New Framework
dal 10/5/2013 al 21/6/2013
Segnalato da
Ai Wei Wei
Gu Zheng
Han Lei
Hong Lei
Jiang Zhi
Liu Zheng
Mo Yi
Qiu Zhijie
Zhang Haier
Zhao Liang
Zheng Guogu
RongRong
10/5/2013
New Framework
Blindspot Gallery, Hong Kong
Chinese Avant-garde Photography 1980s-90s. A group show featuring the major styles and evolving facets of avant-garde photography from the period. This exhibition showcases when Chinese photography developed through the key stages of "New Documentary" photography, conceptual photography and experimental photography.
Curated by RongRong
Featured artists: Ai Wei Wei, Gu Zheng, Han Lei, Hong Lei, Jiang Zhi, Liu Zheng, Mo Yi, Qiu Zhijie, Zhang Haier, Zhao Liang, Zheng Guogu and RongRong
Blindspot
Gallery
is
proud
to
present
“New
Framework:
Chinese
Avant-‐garde
Photography
1980s-‐90s”
in
mid-‐May,
a
group
show
featuring
the
photographic
works
of
Ai
Wei
Wei,
Gu
Zheng,
Han
Lei,
Hong
Lei,
Jiang
Zhi,
Liu
Zheng,
Mo
Yi,
Qiu
Zhijie,
Zhang
Haier,
Zhao
Liang,
Zheng
Guogu
and
RongRong
from
the
1980s
to
1990s.
Curated
by
artist
and
curator
RongRong,
the
exhibition
will
take
place
at
both
Blindspot
Gallery
in
Central
and
Blindspot
Annex
in
Wong
Chuk
Hang.
From
the
1940s
to
the
Cultural
Revolution
in
the
1970s,
photography
in
China
was
limited
to
official
media
and
private
family
portraits.
The
revolution
of
Chinese
photography
only
began
in
the
1980s
with
the
birth
of
the
New
Wave
art
movement,
China’s
economic
development,
and
the
influx
of
Western
ideology
from
the
country’s
opening.
From
the
1980s
to
1990s,
Chinese
photography
developed
through
the
key
stages
of
“New
Documentary”
photography,
conceptual
photography
and
experimental
photography.
This
exhibition
showcases
the
major
styles
and
evolving
facets
of
avant-‐garde
photography
from
the
period.
The
title
“New
Framework”
denotes
how
these
Chinese
photographers
used
the
medium
to
establish
a
new
visual
framework
outside
of
the
academia
and
institutions,
and
to
create
artworks
that
resonate
with
experimentalism.
“New
Documentary”
photography
was
one
of
the
axises
of
Chinese
photography
in
the
1980s.
During
this
period,
documentary
photography
was
no
longer
limited
to
documenting
reality,
as
artists
transcended
the
social
criticism
in
early
documentary
photography
and
set
out
to
convey
their
subjectivities.
The
black
and
white
photographic
works
of
Gu
Zheng,
Han
Lei,
Mo
Yi
and
Zhang
Haier
fall
into
this
category.
The
artists
captured
the
cityscapes
or
the
individual
experience
in
the
city
on
snapshots,
as
the
images
embody
both
documentation
and
echoes
of
conceptual
photography.
In
the
mid-‐1990s,
experimental
art
and
experimental
photography
came
to
prominence.
The
photographic
works
from
this
period
fuse
such
elements
as
installation,
staged
photography,
performance
to
highlight
the
conceptual
and
experimental
nature
of
the
creation.
The
black
and
white
and
color
images
of
Ai
Wei
Wei,
Hong
Lei,
Qiu
Zhijie,
Jiang
Zhi
and
Zheng
Guogu
are
representative
works
of
this
stream.
The
establishment
of
East
Village
in
the
1990s
was
another
key
stimulus
to
experimental
photography.
The
artists
based
in
the
East
Village
used
the
photographic
medium
to
record
and
participate
in
performance
art.
East
Village
by
RongRong
is
one
of
the
major
photographic
works
from
this
period.
Curator
RongRong
voyaged
into
experimental
photography
in
the
1990s
and
was
an
active
presence
in
the
East
Village,
the
cradle
of
Chinese
experimental
art.
In
the
mid-‐1990s,
RongRong
co-‐founded
the
New
Photo
magazine,
the
first
independent
conceptual
photography
magazine
in
China,
with
Liu
Zheng.
New
Photo
published
an
eclectic
selection
of
conceptual
photographic
works
by
artists
who
emerged
in
the
1980s
and
1990s,
including
most
of
the
works
featured
in
this
exhibition.
With
his
wife
and
artistic
partner
inri,
RongRong
founded
the
Three
Shadows
Photography
Art
Centre
in
2007
for
promoting
the
development
of
Chinese
photography.
Image: RongRong, East Village 1994 No.28, 1994. Gelatin silver print 61 x 50.8 cm / 61 x 50.8 厘米, Edition of 10
For
enquiries
and
media
interviews,
please
contact
Ms.
Lesley
Kwok
at
2517
6238
or
by
email
info@blindspotgallery.com
Opening Reception: 11.5.2013, Saturday at 4 - 6 pm
Blindspot Annex - Guided tour by curator at 3 - 4pm
Blindspot Gallery, 24-26A, Aberdeen Street, Central, Hong Kong
&
Blindspot Annex, 15/F, Po Chai Industrial Building, 28 Wong Chuk Hang
Opening hour: Tue – Sat 11am – 7pm
Admission Free