Lot 240: MIAO XIAOCHUN

B. 1964
OPERA

38 3/8 by 98 1/2 in. 98 by 250 cm.

titled in Chinese and English, signed in Chinese and Pinyin, dated 2003, and numbered SS 4/5

chromogenic print

PROVENANCE

Chambers Fine Art, New York
Acquired by the present owner from the above

EXHIBITED

Other examples exhibited:
Beijing, 798 Art Space, Rivka Rinn and Miao Xiaochun, 2004
Chicago, Walsh Gallery, Phantasmagoria, October-November 2004, pp. 36-37, illustrated in color
New York, International Center of Photography and Asia Society; Chicago, Smart Museum and Museum of Contemporary Art; Seattle Art Museum; London, Victoria & Albert Museum, Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China, 2004-2006, pp. 66-67, illustrated in color
Lucerne, Museum of Art Lucerne, Me and More, 2003, pp. 26-27, illustrated in color
Shanghai, 798 Art Space, Left Hand, Right Hand-A Sino-German Exhibition of Contemporary Art, 2003, pp. 14-15, illustrated in color
Beijing, Central Academy of Fine Arts Gallery; Shanghai, Museum of Liu Haisu, Encounters, 2003

LITERATURE

Ursula Panhans-Buehler, Chinese Art, Special No. of Chinese Avant-garde Photography, No. 2, 2004, p. 40, illustrated in color
Jonthan Thomas, Asia Art News, Silent Witness, September/October 2004, p. 73, illustrated in color

NOTE

Miao Xiaochun's Opera struck viewers in the landmark exhibition Between Past and Future: New Photography and Video from China in 2004. Miao's Opera was created through integrating smaller images seamlessly into this long intricate composition. The viewer is trapped weaving from one spontaneous moment to the next and is consumed by the level of detail that can be viewed far into the distance.

Although I'm not using traditional brush and paper, I can certainly employ traditional concepts and aesthetic principles. Traditional viewing focuses on details and multiple perspectives. When a viewer unrolls a scroll painting, he examines it section by section, detail by detail, synthesizing fragmentary mental images into a continuous viewing experience --Miao Xiaochun