Pékin Fine Arts presents its collaboration with and representation of Zhang Xiao. In his first exhibit with the gallery, Zhang opted to present Shanxi (2009), work rarely exhibited in China, taken using a cheap Hong Kong-made, plastic Holga camera. In Zhang’s view, the HOLGA helps to capture more natural emotions, spontaneous shots, attention to composition, all expressed more directly via low technology.

Shanxi (2009) : Artist Statement:  “This is a surreal world. Some people seem to have dropped from the clouds, appeared from nowhere, so different from the rest of the world. I love them, for what they are at this moment has gone far beyond their own reality or even the era they belong to. In the first lunar month after each Spring Festival, the ordinary villages of Shanxi are bound to become wonderlands. Shehuo (Community’s Fire Festival) and Temple Fair, the archaic customs, occupy the locals for the most of the holiday. The “group sleepwalking” has turn the land into a huge stage. All the bewilderment and helplessness in the reality are totally forgotten. Illusion and absurdity finally meet in real life. I wondered by, took pictures before I knew it, trying my best not to wake them up.

Concurrently at the gallery will be Wang Chuan's solo exhibition: Colorful.

Image: © Zhang Xiao