A giant paper ball and a map of Beijing made of acrylic were the focus of attention among a mixed crowd of Chinese and foreign art buffs alike at the Friday opening of the exhibition "Dialogues of Space: Expanding between Mexico City and Beijing" at the TJ China Project Room. The artworks are by Maribel Portela and Jorge Ramírez, two Mexican contemporary artists whose works highlight similarities and disparities between the Chinese and Mexican capitals.

"I particularly enjoyed the interaction between the two works and the contrast in terms of media, material and process," said Diana Coca, a Spanish artist and photographer, who attended the exhibition's opening.

"Portela's artwork shows how a material as modest as paper can be transformed into such a visually potent piece. Ramírez's map of Beijing is the opposite - mechanic and precise," she noted.

Portela explores the human transformation of the environment and materials. "This piece could go through a delirious growth," said the 52-year-old artist, explaining that her sculpture Naturaleza Alterada (Changed Nature) can be seen as a metaphor of Sino-Mexican ties.

Ramírez used his talents both as an architect and sound engineer to create his map of Beijing entitled Ciudad Hipertrófica (Hypertrophic City). Experimental music is used in the installation to capture the "demographic explosion and urban growth," according to the artist.

"It's also about the conflict between progress and tradition, and the possibility to create a new model that is not the American or European one," said Ramírez. "The same topics could be used to think about Mexico City."

The TJ China Project Room opened earlier this year, and is the only gallery in Beijing specializing in art from Latin America.

When: Until November 18

Where: TJ China Project Room, 300 Caochangdi Village

Admission: Free

Contact: 1821-0824-074 or visit tjinchina.dinstudio.com