M97 Gallery is one of the first photography galleries established in Shanghai and one of the largest of its kind in China. M97 Gallery is an independent photographic art gallery that represents a range of important Chinese and international emerging and established artists. Founded in 2006 by Steven Harris, M97 is dedicated to promoting the understanding and appreciation for the art of photography in China across all genres of the medium and it now represents over 30 artists.
This year Steven Harris has selected works under the theme “Natural Re-Visions”. The booth presented four contemporary photography artists from China: Adou (Leaves of Grass series), Han Lei (Lenticular / Suzhou Bonsai series), Shao Wenhuan (Indefinite mixed media series) and Wang Ningde (‘Watermark’ from “Form of Light” series). “The idea of the presentation is that all four artists are in some way trying to both ‘revise’ photography and re-envision photography in new forms. The natural aspect alludes to the fact that this is both a natural occurrence in photography and art where the artists naturally desires to find new breakthroughs and possibilities in re-envisioning their medium and also (co-incidentally) the 4 artists are all working in themes of “nature” or the natural world, water, landscape, trees, etc,” says Steven Harris.
The three exhibited works of Wang Ningde deserve a special mention. This Chinese artist started working on the Form of Light series two years ago, following his own intellectual curiosity about language and about photography as a means of expression. With the purpose of distilling the essence of the image, Wang Ningde uses photographs of simple images (waves, trees, clouds) to then subject their paper representation to a meticulous process of measuring, cutting and installing in order to filter and project the image through light and shadow.
FAIR
Paris Photo 2015
12 to 15 November 2015
Grand Palais
Paris
France
http://www.parisphoto.com/fr
http://www.m97gallery.com
