Art Gallery in Scardale

Zhang Huan
"To Add One Meter to an Anonymous Mountain" 1995
Photograph
27 x 40"

“CHINA HERE AND NOW”February 29 – April 5, 2008
Madelyn Jordon Fine Art is pleased to present the first exhibition and sale of important contemporary Chinese photography in Westchester, entitled “China Here and Now.” The exhibit includes works by some of China’s most renowned artists, including Hong Hao, Rong Rong, Wang Jinsong, Wang Qingsong, Zhang Dali, Cang Xin and Zhang Huan. This groundbreaking exhibition, “China Here and Now” opens on Friday, February 29 from 6-8pm, and will be on display through Saturday, April 5, 2008. A gallery lecture by independent curator, Taliesin Thomas, Director ART ASIA will take place on Wednesday, March 5th at 7pm at the gallery (free and open to the public).

Chinese contemporary artists have a compelling story to tell. Layered, enticing, and provocative, Chinese contemporary art has exploded on to the international art scene with vision and vigor. From biennales to art galleries to the dramatic pauses between leading auction sales, contemporary Chinese art is infusing the global art market with its unique psychology, all while China leads the globe into the twenty-first century with magnanimous growth on all fronts.

Photography has traditionally been used as way of recording important rites of passage in Chinese society - the individual as a baby, the individual with parents, with siblings, with members of extended family, or with participants in some collective event. During the tumultuous years of the Cultural Revolution photography lost its right as a means of capturing such unique moments among family and friends. During that time photos were used for strict propagandist purposes and unofficial photography for remembrance sake was considered unacceptable.

Over the last thirty years this situation has completely reversed. With a rousing new sense of freedom at their fingertips, contemporary Chinese artists have transformed the medium of photography from a stationary form of documentation to an outright colorful and risqué expression of the times. Chinese artists are boldly turning the lens toward culture itself, capturing the incredible growing pains and dramatic changes taking place in every area of Chinese society.

The work of Rong Rong, as represented by his “Ruin Series”, documents various dilapidated buildings around Beijing and their traces of human occupation. These poetic images of rubble and solitary walls are poignant examples of a lost world. The work of Wang Qingsong, on the other hand, conjures up a fantastical world of myth and innuendo. Using a dynamic combination of documentary, performance, installation, and scroll photography, Wang Qingsong’s lively spectacles expose an array of contradictions that result in the pairing of ancient Chinese civilization with the disposable urges of modern-day development, resulting in condemning and inspirational works. Other rare examples of the innovative use of photography are represented in the exhibition such as the vibrant assemblages of common objects by artist Hong Hao, and the humorous tongue portraits of artist Cang Xin. It is evident that Chinese artists have reinvented photography as an unabashed art form, one that dramatically tells the story of China here and now.