Liu Zheng 刘铮

From ArtSpeak China (ASC) Wiki

Liu Zheng is one of China's most widely exhibited photographers. Born in 1969, Liu lives and works in Beijing.

Contents 1 Date & Place of Birth 2 Art 3 Exhibitions 4 Acquisitions & Auctions 5 References

[edit] Date & Place of Birth

Liu was born in Wuqiang Hsien, Hebei Province, China, in 1969, and grew up in Datong, a mining town in Shanxi Province.^[1]

[edit] Art

In 1994, Liu Zheng began photographing moments in which archetypal Chinese figures are encountered in contemporary incarnations – and often in extreme and unexpected situations. The resulting series, The Chinese, portrays a society wrestling with the contradictions between traditional culture and modernization. The series presents a broad cross-section of society including the wealthy, the poor, transsexuals, coal miners, opera performers, as well as waxwork figures in historical museums.^[1]

From 1991 to 1997, Zheng worked as a photojournalist for Workers’ Daily, one of China’s most widely distributed newspapers, in a culture where photography was historically linked with political propaganda and Communist ideology rather than a documentary tradition that equated photography with truth. He began work his most famous series, The Chinese, during an explosive period of change and growth in the Chinese art scene catalyzed by national policies of reform. Drawing on his background, Zheng utilizes photography as a tool for constructing false reality. The lighting and poses in these square format photographs all appear candid, but in fact, staged tableaux and spontaneous images coexist in the series.^[1]

Influenced by both Diane Arbus and August Sander, The Chinese presents the viewer with a personalized study of Chinese culture, concentrating on the dark side of its psychology. Through his photographs Zheng performs an intricate balancing act between harsh reality and romanticism, between engagement and detachment, seeking to reconstitute Chinese history in the process.^[1]

[edit] Exhibitions

His work has been exhibited extensively both domestically and abroad, including a one-person exhibition at the Central Academy of Fine Arts, Beijing, in 2001, and is included in the touring exhibition Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video From China in 2004; Strangers: The First ICP Triennial of Photography and Video in 2003; The Chinese at Kunstmuseum Wolfsburg, Germany, in 2004; and the 50th Biennale di Venezia, Venice, Italy, in 2003.

For Liu's exhibition history, click here.

[edit] Acquisitions & Auctions

For a list of collections containing works by Liu Zheng, click here.

[edit] References

1. ↑ ^{1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3} http://www.yossimilo.com/exhibitions/2005_06-liu_zhen/