“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way.”                                                     
– Charles Dickens

FQ Projects is pleased to present an exhibition with sunshine and poetic feeling: Best of Time, participating artists Dai Mouyu (Shanghai), Guo Peng (Beijing) and Xu Shijun (Hang Zhou).

The recording nature of Photography makes it a medium of storing memories. This exhibition gathers together photographs with much atmospheric feeling but also with a narrative to them, like a performance with nature as the stage, the artist’s point of view as screen play and a coincidental combination of objects.

Dai Mouyu’s photography often offers a ‘story telling’ feel, his images need to be read. His latest work “come and go” are all taken when on journeys. Black and white or colour, elder or child, man or woman, plants or animal… each image has only one character, each work is an unfolding story.

Guo Peng lives in Yunnan and Beijing. Although his works are landscapes but his hand colouring on the silver print emphasizes the time and narrative of the work. Tropical landscapes are dreamlike themselves, plus he paints colour on the sunshine, they are truly splendid to one’s eyes. His works are in three different sizes, interestingly each size provides a different impression to the viewer.

Xu Shijun’s latest work “warmth” captures the last person on the last bus at dawn. The panoramic view of the empty sky and line of buses combining with the warm early morning light turns the image utterly romantic; one feels the nothingness and the beauty of being the only one in the entire universe.

Famous film director Xiaoxian Hou said: “so called Best of Time, is the happiness that is un-retrievable, not as it too beautiful to be missed all the time, on contrary, it is because it has disappeared forever, so one has to call it by memorizing it, thus it becomes the best of time.” We hope you will have some spare time and come to enjoy memorizing these passed moments with us?