Birds bring forth invisible and irresistible forces
Jiang Pengyi’s solo exhibition “Birds Bring Forth the Sun” at the ShanghART Gallery consists of two parts: the large-format color series “Sun! Sun! ” and the black-and-white series “Gravel Fathoms the Sea.”
“Birds Bring Forth the Sun” is one of the key emotive phrases in the short story “As Birds Bring Forth the Sun” by Canadian novelist Alistair MacLeod.
Similar to MacLeod’s plot, the implicit narrative of the exhibition is also full of invisible and irresistible forces.
In “Sun! Sun!” Jiang continues his experimental exploration on impromptu photography, as well as his exploration over many years of the image of damage and violence.
Born in 1977 in Yuanjiang, central China’s Hunan Province, Jiang graduated from the China Academy of Art, and now lives and works in Beijing.
He prefers to create a kind of surreal spectacle and delicate narration of scenes, through photos and videos, to reveal the barriers and confusion individuals face.
“Gravel Fathoms the Sea” presents the Heigebi (the Black Gobi in Chinese) near Dunhuang with a secret past.
Whether it is the silent icy Gobi in black and white or the sun in extreme color, behind these pure natural objects, there is always the image and the existence of being “human.”
Encountering the moody Gobi and the endless silence behind the burst of sunlight, visitors might be prompted to ask the questions of the weight the human spirit and body can carry.
"Gravel Fathoms the Sea No. 4," black-and-white inkjet print, mounted on aluminium panel
Exhibition info
Dates: Through April 25 (closed on Mondays), 11am-6pm
Address: 1F, Building 10, 2555 Longteng Avenue
