{"id":29120,"date":"2015-06-11T14:36:20","date_gmt":"2015-06-11T18:36:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artoronto.ca\/?p=29120"},"modified":"2015-08-11T13:07:03","modified_gmt":"2015-08-11T17:07:03","slug":"fu-meng-between","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/?p=29120","title":{"rendered":"Fu Meng: Between"},"content":{"rendered":"

The open ended question of Between<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

What would happen when contemporary ink painters stop using brushes, theater practitioners abandon verbal language, or photographers put down the camera? Fu Meng\u2019s solo exhibition Between<\/em> at IDO Art Gallery offers the viewer a fresh dimension to rethink and redefine photography in today\u2019s social and cultural narratives.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>From left to right: Artists, Fu Meng, art advisor Yan Zhou, Professor Matthew Brower of University of Toronto, Yam Lau and Vanessa Fleet at the Panel Discussion on May 9, 2015. Photo: Daisy Li Meng<\/p>\n

Fu Meng\u00a0used to work\u00a0as a professional photographer for renowned newspapers and magazines in mainland China. During that time he had documented\u00a0many important political and cultural events, and\u00a0earned several national photography awards. Gradually his interests in photo journalism faded\u00a0and\u00a0\u201cIt\u00a0was the time for a change,\u201d\u00a0as the\u00a0artist said. Fu Meng\u00a0moved to Toronto in 2006 and\u00a0became a\u00a0graphic designer and also made\u00a0photographs of\u00a0different products for advertisements.\u00a0Just recently, after the opening of his own gallery in 2013, he started to reconsider the values of documentary photography. Between<\/em> is a product of that interest.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Fu Meng, Adam (348 Men Faces), Digital Print, 100 x 120 cm. Courtesy of the artist<\/p>\n

We tend to connect photography with cameras in a natural and take-for-granted manner. The responsibility of\u00a0the photographer is to\u00a0capture reality through the lens. However, after the emergence of digital photography, both digital cameras and scanners can be\u00a0used in capturing moments of everyday life. Fu\u00a0Meng is infatuated by the latter. He\u00a0utilizes the\u00a0scanner as a tool to express his perceptions on space, time and people.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>Fu Meng, Subway Top –\u00a060 Seconds,\u00a0Digital Print, 234 x 54 cm (top);\u00a0Subway – 20 Seconds, Digital Print, 300 x 70 cm (bottom). Courtesy of the artist<\/p>\n

None of the pieces in Between<\/em>\u00a0were produced\u00a0through a traditional photographic process. Fu Meng used scanning, extracting and other digital technologies\u00a0in creating these\u00a0photographs. Traditional photographic practices depict\u00a0a single moment. Moving away from them Fu\u00a0Meng aims to extends that single moment in order to capture the feeling of constant movement. This method also\u00a0enables\u00a0him to add some abstract and surreal elements to the otherwise realistic images. With the help of these digital technologies, spontaneous\u00a0movements were organized\u00a0into orderly compositions, such as \u201cShopping Mall – 60 Seconds\u201d and \u201cHigh Way – 120 Seconds\u201d. The passing of time\u00a0is visually captured, and the interaction between space and time\u00a0is interpreted in quite a post-modern and experimental way.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Fu Meng, Shopping Mall – 60 Seconds (left); High Way – 120 Seconds (right), each Digital Print, 234 x 75 cm. Courtesy of the artist\"\"<\/a>Fu Meng, Airport – 90 seconds, Digital Print, 234 x 65 cm. Courtesy of the artist<\/p>\n

Melancholy and solitude is deeply rooted in these experimental works. The artist’s\u00a0emotions and\u00a0thoughts are reflected upon enclosed places, faceless figures, and the mechanical movements of people. The frequent use of cold colors can also be viewed as a sign\u00a0of loneliness, alienation and monotony. As\u00a0Fu Meng\u00a0himself\u00a0said at the opening of Between<\/em>, he, as a professional photographer as well as an observer of city life, has paid close attention to the urban space of Toronto and its people. \u201cWhat lies between us\u201d is the core\u00a0question of Fu Meng\u2019s solo exhibition\u00a0but he has no intention to provide an answer.<\/p>\n

Daisy Li Meng<\/p>\n

*Exhibition Information: May\u00a01 –\u00a0 July 18, 2015,\u00a0IDO Art Gallery, 1-20 Wertheim Court, Richmond Hill. Gallery hours: Mon\u00a0– Sat, 10 am – 4 pm.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

by Daisy Li Meng<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u201cWhat lies between us\u201d is the core question of Fu Meng\u2019s solo exhibition but he has no intention to provide an answer.<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":29115,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[154,4,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-29120","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daisy-li-meng","category-features","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29120","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=29120"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29120\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":29143,"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/29120\/revisions\/29143"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/29115"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=29120"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=29120"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/v2.artoronto.ca\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=29120"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}