Yang Fudong
I went to an art exhibition in Copenhagen. It was a wonderful, surprising experience. I am normally not into video installations but here I met an artist, who has entered film and photography from painting with a subtle sense of composing images and who does not refrain from telling stories, in his case from the young China of today. I had never heard about him before: Yang Fudong, who (b.1971) lives and works in Shanghai. Here is a quote from a presentation from the site of ShangART Gallery:
”Yang Fudong’s films and photographs articulate multiple perspectives. His works investigate the structure and formation of identity through myth, personal memory and lived experience. Each of his works is a dramatic existential experience and a challenge to take on. His work is open-ended and inconclusive, therefore open to individual interpretation. Each film and video is about the human condition. He mostly portrays his own generation of individuals in their late 20’s and early 30’s, young people who seem confused and appear to hover between the past and present…”
I saw a short love story, ”Li Lang”, b/w fairy tale style, no words, music from a flute. I saw an 8 screen 11 minutes long Antonioni (L’Avventura)-like film about young rich people in a beautiful landscape near a lake, walking around like they do not know what to do with each other and with Life, title “No Snow on the Broken Bridge” (2006). And I saw a series of photographs that also conveyed a decadence with a glimpse of irony: “Seven Intellectuals in Bamboo Forest”.
His works travel all over. In Copenhagen the exhibition is open until October 26.
http://www.shanghartgallery.com/galleryarchive/artists/name/yangfudong
