Chen Wei: Yesterday Shop

The second solo exhibition of Chinese photo artist Chen Wei (b.1980, Zhejiang Province), Yesterday Shop, is currently on display at Galerie Rüdiger Schöttle in Munich.

Several staged color photographs of various formats are on view. Painting, photography and film serve Chen Wei as sources of inspiration and echo in his choice of motifs, compositions, and the coloring and lighting of his works. As one enters the exhibition space on the first floor of the gallery, one encounters a group of people dancing, suffused with blue light, absorbed in the moment.

Chen Wei’s works examine current social issues. With brutal honesty, he brings our living conditions, dreams, desires, and fears into sharper focus. After careful preparations, and with the help of a select group of assistants, he produces his works on film stages or in his studio. He stages still lifes, empty interiors, or entire deserted strip malls reminiscent, in composition and choice of motifs, of Edward Hopper’s works.

“In the Waves #6” is a special exception to the other works in the exhibition, as there are protagonists who inhabit his often deserted backdrops. Panning the exhibition, however, one cannot help but notice that the other works always bear witness to human presence as well, while the people in “In the Waves #6” almost seem like accessories.