Teller’s compositions remove the artifice between the subject and photographer. He uniformly captures all his subjects, from landscapes to his family to supermodels, with an unapologetically gritty style. The artist’s raw and unrefined approach to photography has also served as an influence to major commercial photographers.

In Teller’s photographs of chef Antonio Guida’s extravagant menu at Hotel Il Pellicano on the Tuscan coast in Porto Ercole, Italy, the decadent dishes present a level of culinary opulence bordering on the grotesque. They represent the luxury associated with the act of transforming the consumption of food—a basic necessity of life— into a lavish and over-the-top experience. The Hotel Il Pellicano images also mark the first occasion Teller used a digital camera in his oeuvre, allowing him to get closer to the subject matter.

While Teller’s glistening photographs conjure desire, Xiang’s sculptures convey starkly contrasting emotions. These nude, and often hairless female figures are stripped away of the stereotypical markers of physical attractiveness; they are symbolic for the artist of an existential state of being that is unaffected by the maledominated world. Her sculptures presented at Lehmann Maupin examine the ‘body’ as a medium, specifically its misinterpretation in our culture. Overall Xiang’s work is a representation of a psychological state of being and serves to convey her subjective point of view on the world. Rendered in painted fiberglass or marble, her sculptures are not self-portraits or images of actual individuals, but are intended to portray familiar internal emotions, such as loneliness or vulnerability. As historically there has not been a large-scale feminist movement in China, Xiang approaches her work with a conscious female perspective and sensibility, using the female figure to go beyond gender politics to communicate universal human conditions.

About Juergen Teller

Juergen Teller (b. 1964, Erlangen, Germany) studied at the Bayerische Staatslehranstalt für Photographie in Munich before moving to London in 1986. Recent solo exhibitions include MACHO, DESTE Foundation, Athens (2014); Woo!, Institute of Contemporary Art, London (2013); Irene Im Wald, The Journal Gallery, Brooklyn (2012); The Girl With the Broken Nose, Palazzo Reale, Milan (2012); Man with Banana, Dallas Contemporary, Texas (2011); and Touch Me, at Daelim Museum, Korea (2011) and Le Consortium, Dijon (2010), among others. Teller was the recipient of the 1993 Photography Prize at Festival de la Mode, Monaco, and the 2003 recipient of the Citibank Photography Prize in association with the Photographer’s Gallery, London. In 2007, Teller represented the Ukraine as one of five artists in the 52nd Venice Biennale. His work is included in numerous collections around the world, including the Fondation Cartier pour l’art contemporain, Paris; International Center for Photography, New York; Pinchuk Art Centre, Kiev; and the Victoria & Albert Museum, London, among others. The artist lives and works in London, England.

About Xiang Jing

Xiang Jing was born in Beijing, China in 1968, where she continues to live and work. She graduated from China Central Academy of Fine Arts in 1995, and Xiang founded the Sculpture Department at Shanghai Normal University, where she taught from 1997 to 2007. Xiang has had solo exhibitions at Museum of Contemporary Art Taipei (2013); Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai (2012); Today Art Museum, Beijing (2012); Tang Contemporary Art, Beijing (2008); and the Shanghai Art Museum, Shanghai (2006). Xiang’s works are included in numerous international collections including the Today Art Museum in Beijing, the Shanghai Art Museum, and the Chazen Museum of Art in Madison, Wisconsin.