Born in Chongqing, China 1962 | Lives and works in Beijing

 

Chen Jiagang combines the Chinese countryside, industrial architecture, and people in a way that questions China’s past and present.  In his photographs, he builds a complex and ambiguous tension between the foreground and the background – between the individual and society, the man and his environment.  His works convey concern about rapid economic growth and the effects of urbanization on morals in society and human relationships. The artist’s use of fading colors and movements creates a romantic and dreamlike sense of nostalgia, memory, and disappearing history. Despite the use of a hazy color palette, the shapes and details are well-defined. The seemingly stationary moment is constantly in motion.

 

Jiagang is also a renowned architect. In 1999, the United Nations chose him as one of the world’s most important young architects. He has received recognition as a photographer and has had exhibitions of his works in Asia, Europe, and the United States. His works are in the New York Museum of Modern Art collections and the Museo del Territorio.