Opening June 22 14:30
Duration: June 22-August 18, 2019
Organizer: Three Shadows Xiamen Photography Art Centre
Art Directors: RongRong& inri
Exhibition Executor: Teng Qingyun
Friendly Supporter：Chengdu Contemporary Image Museum
Supporters：Zhejiang Photography Publishing, Pro Helvetia – Shanghai
Special Thanks：Embassy of Switzerland in China, Embassy of Japan in China
■ Opening Weekend
June 22
14:30 Opening
14:30-15:20 Artists Guided Tour
15:30-17:30 Artists Talk
Guests：Liu Ke & Huang Huang, Lu Shan, Wang Yingying
June 23
15:30-17:30 Artists Talk
Guests: Hu Yajing, Li Lin, LiuShutong, Xu Sijie, Zhang lanpo, Zhou Yulong
■ Featured Artists (Alphabetically)：
Chen Jiangyu, Huang Yiliang, Hu Yajing, Jiang Feiran, Lei Anqiao, Li Jianhong, Li Lin, Li Longjun, Liu ke&Huang Huang, LiuShutong, Lu Shan, Lv Yanchuan, Tang Xianying, Wang Yingying, Wu Guoyong, Xu Sijie, You Daren, Zhang Lanpo, Zhou Yulong
■ The International Jurors (alphabetically)：
Hai Jie Independent curator, Critic, China
Kimi Himeno Director and chief editor of Akaaka Art Publishing. Inc.Japan
Marcel Feil Deputy Director of Foam Fotografie Museum Amsterdam, Netherlands
Peter Pfrunder Director and Curator of the Fotostiftung Schweiz (Swiss Foundation for Photography), Switzerland
RongRong Founder and Director of Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, Co-founder of Jimei x Arles International Photo Festival, Xiamen
An organism is reborn from DNA translating genetic information into new proteins. This translation process is also occurring in the creative practice of emerging Chinese artists, who are departing from the basic medium of photography and constantly pushing boundaries. In 2019, the Three ShadowsPhotography Award received 534 submissions, and the works of 20 artists were selected for the Eleventh Three Shadows Photography Award Exhibition. These artists are not limited by conventional ways of capturing images, they present lively and diverse visual landscapes.
For example, Lu Shan uses ready-mades from the internet to make collages, producing animations and pictures that reconstruct a world between the real and the virtual. The work focuses on the understandings of the world in different cultural traditions and religions, as well as the connections between scientific knowledge and today’s society and culture. Tang Xianying’s ParallelWorld cleverly uses large blocks of color and abstract or figurative structures, juxtaposing images that are not necessarily related and blending them with a subtle voice-over. From 2015 to 2019, Wang Yingying made several trips to the place of her birth. Through the juxtaposition of texts, graffiti, videos, and pictures, she re-examines and considers her family’s issues in the context of their times, recognizing her own identity and healing her own emotional scars. In Order To See The Painting Of The Sky - Icarus In The Dream, Chen Jiangyusynthesizes 3D renderings and images to “re-interpret and re-create” the grander world of modern social structures and ideologies. It is also worth mentioning that, in looking over all of this year’s submissions, there was a considerable number of participants who came from non-artist backgrounds. At a time when “everyone is a photographer”, we are delighted at this immense diversity. With differing methods and perspectives, they have used photography to explore themselves and the connections between the exterior and interior worlds.
For this edition of the Three Shadows Photography Award, we were honored to have Marcel Feil, deputy director of Foam Fotogra Museum, PeterPfrunder, director and curator of the Swiss Foundation for Photography, KimiHimeno, director and chief editor of Akaaka Art Publishing, Hai Jie,independent Chinese curator and photography critic, and RongRong, co-founderand art director of the Three Shadows Photography Art Centre, as part of the international judging panel. Together, they selected the winner of this year’sThree Shadows Photography Award. In particular, we must thank Hai Jie for his hard work as a preliminary judge, helping to select the finalists. This edition also features the Media Award, selected by a media jury of international and domestic senior editors and reporters from Artnet, Art. Ifeng.com, Hiart, Artron.net and Chinese Photography. This award uncovers, interprets, and promotes photography works with an independent spirit and artistic potential.
Here, we would sincerely like to thank the Chengdu ContemporaryImage Museum, Zhejiang Photography Publishing, Pro Helvetia Shanghai and theJapan Foundation Beijing for their immense support of this year’s TSPA. We must also express our gratitude to the Embassy of Switzerland in China, the Embassy of Japan in China and Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands in China, which have worked with Three Shadows to create possibilities for further interaction and collaboration in photography between China and the rest of the world.
The Three Shadows Photography Award launched in 2008 with “Points of Impact”. Building on the substantial achievements of the prize’s first decade, we look forward to the new decade to come. We want to sincerely congratulate all of this year’s finalists, and we hope that this platform will illuminate your artistic path ahead. While retaining its original mission to discover and support young Chinese photographers and artists, the Three Shadows PhotographyAward is exploring ways to keep pace with the development of today photography scene.