Beijing Dangdai Art Fair 2026 will take place from May 21 to 24 at Hall 11 of the National Agricultural Exhibition Center, with May 21–22 as VIP Preview Days and May 23–24 as Public Days. Under the theme “LAND TRACE,” this year’s edition reawakens local experiences and embodied perceptions from the perspectives of geo-culture and historical geography across multiple contexts, further delineating the detailed landscape of contemporary art at a moment of value reshaping.

We will be releasing a series of posters centered on works featured at the Fair. These works not only offer possible interpretations of and responses to “LAND TRACE,” but also serve as preview highlights of key artworks and participating institutions. The poster shared in this edition features a work from BTAP Space/Tokyo Gallery+BTAP — a series by Iranian artist Shahpour Pouyan that fuses Persian architecture with Chinese ceramics.

About the Artwork

Shahpour Pouyan
The First Brick
High-fried terracotta
2022
Variable sizes

©Courtesy of the artist and BTAP Space/Tokyo Gallery+BTAP

The First Brick is a significant installation series by Shahpour Pouyan, featuring sculptures crafted from a diverse range of clay materials, including vintage scraps, iron oxides, and synthetic white plastic clay. Pouyan drew inspiration from early Iranian Zoroastrian fire temples, whose architectural forms—composed of simple arches and domes—represent the most fundamental structural logic of building. Each piece in The First Brick presents a stripped-back and primordial architectural form, returning to the very foundations of construction.

Pouyan’s ceramic practice is deeply shaped by his formative experience studying under master ceramicist Guangzhen “Gary” Zhou in San Jose, California. In 2013, to realise his project PTSD, Pouyan relocated to California and spent six months working in Zhou’s studio, where he developed his ceramic techniques and completed the project under Zhou’s guidance. His ceramic works are also profoundly informed by geometry—an interest that extends into architecture, particularly the rich tradition of sacred geometry in Persian architecture. For Pouyan, architecture is grounded in the fundamental principles of mathematics, geometry, and gravity. This dense and symbolic visual language offers him a reliable framework through which to engage with the ideas that matter most.

The sculptures in The First Brick are not conceived as finished objects, but as works in a continuous state of becoming. Pouyan envisions that they may continue to evolve over time through the addition of new layers, whether new rooms, domes, or walls, allowing the work to sustain an ongoing and long-term dialogue with its viewers or custodians.

About the Artist

Portrait of Artist
©Courtesy of the artist and BTAP Space/Tokyo Gallery+BTAP

Shahpour Pouyan (b. 1979, Isfahan, Iran) grew up during the Iran-Iraq War; as the son of a military officer, his formative years were spent living within a military base in Isfahan. He holds an MFA in Integrated Practices and New Forms from Pratt Institute, New York, and an MFA in Painting from the Tehran University of Art. Currently, he lives and works between London and Tehran. His multifaceted intellectual background includes studying Neoplatonist philosophy at the Iranian Institute of Philosophy, as well as holding a diploma in Mathematics and Physics from Elmiyeh School in Tehran. From 2007 to 2009, he shared his expertise as a lecturer in Art History and Persian Architectural History at the University of Science and Culture in Tehran.

Pouyan’s practice spans painting, sculpture, and ceramics, guiding viewers through a profound exploration of history, power dynamics, and the shadows of war, while addressing urgent global issues. His ceramic works are widely regarded as “Sculptures of Thought.” Beyond their intellectual rigor, his pieces are celebrated for their technical virtuosity and the innovative application of the ceramic medium. His creations are the culmination of extensive experimentation and long-term research into materiality, form, and color, breathing contemporary vitality into historical elements within the realm of modern ceramics.

Pouyan’s work has been widely exhibited at prestigious institutions and events, including the Islamic Arts Biennale,  Frist Museum, (Nashville, U.S.), Museum Dhondt-Dhaenens (Belgium), and Tokyo Gallery + BTAP (Japan). His work is held in numerous major international collections, including the Fondation Villa Datris (Paris), the Cincinnati Art Museum (Ohio), the British Museum (London), the Farjam Collection (Dubai), the Metropolitan Museum of Art (New York), the Omer Koç Collection (Istanbul), and the Victoria and Albert Museum (London).