CHEN WEI, "In The Waves #5", 2013, Archival Inkjet Print, 180 x 225cm
Performance and Imagination: Chinese Photography 1911-2014
September 19th, 2014 through January 25th, 2015
Stavanger Art Museum, Stavanger, Norway
Curator: Per Bjarne Boym
Works by Chinese photo artists from every decade of the 20th century are juxtaposed with works from the last five years by ten contemporary photo artists. This extensive exhibition makes its European debut in Stavanger abd offers a glimpse into a rich photographic tradition.
CHEN WEI, "Future and Modern", 2013, Archival Inkjet Print, 64 x 80cm
The exhibition covers a vast time span and focuses on an area which has not yet been researched to any great extent. Rather than providing a comprehensive presentation of Chinese photographic history, the exhibition will aim to boost interest for this rich and interesting material. The exhibition will display works that are largely unknown to a Norwegian (and a European) audience, making the project more tantalizing, but at the same time also more challenging in terms of how to introduce the works to the audience. The exhibition will therefore be accompanied by an extensive catalogue.
CHEN WEI, "Two-Room Apartment", 2013, Archival Inkjet Print, 100 x 125cm
The aesthetic choices in the historical materials has been based on the preference for works that can easily be viewed in connection with different contemporary artistic expressions.
The conceptual framework is implied in the title of the exhibition: ”Performance and Imagination”. The selection of photographs in the exhibition can all be viewed in the framework set by these two words. Some photographs focus on the great importance performance plays in official and private settings, while other photographs appeal to imaginations as expressions of philosophical, political or private yearnings.
