前波画廊是一家致力于推广中国当代艺术的国际性画廊，在纽约和北京均设有分点。画廊由茅为清先生 (Christophe W. Mao) 于2000年在纽约成立。他相信在西方建立一家具有权威性的画廊，提供中国当代艺术发展的信息和展示空间的重要性，并以十八世纪后期英国著名建筑师威∙钱伯斯勋爵 (Sir William Chambers) 的名字为画廊命名，借喻钱伯斯勋爵不仅在建筑设计上独有建树，同时还是首位中国建筑和园林设计观念在西方的重要阐释和推广者。在最初的七年里，前波画廊与吕胜中、洪浩、宋冬和尹秀珍等艺术家合作，举办了他们在美国的首次个展。之后，邱志杰、谭盾、冯梦波等艺术家风格各异的专题展览更为画廊添光增彩。画廊于2009年搬迁至西19街522号，该地区云集众多由世界著名建筑师设计的新建筑，比如弗兰克∙盖里 (Frank Gehry)、坂茂 (Shigeru Ban) 及让∙努维尔 (Jean Nouvel) 等，同时也毗邻由废弃的铁路轨道改建而成的空中花园 (High Line)。十多年已经过去，前波画廊如今已经成为了那些关注中国发展的人们的一个必访之地。
2007年，前波画廊在北京草场地开设了一个新的场地，驻进由著名观念艺术家和建筑设计师艾未未设计的新空间。北京前波画廊的建立不仅完善了我们呈现成熟艺术家作品的模式，又增强了我们发掘新起之秀的能力。在将草场地从北京东北郊的一个村庄改建成主要艺术中心的过程中，艾未未起到了重要得作用。同时他在许多当代建筑项目中也都是中坚力量，例如2004年金华的建筑艺术公园古陶博物馆及目前的Ordos 100项目。前波画廊位于草场地的红房区内，庭院中展示邱志杰、宋冬和尹秀珍及郑国谷的作品，而环绕着庭院的是东西两个大展示空间，及后面一个用于展示录像和装置作品的小空间。如同纽约画廊一样，露天场所被融入进了整个建筑的设计中，为展示装置作品，举办文化、社交活动提供了很大的灵活性。
Chambers Fine Art is a gallery specializing in contemporary Chinese art located in New York and Beijing. It was established by Christophe W. Mao in New York in 2000. Recognizing the need for a gallery that would serve as an authoritative source of information on the latest developments in the rapidly growing contemporary art world in China, Mao named his gallery after Sir William Chambers, the celebrated British architect who was a leading exponent of Chinese principles in garden design in the late eighteenth century. During the first seven years, artists including Lu Shengzhong, Hong Hao, Song Dong and Yin Xiuzhen had their first solo exhibitions in the USA. Since then a younger generation of artists including Wu Jian’an, Zhao Zhao, Fu Xiaotong, and Guo Hongwei has added different perspectives to the gallery profile. Since 2009 the gallery has occupied premises at 522 West 19th Street, a block that is noteworthy for a concentration of new buildings by Frank Gehry, Shigeru Ban and Jean Nouvel as well as proximity to the High Line, the former elevated railway track that has become a much admired public park. Now in its second decade, Chambers Fine Art has become one of the essential destinations for all those interested in the latest and best coming out of China.
In 2007 the opening of Chambers Fine Art Beijing in a building designed by Ai Weiwei greatly expanded the ability of the gallery to represent the work of influential established artists as well as young emerging talents. The transformation of Caochangdi from a village in the north east of Beijing into a major arts center began when Ai built his own studio/house there in 1999 and subsequently designed many other buildings in the area. Chambers Fine Art is located in the Red Brick Art Galleries and is entered through a courtyard which used for the display of sculpture. The courtyard is enclosed by the symmetrical gallery building which consists of two large galleries to the east and west and a smaller gallery to the rear for video, installations etc. As in New York, the incorporation of open space into the design of the building permits an unusual degree of flexibility in the planning of installations, cultural and social events.
