Artist Chen Shaoxiong’s ‘The Views’ opens at Tang Contemporary in Beijing – Exhibition

Tang Contemporary Art will host a collection of new works by Chinese artist Chen Shaoxiong, opening at its 798 District gallery space in Beijing on October 29, 2016. The exhibition, entitled ‘The Views,’ presents nearly a dozen photographic works from the series ‘Collective Memory,’ as well as large video installation for which the exhibition is titled. For ‘Collective Memory’ Chen Shaoxiong invited ordinary viewers to contribute to scenes of famous public cultural institutions. In a process blurring the line between darkroom and painting studio, participants’ fingerprints replaced developing chemicals to complete the architectural images.

The artist selected internationally renowned museums such as the Louvre, MOMA, and the Tate for the project. Not only do these institutions constitute evocative urban architectural structures, but they have also become important sites in the cultural lives of the cities they inhabit. Significantly, their elitist origins have been dismantled through re-definition as landmarks owned by a broader public. The collaboration of this public in the production of this series constitutes a “collective recollection” of a shared living environment. The “democratization of image culture and intellectual production” through public participation has been at the heart of Chen’s recent work.

Date: October 29 – December 1st, 2016
Location: Tang Contemporary Beijing, Gate No. 2, 798 Factory, Jiuxianqiao Road, Chaoyang District, Beijing
Link: Tang Contemporary, The Views