Love, Ren Hang:
Love, Ren Hang is an exhibition of works by the Chinese artist Ren Hang (b.1987), currently on display at the C/O Berlin until the 29th February 2020. On view at this retrospective is over 150 works from the artist’s career. Ren Hang was one of the most important contemporary photographers in China, despite his untimely and tragic death at the age of 29 in 2017.
Love, Ren Hang is an outstanding exhibition not to miss when in Berlin, which presents the artist’s work for the first time in Germany. It offers a selection of analogue photographs from the young Chinese generation. The artist pictures men and women in acrobatic poses, often naked, with pitch-black hair and porcelain skin, gazing directly into the camera. Their subjects are portrayed embedded within urban landscapes, private spaces or in nature; often with animals or plants at their side. Whilst being extremely provocative, his photographs represent elements of the surreal.
The story behind Ren Hang’s body of work is that of the revolt of the young Chinese generation against the restrictive communist regime. In China nudity and sexual freedom are still under state censorship and control. Ren Hang’s work was not about conforming, but rather protesting in a militant and radical way like other artists of his generation have done. The photographs analyse the human body, his sexuality, beauty, and vulnerability. Regardless of femininity or masculinity, in Hang’s art skin is used to draw compositions that are erotic but never pornographic. In some way, his photographs are reminiscent of the ones by Japanese photographer Nobuyoshi Araki (b.1940), despite the relationship to the models being quite different. With a rudimentary Minolta camera, Ren Hang captured his friends and other young people. The main settings were the parks of Beijing at night or his small apartment that also served as a studio.
“I do not think nudity is challenging – nudity is common, everybody has it. I like people naked and I like sex; I use nudity so that I can feel more realism and sense of presence.” — Ren Hang
In Hang’s photographs, despite its provocative aspect, nudity is something aesthetic and intriguing. The artist often transforms the human body into an abstract form or allows us to confuse it with a mountain landscape or other natural elements.
The exhibition takes place on the ground floor of the C/O. The curators decided to erect two walls in the centre of the space and combine some of the artist’s smaller works with wall sized photographs as well as with his poems. On one side of the room, the photographs on display show the subjects in different positions, interlacing, emphasising the human body and its nudity. Ren Hang shows very few colours in these shots. The attention is drawn to the pale colour of the skin and the artist plays only with a few hints of red on the lips and on the nails of his models. On the other side of the room, the figures in his photographs are transposed into natural environments. Here, the pale colour of the skin is magnified against the green settings. The curatorial choice of dividing the room, allows the viewer to wander freely whilst having the impression of three independent rooms divided by theme, making it possible to emerge yourself in Ren Hang’s world.
In conclusion, the exhibition gives a perfect insight into the controversial work by Ren Hang who, despite his early death, has left us with an extensive collection of photographs. His work defends above all his opinions while speaking for a whole generation and continues to speak for the Chinese youth who unfortunately still faces state control.
Claire di Felice
MADE IN BED Contributor