Closed
19.4 – 20.5 2016
Zhang Kechun:The Yellow River
3–5 Swallow St
Zhang Kechun:The Yellow River
19.04 – 20.05.2016
Closed
Hours
Monday to Saturday
10:00 am – 5:30 pm
Gallery
3–5 Swallow St
London
W1B 4DE
Workers Building Bridge Piers for a High-Speed Railway, Shaanxi, 2011. Zhang Kechun
A Man Standing on an Island in the Middle of the River Shaanxi, China, 2012. Zhang Kechun
The first UK solo exhibition of award-winning Chinese photographer, Zhang Kechun opened at the gallery in April 2016.
Zhang produces epic vistas that dwell on the significance of the landscape in modern Chinese national identity. His first series, The Yellow River, documents the effects of modernisation along the third longest river in Asia. The project took him on a journey along the river from the coastal flats of Shandong to the mountains of Qinghai on a fold-up bicycle, all the time carrying with him a large format Linhof camera.
A Man Standing on an Island in the Middle of the River Shaanxi, China, 2012. Zhang Kechun
Zhang’s second series, Between the Mountains and the Water, continued to explore the relationship between the people and land on which they live and work. Charming scenes include a poster of Chairman Mao attached to a rubber ring floating on a river, surrounded by a group of swimmers, and a gathering of people taking tea in amongst concrete ruins on the riverside.
The Works
14
Zhang Kechun
A Buddha Head in the Mountain
2015
Archival pigment print
Zhang Kechun
Workers Building Bridge Piers for a High-Speed Railway, Shaanxi
2011
Archival pigment print
Zhang Kechun
An Overturned Cement Truck, Qinghai
2011
Archival pigment print
Zhang Kechun
White Deer under a Cooling Tower, Inner Mongolia
2010
Archival pigment print
Zhang Kechun
Men Climbing a Billboard, Qinghai, 2011
2011
Archival pigment print
Zhang Kechun
People doing Morning Exercise under a Dragon Lamp, Gansu, 2011
2011
Archival pigment print
Zhang Kechun
People Drink Tea by the River
2013
Archival pigment print
Zhang Kechun
Sculptures in the Country, Inner Mongolia
2011
Archival pigment print
Zhang Kechun
A Family Spending the Weekend under a Bridge, Shandong, China
2011
Archival pigment print
Zhang Kechun
Lake in the Desert
2014
Archival pigment print
Zhang Kechun
Two Men Painting a House in the River, Gansu
2011
Archival pigment print
Zhang Kechun
People Fishing by the River, Shaanxi
2012
Archival pigment print
Zhang Kechun
A Rockery in the Middle of a Dry Lake, Shandong
2011
Archival pigment print
Zhang Kechun
A Man Standing on an Island in the Middle of the River Shaanxi, China
2012
Archival pigment print
B. China 1980
Biography
Zhang Kechun’s work examines the post-industrial landscape of China. Working with a large-format camera he produces epic vistas that dwell on the significance of the landscape in modern Chinese national identity. In particular, Kechun explores the relationship between the country’s cultural heritage and the effects of modernisation. Kechun’s works are quietly beautiful and hugely atmospheric, using a soft and subtle colour palette. Whilst Kechun imbues the altered landscape of China with a tragic beauty, his photographs also capture the comical moments in people’s everyday lives that he encounters.
Zhang Kechun was born in 1980 in Sichuan, China. His work has been exhibited at Photoquai, Paris, the Beijing Photo Biennale, China and the Delhi Photo Festival, India. Kechun won the Discovery Award at Les Rencontres d’Arles for The Yellow River in 2014. He won the National Geographic Picks Global Photo Contest in 1998 and was shortlisted at the World Photography Awards in 2013.