Is the city still a dream? - PBF03 /
Yang Yongliang
16 November to 20 December 2018
Yang Yongliang takes his cues from traditional Chinese painting and adds a multitude of modern elements into the mix. The result: photomontages and videos which plunge the viewer into a ‘fictional Hell’.
Yang Yongliang uses a stills camera and drawing inspiration from the Chinese paintings of Shanshui to create a new world of illusions: a vision between dream and nightmare, at the same time, both futuristic and age-old.
His series Time Immemorial is a critical approach to reality, not without wit, and his country, which is caught between technological progress and annihilation. His mountains are covered in giant ruined skyscrapers and will soon be drowned by the rising waters, which encroach ever more closely. However, his work shows a note of hope in the possibility of a reconciliation between tradition and modernity, nature and culture.
“I like the familiarity of the city, and more than that, I hate it for growing too quickly and invading everything at an unforeseen speed”.
