Crossover Photography: Tradition Refreshed
Curator: Zhang Li
Artists: Dong Wensheng, Yan Feng, Han Lei, Hong Lei, Liu Lihong, Luo Yongjin, Birdhead, Wang Ningde, Yang Yongliang, Zhao Liang
The classical period has seen Chinese people taking themselves as the center of the world, but as the world gets increasingly open, a trend since modern times, and globalization begins to sweep the world, this mentality is loosing its backing. In our current context, scholars and pioneers in different fields are now engaged in looking for answers to questions like how to reevaluated our cultural identity, how to adjust to the changes, both domestic and abroad, how to embrace the world prudently and on equal terms, and how to relate ourselves to the world so as to rebuild commonly identified cultural confidence, etc.
To Chinese people, history is religion, but in the current context, we have to be open-minded in reviewing our history and tradition, if we want to rebuild our culture. Referring to the accumulation of civilization, the evolution of visual art in particular, we can find that it is of primary importance for our contemporary artists to follow the contemporary logic when reviewing our tradition, and at the same time, to bring forth new ideas on the basis of heritage. These contemporary artists, embracing our tradition from a pluralistic perspective and with a open mind, do not copy or simply borrow something from the tradition, and neither do they follow the traditional form blindly. They have made great contribution to the self-innovation of contemporary cultural spectacles and the enrichment of the cultural connotations by penetrating the depth of traditional art and connecting and fusing it with modern social concepts and ideology.
This exhibition is intended to give a platform to these artists, who, young or middle-aged, all play an active role in contemporary photography. Some of them are dedicated to the intensive study and the interpretation of our classical tradition, some take advantage of their affinity with classical artists in terms of working manner, and some succeed in marrying the form and essence of the classical tradition with different media. No doubt their effort to transfer, graft and update the traditional form has given new impetus to traditional art and turned it into a significant part in the construction of our contemporary culture. (Author/Zhang Li)
