At 16:40 on the afternoon of July 11th, the Chinese Contemporary Photographic Exhibition “The Persistence of Images: 2×6 (Season 2)” was launched at E7 and E9 galleries in Redtory Art & Design Factory. The exhibition was organized by Redtory Culture and Art Organization, curated by Wang Chuan and academically hosted by Lu Mingjun.
This season, the organizer invited two groups of artists, Zhang Chaoyin & Ta Ke, Yao Lu & Hong Hao. During the opening ceremony, the curator Wang Chuan claimed that the artists with various identities, diverse generations, different or even opposite views on photography, they repeatedly pursued and inquired upon the core of photography and images in their respective positions. They "persist" but are not " obsessed". Every photographer tries to construct an art world where art never merely considers aesthetics, but also sociology, anthropology, informational media. The results should be more harmonious and inclusive. Contemporary photography has not only the materials, techniques and craftworks, but a language system which will gradually transfer to be a standard.
As one of the most important practitioners in Chinese contemporary photography, Yao Lu and Hong Hao, with the same academic background of Wood Block Printing in the Central Academy of Fine Art, demonstrates to us two diverse artistic forms. Hong Hao integrates Chinese traditional scrolls with his thoughts and feelings about time and combines them with the western photographic medium. Meanwhile, Yao Lu perfectly illustrates the “replacement” of contemporary arts and “masking” of photography by the means of “Landscape Painting of Trash”. Classical structure covered with a contemporary surface indicates traditional plastic art and photographic proficiency, as well as his ideology and methodology originating from the personal culture complex. The works bring us the love and worries of Chinese classical art, and the caution when applying a contemporary visual medium as well.
Professional photographer Zhang Chaoyin, has been engaging in humanistic photography, geographic photography, cultural photography and religious photography. Ta Ke is a young artist roaming around traditional plastic art, new media and diversifying between eastern and western culture. Their dialogue develops from the prominent differences of visual results, but still hold some resemblances. They share the same research and accumulation far beyond photography, the same challenge to photographic materials and the same rigorous use of techniques and qualities. Either discovering the ancient poetry or digging out the secret Tibet, their works consistently tell us that photography is still the most vital way of recognizing the world and inspiring wisdom no matter how time changes.
In the speech, these artists mentioned that despite of their friendship, this exhibition with the "In pairs" presenting method gave their work brand new significance in both form and content. Meanwhile, with the special galleries in Redtory, exhibitions "in pairs" not only helped create conversations between art works, but also made it possible for artists to cooperate and explore more possibilities in photography.
The curator of Redtory Museum of Contemporary Art, Yang Xiao, reviewed the first season of the exhibition “Persistence of Images” which was held in Redtory this April. A hot discussion about the first season has been stirred up within society, which indicates that photography is exactly the closest art medium to the public. The exhibited artworks provide more angles to observe the world, as well as motivating people's curiosity and reexamination to the truth of history, time, space and the environment. The third season of the exhibition “Persistence of Images” will open this September, inviting four artists: Feng Mengbo, Zhang Bo, Liu Zheng and Lu Xiaoben to present their works. It was believed that it would also delight the public to rethink towards our abundant but conflicting, vivid but ridiculous life.
Courtesy of the artists and Redtory Museum of Contemporary Art, for further information please visit www.redtory.com.cn/rednew_en.
