MOUNTAIN，WATER AND CITY

A Cognitive Experiment Related to the Hometown: Mountains, Waters, and Cities

Mountains are on four sides of my hometown.

We live in the city,

with water in the midst.

Mountains, rivers and sea

make the land of Fujian.

Fujian is the hometown of many overseas Chinese. Over the past two hundred years, numerous locals have left and return. Some left but never came back. In ancient times, this place is called the Kingdom of Minyue. It is surrounded by mountains on four sides, with a well-developed water system and the sea on the east side. Encircled by mountains and overlooking the sea is the city where we live.

The exhibition has invited six young artists. In addition to the themed works "Min City" and "Min Mountain" by three featured artists, each artist will present a commissioned work after the theme of Water and Hometown. In a language of hydrology, they work together to connect the memory covering 120,000 square kilometers. While bringing artworks, they also devote themselves into this cognitive experiment about their hometown.

In addition to photos, related installation works, art performances and prints will also be presented. We hope to provide the viewers with a comprehensive experience beyond the two-dimension. Parallel to the exhibition, a host of workshops on various themes, including Zine making, urban exploration, silkscreen block printing and more will inspire a wider audience to participate.

Article: Zhou Xiaodeng

Photos: Artists

artist

Zhang Yu

Born in 1990 in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, China, now lives in Tokyo, Zhang Yu graduated from Tianjin Academy of Fine Arts with a B.A. in photography in 2013. In 2018, he graduated from Photo Art Department, Torihara Manabu Laboratory of Nippon Photography Institute, and received the Graduation Exhibition Award in the same year. In 2020, he graduated from the Photography Department of Musashino Art University and Kobayashi Norio laboratory in 2020 and received the Graduation Exhibition Award in the same year. In 2017, he was involved in finallist for the 6th Hou Dengke Documentary Photography Award. In 2018, he was awarded the 19th Photo "1_WALL" Suzuki Risaku Prize, and joined TAP Gallery in the same year. In 2019, he founded the BANSHAN Gallery. As a curator, he directed the “Hide-And-Seek” series. Zhang Yu now lives in Tokyo, having works exhibited in Japan, China, France and the United States.

artist

Liang Tingwei

Born in Harbin, Heilongjiang Province, now lives in Shanghai, Liang Tingwei graduated from Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design, majoring in contemporary art. His art practices span sculpture, experimental installation, painting and video, often exploring the beast and divinity in human nature. His works have entered institutional collections of the Poly Museum (China), ODE TO ART (Singapore) and Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design (UK).

Exhibitions and events include the auction sales of Chaos at the contemporary art session of Poly fall sales, Beijing, China, 2018; the sales event at Affordable London Art Fair UK, 2017; the “American Dream” exhibition, British Museum, London, UK, 2017 and “This Is An Art School·I”, Tate Modern, London, UK, 2017.

artist

Liao Zekai

Born in 1995 in Xiamen, Fujian Province, Liao Zekai graduated from the Photography Department of University of the Creative Arts in 2018 with a Master's degree in Photography. He is currently a member of the faculty teaching photography at Xiamen Institute of Technology. Liao Zekai's works center on monochrome photography, focusing on the conflict and fusion between natural environment and contemporary human landscapes.

Solo exhibitions include “Into the Mountain: Solo Exhibition of Liao Zekai” by Three Shadows + 3 Gallery, 2019; "Between the Mountains" by Fotomen Online Gallery, 2020; Silver Award of Features Section at Photo Beijing, 2019; Chongqing Under the Bridge Art Festival 2019: The 1^st HAKUCHI Festival.

artist

Liu Xuyang

Liu Xuyang（Athan Lau）was raised in Gulang Island, now active in London and Beijing, and get engaged in photography and curatorial activities. He is a photography artist and co-founder of Ephemeral Gallery. Master of Photojournalism and Documentary Photography from University of the Arts London. Collaborated with the Victoria and Albert Museum, Visit Britain, The British Army, the Red Dot Design Museum, TED talk and other art institutions. Media collaborations include VICE, China News, the New York Times Travel magazine, Imaginist and the Life magazine, etc.

Xuyang is obsessed with exploring the spiritual connection between futuristic creations and the natives, as well as the individual encounters under the undercurrents of the world. He has curated exhibitions in London, New York and Tokyo, and began working as a photography consultant at Art Amoy since 2020. 

artist

ZHOU ZIJIE

Born in Shenzhen in 1995, lives and works in Shenzhen and Hangzhou, Zhou Zijie graduated from the Affiliated Middle School of Fine Arts, China Academy of Art, and the Department of Environmental Art of China Academy of Art. He is studying for a Master's degree in Film and Video Production and Photo Art at China Academy of Art. He is a co-founder of Biosphere Architectural Photography Studio. His works are based on photo images as media and focus on the relationship between the individual, Genius Loci or The Spirit of Place and existence.

Recent exhibitions and events include “-SCAPES” International Group Exhibition by PH21 Gallery (Budapest, Hungary) in 2019 and "FORM 2019" by CICA Museum (Gimpo, Korea) in 2019. Zhou also participated in the “Lishui Restart” Lishui Photography Festival 2019 (Lishui, China), the "Pop Up" exhibition at the Glasgow Gallery of Photography (Glasgow, UK) and the first "Three Shadows PhoPho Fair" at Three Shadows Photography Art Centre (Beijing, China) in 2019. He was shortlisted for the 10th New Star Art Prize in 2019.

artist

Zeng Zekun

Born in Qingdao, Shandong Province, now lives in Beijing, Zeng Zekun mainly uses landscapes as a medium for visual creation. He is engaged in image collection and research, curation and other artistic activities.

Exhibitions and projects include the work When the River Moon Begins to Shine selected in “Ephemera, London” digital media and photography exhibition by Ephemeral Gallery, London, 2019; the work Leisure Dreams of Clouds and Water collected by the Huangshan Photography Museum, 2018; the work Leisure Dreams of Clouds and Water included and published in the album Walking to the End of the Water by China Photography Press, and won the Outstanding Works Award of the 2nd "Lang Jingshan Cup" at China New Pictorial Photography Biennale 2018; the featured work Rebuilding A Golden Body won the "China on the Move" photography fund, 2013; the featured work Night Island: Qiangdao was exhibited in Lishui Photo Festival and won the Emerging Photographer Award.

curator

Zhou Xiaodeng

born in 1992 in Fuqing, currently base in Fuzhou/ Hangzhou。

Awarded the master degree in Curating and Collections from Chelsea College of Arts, Zhou Xiaodeng now works as a curator and writer. Past exhibition partners include the Oral History Department of British Library and the National Theatre Archive, among others. Curatorial projects contain image, modern painting, Chinese painting and archive, with a number of successful commercial exhibitions as well. She has published over ten papers on topics related to art and exhibition, and currently focuses on the interdisciplinary research on public space and art therapy.