Lang Shuilong is Professor of photography at Shanghai University

display at Shanghai Minsheng Art Museum for the “2016 John Moores Painting Prize (China) Exhibition

The First Prize Winner of the John Moore’s China as created paintings that are reminiscent of cyanotypes or man ray’s rayographs. These photo images are created by leaving objects on the paper, playful silhouettes, layerings and etc of these one to one images posses a playful enchantment mixed with an enigmatic proximity and absence of objects. Shuilong paintings repeat this quality with the crucial difference that light is replaced with physical material. This fine dust, composed of cement and other materials, is the product of China’s extraordinary building boom. Two elements brought out and exploited are; the replacement of light as the concrete subject of photography and the surface of the photographs material surface, which is often forgotten in discourse or becomes invisible in uncritical popular mass consumption.

A physical record of the sheer quantity of material suspended in the air.

Extraordinary times.

Silhouettes and loss – Tools direct correlation for the artist to the tool of the farmer.

Distinct differences. Solarisations, softer forms. More control as the process would take more time, 50 to 60 layers…

Chinese cocertertina book –

Expression-

Reinvigorated the dialogue between photography and painting. And innovation of materials. Subtle and light layering of material. (shades, hues).  Time, duration. Watchful painterly concern.

Idexicial, textures sometimes like egg shell, reminds of Antoni Tapies paintings with marble dust that often recall impressions of objects or drawings in wet sand, layers, innovations of glue fixative,

Tea

Opens the potential for the material and weight of images.  

• Wang Wang, paintings

Liverpool pictures, oil on photo-paper, shown at Liverpool John Moore’s University, His work is included in the John Moore’s Painting Prize China also on show at the Walker Gallery