Yan Cheng and Yan Changjiang
Yan Cheng and Yan Changjiang
m97 Gallery is pleased to present "Theme: Park", two black-and-white solo
photography exhibitions by Yan Cheng and Yan Changjiang. Yan Cheng's series of
photographs titled "Echo" is a still reflection on the time-worn amusement parks in
China's rust-belt city of Shenyang. Yan Changjiang's series "Zoo at Night" captures
the freedom and confinement of wild creatures roaming the darkness in an animal park
on the outskirts of Guangzhou. Without focusing on the public, both bodies of work
are explorations of man-made public space, theme-park-like creations for human
entertainment, human consumption, and human escape.
Yan Cheng's "Echo" photographs are a meditation of silence in the city, an urban
playground, void of people. The rusted rides and roller coasters somehow embodying
the innocence of the children that once played upon them. Evoking a sense of
nostalgia through his photographs, Yan Cheng's "Echo" series is a testament to the
passage of time and the ever-changing pleasures and pastimes of modern society. Now
replaced by internet bars, video games, and a barrage of electronic and virtual
entertainment, "Echo" asks the viewer to consider the notion of innocence lost and
to ponder the profundity that can be found in something as simple as a day at the
park.
Yan Changjiang's "Zoo at Night" photographs depict animals on display and others
roaming the darkness within the confines of a nighttime zoo. Giraffes juxtaposed
with light poles, flamingos under floodlights, antelope running across paved paths.
Yan Changjiang's photographs attain a "magical realism" through his use of lighting
as well as the exotic creatures that become his suburban subjects. In the end, the
metaphor of his work implies that we the viewers are just as much the animals on
display, at times running wildly through the night, at times looking for respite
from the glare of the artificial street lights, all within the boundaries of our own
theme park.
m97 Gallery
No. 97 Moganshan Road 2F - Shanghai
Free admission