The SURGE affordable art fair returns to Shanghai from September 19 to 22, with a VIP preview from 6-9pm on September 18.

In 2012, 300 works were presented at the inaugural SURGE Shanghai, which was held at the River South Creek Art Center. This year the event moves to a bigger venue, Changde Lu’s 800 Show, with a much expanded program.

SURGE was founded by former Time Out Beijing editor Tom Pattinson in 2006, in response to the sky high prices top Chinese artists were fetching. He says there are several major changes in store for the 2013 event in Shanghai.

“In terms of size it is significantly larger — we have 1,100 works on display over four days,” he says. “The variety of work is therefore larger with a wider range in prices too.”

Performance art and interactive actives are among the additions to this year’s fair. “We also have some ‘conversations’ this year with curators and artists over the event days that the public can join for free,” Pattinson says.

Despite these changes, the price range remains the same, with works available from a few hundred RMB to 30,000RMB ($4,900).

While submissions for the fair were open to the public, a panel of experts culled thousands of works before arriving at the 1,000 works being shown over the weekend.

For the 2013 Shanghai show, the works were selected by experts including Shen Qibin, the founding curator at the Shanghai Himalayas Museum, and art starXu Zhen.

Participating artists include Chang Long, Chen Linggang, Chen Xi, and Liu Aijing.

The SURGE fairs have enjoyed rapid growth in recent years, expanding to Hong Kong, Taiwan, and now Chengdu, where the fair will take place from October 1to 5. SURGE has also built up a considerable database of artworks that can be browsed and bought online.

SURGE Art takes place 10am-8pm from September 19 to 22 at 800 Show, 800 Changde Lu, near Wuding Lu, Shanghai.