Exhibition period: August 3 to October 27, 2024 
 
Venue: Shede Chengdu Fosun Art Center

On August 2, 2024, Fosun Art Center in Chengdu will present Xiao Quan's solo exhibition “Xiao Quan's Journey to the West, From Chengdu”, curated by Lv Peng. As a representative figure of contemporary Chinese documentary photography, Xiao Quan is a personal witness and observer of the changes of the times, and his lens has truly recorded the complexity of social life in China after the reform and opening up, which includes the life and state of ordinary people, as well as the spirit of the pioneers in the literary and art circles in the 1980s and 1990s. The exhibition will start from “The First Floor - The Accumulation of Material Life”, “The Second Floor - The Pursuit of Spiritual Life”, “The Third Floor - The Pursuit of Spiritual Life” and “The Third Floor - The Pursuit of Spiritual Life”. The exhibition will unfold from three directions: “The First Floor - Accumulation of Material Life”, “The Second Floor - Pursuit of Spiritual Life”, “The Third Floor - Linking of Soul Life”, which will serve as a comprehensive review of the artist's creations, and in the progression of the three layers, it will deduce the richness of Xiao Quan's creative language and changes in his subject matter from the early stage of his creation to the present. In addition to his photographic creations, the exhibition will also feature audio recordings by Xiao Quan, which will tell the stories behind his creations with his subjects, including Gu Cheng, San Mao, and Dou Wei.

From Chengdu to Guangzhou Biennale with Lv Peng

“Material Life” will focus on Xiao Quan's old works from the 1980s and 1990s. When Xiao Quan received his first camera from his father, he had the right to make images. He traveled from street to street, capturing with his camera the streets and people, as well as the life that used to be regarded as unimportant in the past. Presented at a time when the Chinese people were just waking up to the world and images were uniform, Xiao Quan, who studied under Marc Lupu, curiously recorded everything. Here Xiao Quan presents to the public images that are close to the retinal reality, giving people a sense of novelty and imminence, and showing a real, unadorned, instantaneous, inescapable life and world. These historical street scenes and cityscapes, especially the familiar past of Chengdu, are witnesses to the “rolling forward” of the times.

 

Portrait of Xiao Quan through the lens of Marc Loeb

“People change in the most delicate way, so telling their stories is the most meaningful, and that's why I chose portrait photography. We are all recording the development and change of the times in our own way, from which we can see the trajectory of the whole country.” “Spirit World” showcases portraits including Xiao Quan's representative work ‘Our Generation’ series: Zhang Yimou, San Mao, Chen Kaige, Jiang Wen, He Xuntian, Tan Dun, Beidao, Wang Anyi, Dou Wei, Cui Jian ...... They are all well-known faces, as well as those who have worked with the reformist government. All of them are familiar faces to the public, and they are also the generation that once grew up together with the reform and opening up period, and at the same time, as Xiao Quan said, “The spirit of this generation, passed on like a torch, still influences many people today. I want to record the current era, the spirit of our Chinese people, optimistic, courageous, upward struggle, a word, charge!” In the literature exhibition hall of the unit, the handwritten letters between Sanmao, Gu Cheng and Xiao Quan reveal the deep friendship between these cultural celebrities and Xiao Quan, and tell the spiritual charm of Xiao Quan's works from another level.

  

Dou Wei, rock musician, Beijing, September 1993

On the other side of the exhibition hall, “Portrait of the Times” presents ordinary people of different identities, ages and stories that Xiao Quan has photographed over the years in different cities in China. The Portrait of the Times series began in 2012 as a public service project of the United Nations, aiming to record the expectations of ordinary Chinese people for the next 20 years. Xiao Quan was invited by his good friend director Du Jiayi and actress Zhou Xun to participate in the filming, and published the album “2032: The Future We Expect”.

After 2015, Xiao Quan traveled to more than ten cities across the country, continuing the series of “Portrait of the Times”, athletes, vagabonds, Taoist priests, scholars ...... Xiao Quan in the camera in-depth questioning of the relationship between these people and the city and the era of their lives, in the ever-changing times to poignantly capture the spirit of the current Chinese people, and left an indelible mark on the nation's collective memory has left an indelible mark.

“If a passport allows me to travel the world, a certificate of conversion allows me to find my way home.” --In the fall of 2012, Xiao Quan was converted at Wutai Mountain. The third part of the exhibition, “Spirituality”, focuses on Xiao Quan's new works in recent years, which deal with the themes of faith and spirituality, and show the artist's thoughts on the meaning of life and the mysteries of the universe. Natural scenes such as white clouds in the blue sky, snow-capped mountains, linden trees, lakes and stars have become important subjects for Xiao Quan's camera, and his language has begun to tell stories far from the everyday.

As a teenager, Xiao Quan flew in a naval aviation unit for four years, which gave him a deep understanding of the changes in time and space, thus forming a unique perspective on the world. In Moon Setting on Cangshan Mountain, Xiao Quan records the spectacular scene of himself waiting alone for the moon to set on Cangshan Mountain in his compound in Dali, “There are not many stars seen at night in the big cities today, it is a kind of exchange at such a cruel price.” In Sanxingdui, Xiao Quan traces the remains of the ancestors of Sanxingdui, where ducks still frolic in the water, but their former owners have long since disappeared. In “Journey to the West”, Xiao Quan, after listening to his friend's advice, drops everything and travels west to Nepal. Facing the mirror-like lake in the silent slopes of Pokhara, and seeing the brightest star in the sky since the beginning of time when he was about to collapse during the journey ...... Xiao Quan's Journey to the West is, in a sense, a pilgrimage.

   

Xiao Quan's Journey to the West Nepal 2007

People communicate with others, understand the world, and know themselves through language, and on that day in Xiao Quan's life, at the age of 21, when his father placed a camera in his hands as a gift, Xiao Quan's language changed radically. From Chengdu and back again, Xiao Quan has traveled to many places - including the “Western Paradise” where Xuanzai traveled to obtain the scriptures - and this is no longer simply a cycle of his life. Xiao Quan's language has indeed changed, and he knows it well, but he has been 'summoned' by the Buddha to understand it as a life's cultivation, and will never look back.

 

About the Artist

XIAO Quan

Born amidst the cultural tapestry of Chengdu, Sichuan in 1959, the photographer embarked on a journey of visual exploration that transcended mere documentation. Enlisting in the military in 1978, his four-year tenure as a flight crew member within a naval aviation unit bestowed upon him a profound sense of temporal and spatial metamorphosis, thus birthing a distinctive perspective through which to observe the world.

Inspired by the evocative compositions of American poet Ezra Pound's photographs, he embarked on a mission to capture the essence of China's burgeoning cultural renaissance by immortalizing its youthful vanguards.

It was during the mid-1990s, whilst apprenticing under the tutelage of renowned photographer Mark Riboud, that he became imbued with the spirit of "Magnum" photojournalism, its ethos resonating deeply within his artistic ethos.  His oeuvre spans a multitude of published works, each a testament to his unwavering dedication to the craft.

He was introduced to the world with his large-scale album "Our Generation" published in 1996, and his international edition "In China When It All Began" was published by RIZZOLI in New York, and shared with readers in the world’s important bookstores, the American Museum of Modern Art (MOMA).

Over the years, there have been numerous exhibitions at home and abroad. He is currently a member of the International Fund for the Promotion of Culture (IFPC) of UNESCO. Since 2012, he has been shooting “Portrait of The Times”, leaving the memory of the times for the current Chinese.

Select Solo Exhibitions

1991  Appearance and Deception, Jazz Image Gallery, Taipei

2006  Women and Time, Epson Photography Center, Shanghai and Beijing

2010  Movements of the Heart—Yang Liping through Xiao Quan's Lens,

Bloom Gallery, Beijing

2011  Encounters with Remarkable Women, Beaugeste Gallery, Shanghai

San Mao: Looking Back on Twenty Years of the "Bird of Paradise”,

Bloom Gallery, Beijing

2012  Life's Journey—Setting out from San Mao, L-Art Gallery, Chengdu

2014  Our Generation: The Context and Portraits of History,

Museum of Contemporary Art, Chengdu

2015  Dancing Lens—Xiao Quan's Visions of Yang Liping, 

CNAC Yunxi Manor, Kunming

Our Generation, Lianzhou Foto Festival, Culture Square, Lianzhou

Xiao Quan—Portraits of The Times, SE Art Space, Shenzhen

2016  Our Generation, chi K11 Art Museum, Shanghai

A Gift to Marc Riboud, chi K11 Art Museum, Shanghai

Portraits of The Times, 10 Corso Como, Shanghai

Beautiful World, Hermès Shang Xia Mansion, Shanghai

Encounter—Mark Riboud, The Mixc, Shenzhen

Starting from a Seed: The World of Xiao Quan, Linda and Vanda,

 L-Art Education, Chengdu

The Photography of Xiao Quan, Zhejiang Art Museum, Hangzhou

2017  Beautiful World, Hui Art Space, Beijing

Today - Xiao Quan, Today Art Museum, Beijing

Our Generation: The Context and Portraits of History, Beijing Minsheng Art Museum, Beijing

Portraits of an Era—Chongqing Women through the Lens of Xiao Quan, Yuan Art Museum, Chongqing

Portraits of an Era: Xiao Quan Photography Exhibition,Alleyway Art Museum, Kunming

2018  Salute to the Land, Large-Scale Outdoor Exhibition，Jinchuan, Aba Prefecture

Xiao Quan: The People of Longjiang in this Era, Longmei Arts Studio, Harbin

2020  Portraits of The Times: 40 Years of Shenzhen,

Sea World Culture and Arts Center, Shenzhen

2021  Imagining a New Guangzhou Together—Xiao Quan's Portraits of The Times, Wonderland Vanke Life Center, Guangzhou

Xiao Quan: Portraits of the Past, Prague City Gallery, Prague

A Pioneer of Our Era, OCT Harbour, Shenzhen

2022  Portraits of The Times: Decade Retrospective, Blanc Art Space, Beijing

2023  Portraits of the Times: Return to Wuhan, Xibei Lake Plaza, Wuhan

  ‘Southern Travels’-Yunnan through the Lens of Xiao Quan, 

Contemporary Gallery Kunming

 

Select Group Exhibitions

2004  Forbidden City International Photography Exhibition, The Palace Museum, Beijing

2011  Encounters with Remarkable Women, Yangon International Photography Festival, Yangon, Myanmar

  2011 Chengdu Biennale, East Chengdu Music Park, Chengdu

2021  Faces of Germany, Faces of Guangzhou, Whampoa Hu Family Ancestral Shrine, Guangzhou

2023  Chengdu Biennale, Chengdu Art Museum, Chengdu

L'Oreal: Beauty for People, No.1 Kuan Xiangzi, Chengdu

2024  Faces of Chengdu, Faces of Europe, San Lian Fen Tao BookShop, Zhai Xiangzi, Chengdu

Faces of Our Generation, Palazzo Pisani Revedin, Venice, Italy

Human and Space, Noon Consulting Art, Brussels, Belgium

FACE TIME 21, CMK, Basel, Switzerland

 

Publications

Bird of Paradise—San Mao Photographs and Poems, Chengdu University of Science and Technology Publishing House

Our Generation, China Film Publishing House, Flower City Publishing House, Guangdong Nanfang Daily Press, Zhejiang People's Fine Arts Publishing House, Sichuan Literature & Art Publishing House (five editions)

Beautiful Women Through My Lens, Hunan Fine Arts Publishing House

Photographing China with Marc Riboud, Baihuazhou Literature & Art Publishing House

Today—Xiao Quan, Jiangsu Phoenix Art Publishing House

Xiao Quan Jinchuan, China Youth Press

In China When it All Began, Rizzoli

The World of Xiao Quan, Linda and Vanda, China Youth Press

Xiao Quan: 100 Hangzhous, Zhejiang Photo Press

ECHO: Eternal San Mao, Beijing United Publishing

 

As Editor

The 20th Century, Sichuan Literature & Art Publishing House

Black Lens: This Century in China and Black Lens: This Century in Humanity, Baihuazhou Literature & Art Publishing House