There is something familiar about them, but also slightly unsettling. I absolutely loved them.

There was one enormous yellow painting that I completely fell for. It was 50,000 yuan, about RM30,000. Not that I could have afforded it, but it’s always good to dream. And anyway, it was already sold, so clearly it was not meant to be.

They always say with art that it isn’t really about what something costs. It’s about what it is worth to you, what you would pay if you could. And this one was just absolutely beautiful.

And then, of course, there is the Pillars Gallery Shop, which is dangerous in an entirely different way. I bought the most beautiful pair of 3D printed earrings with tiny drops of natural amber hanging underneath. They also had these extraordinary mirrors and a wonderful selection of objects and pieces that felt genuinely different. Not your usual gallery shop.

So what began with us almost walking out because we didn’t want to spend 50 yuan ended with discovering a young Chinese artist whose work I now love, buying a pair of earrings and adding another place to my Shanghai must-visit list.

Pillars Gallery is an absolute must.

Pillars Gallery
Guang’er Warehouse
195 Guangfu Road, Jing’an District, Shanghai