www.photofairs.org/shanghai
Press Preview | Thursday September 20, 1pm - 2pm
Collector Preview | Thursday September 20, 2pm - 7pm
VIP Preview | Friday September 21, 12pm - 6pm
Vernissage | Friday September 21, 6pm - 9pm
Christine Park Gallery is delighted to return to Photofairs for its 2018 Shanghai edition, following the participation at Photofairs San Francisco in February 2018. The gallery will return with a duo-solo presentation by Hong Kong and New York based photographer Xyza Cruz Bacani (b. 1987) and Tokyo based sculptor Ryusuke Kido (b. 1984).
Working as a domestic worker in Hong Kong for almost a decade, Xyza Cruz Bacani uses photography to raise awareness about under-reported stories, focusing on migrants and human rights issues. Whilst dealing with heavily weighted socio-political issues, Bacani’s works also reflect the isolation she felt whilst living in a foreign country, and also working as a domestic worker in this foreign setting. Echoing her 2015 exhibition “After Work” at Para-site Hong Kong - a group show that presented the historical stories of migrant domestic works in Hong Kong and the South East Asia vicinity, as well as a modern interpretation of migrant labour- Bacani’s act of taking photography is both a representation of the migrant worker and a representation of herself as an artist in a polarized modern society divided by class. Her work also engages with issues faced by young artists existing within highly competitive art market.
Based in Tokyo, Ryusuke Kido is a sculptor who develops his signature carving technique which he applies on different mediums from tree trunks to walls. His ongoing “Inner Light” series are influenced by the environmental and social issues raised by the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster caused by the Tohoku earthquake and tsunami in 2011. After the events of 2011 he decided to channel the negativity coming from the fear for the invisible and contamination into positive energy. For his 2011 solo exhibition at the Tokyo Wonder Site he carved the walls with motives similar to cancer cells so that light can penetrate through the holes. At 2012 MOT Bloomberg Pavilion Project First Prize Winner’s exhibition, he extended his wall carving works to furniture and individual sculptures.
For Photofairs Shanghai 2018, Christine Park Gallery will present Xyza Cruz Bacani’s black and white documentary photographs series entitled “We Are Like Air” that capture the lives of immigrant female workers in New York and a new series of body of works series entitled “Indistinct Chatter”, a colorful analog triptych series that portray the city scapes and sceneries of New York and Hong Kong. Also, “Inner Light - City H”, a photographic series by Ryusuke Kido, where the artist photographed on everyday scenes of Tokyo by carving acrylic frame on top of the photograph. Therefore each photographic work is unique. Last but not least, the booth will be complemented with Kido’s “self portrait” work, “Inner Light - Reflection #4", which carves an acrylic and glass mirror. Carving directly on the mirror allows him to carve on his self-reflection and the reflection of the viewer, thus making this piece a unique hybrid of photography and sculpture.
