Seeing the Unseen

Florida State University's John and Mable Ringling Museum of Art features an exhibit on innovative media photography and video by current Chinese artists.

Seeing the Unseen

This exciting exhibition features photographic and video works by famous living Chinese artists. Reflecting the innovations of our media age, their art provides a view of the changing Chinese urban landscape. Unlike their predecessors, these new-generation artists are even bolder in applying modern technology to record the exciting moments veiled in daily life, and in creating startling and unexpected scenes. Performance and visual tricks are smartly incorporated into their works to create impressive visual and mental experiences, providing the opportunity for viewers to meditate on the invisible.

The artists in the exhibition, including Cao Fei, Li Wei, Wang Qingsong, and Miao Xiaochun, explore their individual approaches, subjects, and styles, while mixing aesthetic ideas, cultural expressions, and commercial inspiration. Individually and as a group, they use art photography and video to tackle issues of identity and experience, youth culture and urban development, history and memory, and the conflicts of tradition and commercialization in contemporary China.