Upon stepping into the Beijing Times Art Museum in the bustling Wukesong area, visitors may soon feel like they have entered a theme park, ready to be taken on a fun ride by the vibrant, playful work of Australian artist duo Craig & Karl.

Craig & Karl, short for Craig Redman and Karl Maier, kicked off their first museum solo Inside Out in China at the Beijing museum on Friday.

Known for their visually bold, bright, and playful artwork spanning illustration, installation, design and animation, Craig & Karl have been collaborating for decades from their respective bases in New York and London.

Co-produced by the museum and R+ Production, a contemporary art curatorial agency, the exhibition occupies the 2000-square-meter museum space with more than 100 artworks from the pair's recent practice, including multiple brand new pieces, according to curator Wang Jiayi.

Visitors are invited to explore several experiential spaces which each presents a different setting, from the world of the artists' studio to the magic of Chinese architecture, and ultimately into the digital realm.

For example, at Zoom Out, Chinese audiences may be greeted with a sense of familiarity as they gaze at the colorful sculptures of simple shapes—round, square and rectangular. Two forms in traditional Chinese architecture, paifang, or memorial archway gates and stone columns, are featured in this courtyard-esque space.

Here, the audience are also encouraged to share their current emotions by using playful emojis to express themselves, witnessing their chosen symbol come to life on screens throughout the space.

"By fostering this interactive dialogue, Craig & Karl invite viewers to shape the interpretation of the urban landscape, blurring the boundaries between art and viewer in a dynamic and immersive experience," Wang said.

Contrary to presenting gigantic structures on an intimate scale in the Zoom Out space, the Zoom In space scales up objects in the artist's studio, including a mug, a pair of glasses, keys, a pencil and a cellphone, into colossal ones that delude visitors into believing that they have been transformed into tiny beings.

"Through these settings the show sets out to change our perspective on the world around us and provide a sense of wonder into the everyday, bringing surprise and discovery with both wit and an infectious optimism," the curator remarked.

Another highlight of the Beijing show is the second iteration of the duo's popular public installation Mini Golf.

Initially realized and presented in London in 2022, the nine-hole course on display at the Beijing museum is an entirely new design, dominating the nearly 500-square-meter gallery space. With the concept of play central to the artwork, visitors are invited to participate in the installation and play through the course to experience and engage with the artwork up close.

Presiding over the course is a monumental sculpture Duo, a pair of figures of pictogram-simplicity with each surface a collision of colour and patterns. The two adorable figures standing akimbo close to each other are regarded as a facsimile of the duo themselves, highlighting duality as a central theme in the group's ongoing collaborative practice.

Also on display are the duo's signature work, a series of portraits of family, friends and celebrities; Island, a site-specific installation created to celebrate the Year of the Dragon; and Peace, a majestic red sculpture of a peace sign.

The exhibition runs until May 26.

If you go:

10:00-22:00, Monday to Sunday (Admission closes at 21:30)

Beijing Times Art Museum (Northeast corner of Huaxi Live • Wukesong, No. 69, Fuxing Road, Haidian District, Beijing)