【PHOTOFAIRS SHANGHAI 】A Hundred Years: Cai Dongdong Solo Project
"They" were here. They are "us", and we will be "them".
PHOTOFAIRS丨Shanghai 2019
Booth: A02
Artist: Cai Dongdong
A Hundred Years：Cai Dongdong Solo Project
Duration: 2019.9.19 - 9.22
Collector Hours (Invitation only)
9.19 2 - 7pm; 9.20 12 - 9pm; 9.21 11am - 12pm
Public Days: 9.21 12-7pm; 9.22 11am-6pm
Venue: Shanghai Exhibition Center
No.1000 Yan'an Road (near Tongren Road), Shanghai
A Hundred Years: Cai Dongdong Solo Project
On September 20th -22nd, 2019, Leo Gallery participates in the 2019 PHOTOFAIRS | Shanghai, presenting the artist Cai Dongdong’s personal project “A Hundred Years” in the “Main sector”, booth A02. This exhibition is also the first appearance of this personal art project of Cai Dongdong.
A Hundred Years / Gelatin silver halide photo, Acrylic box, Stainless steel connector, Aluminum doorframe, 200×200×320cm, 2019
The art project “A Hundred Years” studies the portrait changes of Chinese people spanning a hundred years, from 1910 to 2010. It consists of three doors, each of which have 780 original portraits of Chinese people stringed together into curtains and hung on the doors. The time span of the first door is 1910-1950, the second door 1950-1980, and the third door 1980-2010. When crossing these three doors, the audience will find that the spiritual outlook of the Chinese has undergone tremendous changes due to the differences in social ideology during these three periods.
People Who Embrace Time / Silver gelatin print, Mirror, 43.6×53.9×5.9cm, 2019
Cai Dongdong was born in Tianshui, Gansu Province in 1978. He studied at Beijing Film Academy in 2002, currently lives and works in Beijing, China and Berlin, Germany.
A Hundred Years (Detail) / Gelatin silver halide photo, Acrylic box, Stainless steel connector, Aluminum doorframe, 200×200×320cm, 2019
His artistic creations include photography, installation, video and social art practice. He was awarded The First Prize of 3rd Terna Award for Contemporary Art Award, Italy, and TOP 20 Young Photographers - 2015 China Contemporary Photography, China.
Cai Dongdong participated in various exhibitions of different art museums and institutions, including Museum for Photography (2017, Berlin), Eli Kleim Gallery (2017, New York), Pully Museum of Art (2017, Switzerland), Taikang Space (2016, Beijing), Potsdam c/o Waschhaus (2016, Berlin), Minsheng Art Museum (2016, Shanghai), Hive Center for Contemporary Art (2015, Beijing), Three Shadows Photography Art Centre (2015, Beijing), CAFA Art Museum (2015, Beijing), Echigo-Tsumari Triennial (2015, Niigata), Folkwang Museum (2015, Essen, Germany), Pace Beijing (2014, Beijing), He Xiangning Art Museum (2014, Shenzhen), Les Amis de Nouvelles D’Europe (2014, Vienna), Urban Arts Space, the Ohio State University (Ohio, 2014), China Art Museum (2011, Beijing), FRAC Gallery (2011, Turin, Italy), Donggang Museum of Photography (2006, Korea), Guangdong Museum of Art (2005, Guangzhou), etc.
Gap of the Sun / Silver Print / 48×57.5cm, 2014
Cai Dongdong's works at this stage are called "sculptural photography". He deconstructs the traditional form of photography into object and visual information. Through the use of photography and installation art, Cai Dongdong has created the works with semi-broken reality for more than a decade.
When photography becomes more and more convenient, Cai Dongdong found himself less interested in shooting new works. With the collection of 600,000 old photos, Cai Dongdong began to pay attention to how to read these old photos. Most of these photos were took during the 20th century in China. When these photos were piled up like mountains, Cai Dongdong began to "surging thesephotos like a surgeon."
