PHOTOFAIRS Announces Highlights of Ambitious and Innovative Fifth Edition in Shanghai

5th anniversary demonstrates the importance of photography in China

Provocative Chinese exhibition closed by authorities in 1999 is the inspiration for new Insights exhibition curated by Victor Wang 王宗孚

Shanghai, June 21, 2018:  PHOTOFAIRS today announces key public programming, galleries and artists for its fifth edition in Shanghai. Designed to challenge our understanding of the possibilities of photography. PHOTOFAIRS | Shanghai’s fifth anniversary will be marked by an ambitious Insights exhibition, and a strong focus on artists pushing the boundaries of photography across the Fair’s 50 leading Chinese and international galleries.  Classic masterpieces will be shown alongside contemporary work combining photography with art, sculpture, installation and video.

Widely regarded as Asia Pacific’s leading destination to discover and collect photography from around the world, PHOTOFAIRS | Shanghai will return to the Shanghai Exhibition Center from September 21-23, 2018, with Presenting Partner Porsche (Collectors’ Preview and 5th Anniversary Gala dinner on September 20).

Ground-breaking exhibition given platform in Shanghai

PHOTOFAIRS’ 2018 Public Program will be anchored by its Insights exhibition.  Positioned at the entrance of the Fair, curator Victor Wang (王宗孚) has drawn inspiration from the seminal exhibition, “The Same But Also Changed (物是人非)”, which was closed by Chinese authorities before it could open in 1999.

The original exhibition challenged what was considered ‘contemporary art’ at the time by showcasing different artists’ attitudes to photography. It proved to be a turning point in the Shanghai art scene as it brought together artists who are today recognized as pivotal to the development of Chinese contemporary art, and to the development of a larger artistic network in the region.

Wang’s re-imagining of the 1999 exhibition for Insights will feature original artists including Geng Jiangyi, Liang Yue, Chen Xiaoyun and Yang Zhenzhong, alongside a new generation of image makers.  

Highlights of the exhibition include:

• A site-specific installation using post-it notes printed with photographs by multimedia artist Xu Zhen
• The ‘Postcards’ series by Hu Jieming: digital photographic works in which cut up postcards of
• famous Chinese buildings and resorts are spliced with symbols of everyday life to fabricate new scenes and printed as new postcards
• Curiosity cabinets combining photography, archival images, and text by artist Chen Zhe
• Stills from Yang Fudong’s seminal five-part film, Seven Intellectuals in a Bamboo Forest
• Content Aware, a large-sculptural work by internet artist Miao Ying who is specifically concerned with issues of censorship on the Chinese internet

Wang comments: “I hope to highlight the rich ‘unofficial’ exhibition histories of contemporary art in China, and the role photography and art can play to help illuminate the larger social and cultural landscape of China at that time.”

Talking about the commissioning of the exhibition, Georgia Griffiths, Group Fair Director said: “Insights has always been the thematic centre of the fair.  This year’s exhibition pays homage to an era-defining moment and to artists who changed the conversation around photography in China in the late 1990s.  The exhibition celebrates not only the importance of the artists, but how integral they have been in challenging and developing our understanding of what photography can do beyond the still image.”

Innovative work from leading galleries and significant artists

PHOTOFAIRS | Shanghai will present a rich mix of artists and galleries who challenge the disciplinary boundaries of photography.  Confirmed for 2018 are:

• New for this year, GALLERIA CONTINUA (San Gimignano, Beijing, Les Moulins & Havana) with new work by Belgian visual artist Hans Op De Beeck together with Carsten Höller, Zhuang Hui and Giovanni Ozzola
• ShanghART Gallery (Shanghai, Beijing & Singapore) and Three Shadows + 3 Gallery (Beijing & Xiamen), which have both participated in every PHOTOFAIRS edition, will showcase diverse Chinese talent including Birdhead, Wenhuan Shao, Chen Wei, Kechun Zhang and Renhui Zhao
• A focus on Japanese art will run throughout the Fair. Leading Japanese galleries art space AM (Tokyo), rin art association (Takasaki) and Taka Ishii Gallery (Tokyo & New York) join international and Chinese galleries presenting Japanese artists including Ryusuke Kido (Christine Park Gallery, London & New York), Aki Lumi and Yuki Onodera (Vanguard Gallery, Shanghai) and Daido Moriyama (see + gallery, Beijing)
• New work from Jiang Zhi’s Fade series will be presented by Blindspot Gallery (Hong Kong) alongside Jiang Pengyi
• Chinese artists Hai Bo and Hong Hao will be showcased by Pace Gallery (New York, Palo Alto, London, Paris, Seoul & Beijing)
• Matthew Liu Fine Arts (Shanghai) will return to the Fair with new video works by Yang Yongliang alongside multidisciplinary artists Vik Muniz and Javier Martin who will both present works using collage
• Galerie Thaddaeus Ropac (Salzburg, Paris & London) will debut at the Fair with works from masters of photography Irving Penn, Robert Mapplethorpe and Valie Export