Issue No. 28 – Control

What is the nature of control? The desire for it—and to be free of it—are essential parts of both life and art.

Hai Zhang: Everywhere-Nowhere at Luise Ross Gallery

Top image: Hai Zhang, Taihu Lake, China, 2014. Courtesy Luise Ross Gallery, New York
 
 

In his first solo exhibition at Luise Ross Gallery, Hai Zhang presents Everywhere-Nowhere. While encompassing specific instances but remaining ambiguous enough not to know where they take place, Zhang's photographs make up scenes of nature and people he captures from around the world. Following a person near animals on a night in Bangladesh, to being still with bodies of water in China and Cape Cod, to focusing on a child's glance in New York, these images give the viewer a glimpse of the passing moments in life. Zhang's work hones in on the transient nature of the journeys we take, the images are quite personal yet seem far away. A lot of the photographs dwell on the modes of transportation, the in-betweens of here and there, being both everywhere and not quite there yet.

Using photography as a tool to explore the culture of his native China compared to his new home in the United States after college, Zhang's photographs explore if people from different backgrounds and lifestyles can relate to his personal views. These photographs seem to represent any location because he is always on the move, always somewhere but never quite anywhere distinctive enough for long.

This show is curated by Barbara Babcock and runs through July 11.

Text by Amanda Everich.

HZ6

HZ15

HZ14

Photos From the opening by Polina Neshpor.

everywhere_nowhere-1Hai Zhang and Curator Barbara Babcock 2 imageseverywhere_nowhere-92 images 2

Maxine Henryson:FROM UJJAYI’S JOURNEY at A.I.R. Gallery

Sue Chalom: Obscure Japan