A steamy sampling of Chinese art

"This particular collection of artists as a whole encompasses a large part of what Chinese contemporary art is about today, with a wide range of very high-quality artwork."

The exhibition addresses three central themes: image and identity, the environment and politics, and the reinterpretation of traditional Chinese art forms.

Liu Bolin, whose works appear in a companion exhibition at the museum titled The Invisible Man, explores political and environmental issues in oblique and subtle ways.

Liu has previously painted himself in a backdrop of the Yellow River, which has in recent years been deeply polluted by industrialization.

Fourteen of his works are on display at BMAC; Klein also assisted in coordinating that exhibition.

BMAC's interactive Ticket Gallery will feature a hands-on installation in which visitors will be able to camouflage themselves into various backgrounds.

Hot Pot also showcases various artists who reinterpret and reference work that has come before, in a tradition that is integral to Chinese culture.

Although many of the artists currently at BMAC are household names in China, they are virtually unknown in the Western market.

"In the US audiences are definitely under-educated," Klein says. "I think most people don't have any conception of Chinese art, which is understandable.

"China's far away, and it's a relatively new scene. But I think it's inevitable that the understanding of Chinese contemporary art will continue to proliferate through the US."