[空间]北京圣之空间艺术中心

北京圣之空间艺术中心是由湖南美术出版社和上属单位湖南出版投资控股集团有限公司共同成立的集艺术品投资、收藏、推广为一体的艺术品研究机构，将于2008年5月25日隆重开幕。本中心位于798艺术园区的核心地段，主体建筑由著名建筑设计师王晖先生设计，展厅面积800平米。
湖南美术出版社是较早推出中国当代艺术家精品画册的美术出版机构，自80年代中期以来陆续推出了大量关于现当代艺术的研究系列丛书。不仅开启了中国当代艺术学术研究的出版先河，同时也有效的推动了中国当代艺术的学术标准和评价体系的建立。 
圣之空间艺术中心凭借湖南美术出版社良好的历史及人脉的资源，以及湖南出版投资控股集团有限公司大力的资金支持，在经营模式上强调以学术研究、艺术展览为其核心内容。延续以往图书出版的当代艺术的推广路径，触及当代艺术的发生现场，深化服务意识，为中国当代艺术的发展脉络作出文献性的梳理和记录。
本艺术中心的目标是打造 “非美术馆的美术馆”。从学术立场上，以中国建国以来的艺术思潮及艺术样式为主要的研究对象，建立一个系统的收藏板块。从公共教育的立场上，本艺术中心在推出精心准备的艺术展览的同时，将配合自身良好的出版渠道，为全世界范围内的公众提供有关中国当代艺术的发展资讯。同时，本中心将陆续推出一系列学术交流活动，邀请不同国家、不同背景的艺术家及艺术理论工作者参与我们的研究，使艺术的问题在一个开放性的国际化的平台上展开。以此来共同见证中国当代艺术的繁荣与发展。

SZ Art Center in Beijing is an independent organization engaged in art investment and collection founded by the Hunan Publishing Investment Holding Group and its subsidiary, Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House, with start-up capital of RMB 200 million. SZ Art Center was founded in September 2007, and construction is entering its final stages. The first exhibition at the SZ Art Center will open on 25 May 2008. The space, designed by the eminent architect Wang Hui, covers 800 square meters in a prime position within Beijing’s 798 Art District.
SZ Art Center is engaged in academic research and art documentation, as well as exhibitions devoted to the authentic record of the development of contemporary Chinese art. SZ is dedicated to the contemporary mode of art management and promotion exemplifying the ‘non-museum museum’. Research at SZ Art Center focuses on art trends and modalities since the birth of the People’s Republic, drawing on the totality of the nation’s archives and publishing resources to furnish the Chinese public with open education and information on Chinese modern and contemporary art. SZ Art Center is dedicated to inviting international artists and theorists from different backgrounds to participate in our research and activities to unfold art issues from an open international platform.
Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House has emerged as a major player in the art and publishing world since China’s reform and opening were initiated in the 1970s and, in the promotion of contemporary art, this publisher outstrips rivals   in this country as the earliest, most heavily invested and most dedicated academically.
Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House has produced high quality catalogues of contemporary Chinese artists, achieving breakthroughs not only in editing and design, but has also become China’s leading edge in the field through its cooperation with top production organizations in print and binding.
Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House has produced a number of series of academic volumes on contemporary arts since the 1990s, in addition to its state-of-the art catalogues. In the latter category, The Collection of Wu Guanzhong was honored as the Most Influential National Art Publication in 2007. More importantly, Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House initiates the publication of academic research on contemporary Chinese art and contributes to the establishment of academic standards and the system of genuinely intellectual critique applied to the contemporary art scene.   
Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House, beyond its publishing innovation and development, targets innovation in industrial structure and management modes. The strength of the Chinese art market, combined with advantageous local resources in the art and publication fields, prompted Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House to advance to the next logical stage and establish the SZ Art Center, its brand new management organization in Beijing, the political, economical and cultural center of China.
The architectural orientation of the SZ Art Center conforms to the interior industrial heritage structure of Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House; externally the center presents the market face of contemporary Chinese art.
SZ Art Center is an organic component of Hunan Fine Art Publishing House’s transition in industrial structure and its point of inception dovetails with the contemporary Chinese art scene who see the SZ Art Center as its entrée to a new mode of art management, the museum of the non-museum, as 798 continues to attract global attention as the center of contemporary Chinese art.
‘The museum as non-museum’ will devote greater strength and resources to promoting contemporary Chinese art by steadily developing the organization. SZ Art Center will focus increasingly on previously untouched and untapped art resources, the packaging and promotion of artists, the alignment of art value and market value, and breakthroughs in the usual obstacles presented by copyright management, in order to construct a more open industrial platform.