Weng Peijun (Weng Fen) & Yang Yong at Art Statements Gallery

Tuesday, 14 November 2006 23:23

Hong Kong - All major cities in Mainland China are facing and dealing with urbanization and globalization one way or the other, and the country's rapid social and economic changes are influencing and inspiring many contemporary Chinese artists working nowadays.  Although, on the surface, Weng Peijun (Weng Fen) and Yang Yong's photographs may seem rather different in terms of their settings and style, their subject matters are the reflection of these issues and are undoubtedly evident in their works; both of them have certainly captured not the obvious, but the essence of these profound changes through their lenses.  On exhibit until 31 December, 2006.

The transitional phases and changes in China since its opening up in the 1980's, both physically and emotionally, have been the source of inspiration for Weng Peijun (Weng Fen) and his work.  In his earlier series 'Sitting on the Wall' and 'Bird's Eye View', Weng's epic images focus on the upraising of urbanism in cities such as Haikou, Shanghai and Shenzhen.  His subjects start out as outsiders looking into this overwhelming transformation with anticipation, fear and curiosity to being in the centre of it all. Weng then follows and evolves inwardly, shifting his attention from physical changes to emotional and spiritual transformations, from urban cities to rural countries, exploring the possibility of finding an otherworldly utopia, a place that may have existed all along in our hearts and minds, in our memories and those innocent times, which results in the acclaimed 'Staring at The Sea' series.

This exhibition will present Weng's stunning and breath-taking new series, 'Staring at The Lake', for the first time internationally. All images in this series are taken in England's Lake District and represent a new beginning in his search of the imaginable utopia.  Weng once again evolves from his subject matters, tackling the issues of traveling, migration and globalization affecting China and its people with the same sensibility and precision shown in his previous works.