WENG FEN – Likeness of the otherness

Weng Fen's Beautiful New World
Gu Zhengqing, curator

With the rising of China, the issue of modernity has become the top priority across the country. It is, I believe, also one of the key issues the Chinese contemporary art community has to address. Nevertheless, despite a huge number of artists who like to advocate their Chinese identity, few have made any attempt to express their thoughts on this special phenomenon. Weng Fen is one of the few artists who have created many series of work to depict the changes of urban residents’ mentality as well as the discrepancy between their expectation and the reality of the society, both caused by the nation’s rapid economic development in a global setting. His works include “On the Wall” photo series (2001), “Bird’s Eye” photo series (2002), installation “Viewing Stand” (2003) and “Staring at the Sea” photo series. The photos taken by Weng Fen always leave the viewers with a complicated sensation that recedes slowly. In his works, issues of traditional and modern life, economic globalization and China’s own path, as well as the unbalanced development in the urban consumer society are intertwined in the common background of modernity. Therefore, his work brings out subtle emotions that used to hide deep in our minds, leading to strong and irresistible emotional fluctuations. We also get the feeling of becoming an integral part of the pictures: standing right behind the girls in his “On The Wall” and “Bird’s Eye” series, we are looking in the same direction at the gigantic modern cities. Instead of being in an ecstasy of delight, we, as a part of the development process toward modernization, inevitably experience a timeless solitude and great mental burden. Compared with the thin girls in the pictures, it is us that appear to be lost more deeply in a state of helplessness.