Shaanxi's New Group
In the early 1980s, Shaanxi saw the emergence of a local photography collective centered around Hu Wugong, Hou Dengke, Pan Ke, and Shi Baoxiu, known as the Shaanxi Group. Driven by a strong sense of historical mission, humanistic concern, and regional identity, they broke away from China’s long-dominant salon photography tradition—a style criticized for "glossing over reality" —and pioneered the documentary photography movement of China’s "New Era." Hailed as trailblazers of Chinese photography, their work laid the groundwork for a new visual language rooted in social truth and cultural specificity.
This exhibition begins with a critical inquiry: What became of Shaanxi’s photographic ecology after the Shaanxi Group? How have subsequent generations of Shaanxi-based image-makers redefined or deconstructed the collective’s spiritual legacy? Through research, we observe that the Shaanxi Group’s experimental practices established a robust cultural foundation for photography in Shaanxi. Their dynamic influence nurtured a thriving ecosystem where diverse creative approaches coexist and flourish. Among these, the academic school centered at Xi’an Academy of Fine Arts has both preserved the documentary tradition and expanded its boundaries through contemporary explorations. Meanwhile, the rise of independent grassroots creators has further enriched Shaanxi’s photographic landscape.
If the modern photography of Shaanxi originated with the "Shaanxi Group", then Xie Aijun, Peng Xiangjie, and others belong to the second generation of image creators in Shaanxi's modern photography. They have also made numerous explorations in the contemporary context, and their works are regarded as the starting point of Shaanxi's contemporary photography. During the same period, Xi'an Academy of Fine Arts (XAFA) served as the core in cultivating a large number of contemporary image creators in Shaanxi, with Su Sheng, Dong Jun, Luo Bin, Dong Liang, Bai Zhiqiang, Chen Yineng, Wu Kangning, Luo Kai, Yu Tao, etc., as representatives. Meanwhile, Zhang Haowei and Niu Tong stand out as representatives of the younger generation of contemporary image creators. These two generations of young contemporary image creators, with their broader perspectives and free expression, have not only conducted in-depth explorations on photographic ontology but also carried out extensive cross-media practices. Echoing the explorations of academy-educated creators, artists such as Wang Sanbao, Yang Xilong, and An Tianyu have focused their lenses on the daily urban and rural changes around them. Compared with the "Shaanxi Group", they no longer take direct social reality as the core of their creation, and their styles are more free and romantic.
In today’s decentralized cultural landscape, each artist in Shaanxi operates as an independent explorer. Unlike their predecessors, they lack a unified agenda and no longer frame their work as a rebellion against a centralized authority. Instead, they prioritize self-expression and the exploration of photographic language—a shift possibly influenced by the dissolution of traditional "centers" or their omnipresent, unassailable dominance.
Naming the generations of creators beyond the Shaanxi Group as Shaanxi’s "New Group" is a reclamation of history and engagement with reality, as well as a tribute from the curatorial team to the original Shaanxi Group. In a sense, like the Shaanxi Group, Shaanxi’s "New Group" stands firmly rooted in their times, responding proactively to the era they inhabit through their creations.
Artist：Wang Sanbao, Xie Aijun, Yang Xilong, Luo Bin, Su Sheng, Chen Yineng, Wu Kangning, Dong Jun, Bai Zhiqiang, An Tianyu, Luo Kai, Zhang Haowei, Niu Tong
Curators: Yu Tao, Dong Liang
Exhibition Management: Lahem
Wu Kangning, Unnoticed occurrence/Hua Zhou, Chemical waste residue, 2025. Inkjet print, Variable Dimensions. Courtesy of the artist.
An Tianyu, Pure wilderness 01, 2025. Inkjet print, Variable Dimensions. Courtesy of the artist.
Zhang Haowei, The Order of Time - Furniture, 2022. Giclee print, 100x150cm. Courtesy of the artist.
Yang Xilong, What I Saw 2, 2015. Inkjet print, Variable Dimensions. Courtesy of the artist.
Niu Tong, In Dreams, One Knows Not One Is a Stranger / chair, 2021. Inkjet print, Variable Dimensions. Courtesy of the artist.
Wang Sanbao, Daobei Chronicle, 1990-2020. Inkjet print, Variable Dimensions. Courtesy of the artist.
Luo Kai, Day and Night, We Never Part, 2021-2023. Digital composite photography, installation, variable dimensions. Courtesy of the artist.
Luo Bin, Medicine·Substance/Syngnathus, 2011-2017. Wet Plate Collodion on Glass, 20×25cm. Courtesy of the artist.
Su Sheng, Context / Green algae, 2011. Inkjet print, Variable Dimensions. Courtesy of the artist.
Dong Jun, Sitting by myself after waking up alone, I untie my robe to embrace the wind, 2021. synchronised HD two-channel video 4’18”. Courtesy of the artist.
Xie Aijun, Skyline of a Foreign Land, Qingdao, 2012. Inkjet print, Variable Dimensions. Courtesy of the artist.
Chen Yineng, Looking at Chang'an – Lishan, 2024. Inkjet print, 80×80cm. Courtesy of the artist.