Jeudi 17 Septembre 2015 10:35:29 par Myriam Boudjemia dans Expositions

This is the artist’s first exhibition at M97.

Spanning the entire gallery space, Shan Wenhuan’s "And All The Sounds Are Still" exhibition features new painting and photographic works on canvas and silk, as well as small installation and video works. In this now post-analog era where the ubiquity of images and photography makes us question the uniqueness of photography, the viewer is forced to reassess and reevaluate what it is that we consider a photograph or photographic art. The mixed media artworks of Shao Wenhuan address this continuing dialogue head on with both an embracement and subversion of the core elements of what most consider “photographic”. Shao’s artworks would argue, it seems, that the very delicate, controlled nature of what we consider a photograph is absurd in this post-analog age.

And All the Sounds Are Still features new painting and photographic works on canvas and silk, as well as installation and video works. These new works include mixed media installations exploring the ephemeral nature of the photographic image and material, as well as new multi-panel paintings/photographs on silk. Inspired by an ongoing interest and exploration into the nature of darkroom chemistry and processes, and following his studies in painting and mixed media at the Hangzhou Fine Arts Academy, Shao’s works in form and material express both an embracing search for roots in Chinese traditional aesthetics while challenging the viewer’s ability to accept and comprehend them in a cruder perhaps post-modern China.



In the main gallery space, Shao presents a combination of new 7-panel hand painted photographs printed on silk as well as earlier works such as his highly acclaimed “Indefinite” series as well as a never before exhibited selection of works from his “International Travelers” series. Paper, canvas, silk, all become Shao’s material of choice, though material is not the artist’s utmost concern. “My photographs are not about moments or ‘instants’ and the objects or material is not the most important. It’s the spirit of the work, that matters,” Shao says. “Time is relative and goes in cycles. My work is a return to some spiritual source or roots … perhaps silence or contemplation or cultural exploration …”.

Shao Wenhuan’s artworks argue and dialogue not only with history and culture, but also the nature of photography, painting and other materials and the perception of the medium itself. On both a visual and psychological level Shao’s ‘photographs’ powerfully distort, even so far as to damage the object or appearance, thereby challenging the viewer to look beyond appearances and understand deeper fundamentals of cultural icons, symbolism, and aesthetics. With overtly damaged or corrupted landscapes the viewer is left slightly off-balance when confronting Shao’s artworks, which should otherwise be seen as idealized iconography in Chinese traditional aesthetics. Shao’s mixed media artworks create forceful dichotomies both materially and conceptually, forcing us to accept the fragility and temporality and even decay of the most revered of gardens or Chinese landscapes. Much like 20th century master’s like Sigmar Polke or Anselm Kiefer’s innovative and experimental use of the medium, Shao Wenhuan’s creative process combining photography with mixed media is also an effort to alter reality or cultural norms.