Sitting on the Wall: Haikou V

Weng Fen Chinese

Not on view

For Weng Fen, a schoolgirl serves as the avatar for a country in the throes of physical, social, economic, and political change—a collective self-portrait of China, and of the modern world. "These young girls are the mirrors of us," said Weng in a 2015 interview, before rising nationalism and a withdrawal from openness to the world took hold. "The distant cities are the by-products of modernization’s dream; in the eyes of people they represent civilization and modern progress. The city has become the religion of today. By calmly observing this ‘hyper-progress,’ I can then understand that men’s desires are the basis for social problems. The girls embody these desires, these needs. Through them, we are at the same time excited, puzzled, waiting."

Sitting on the Wall: Haikou V, Weng Fen (Chinese, born 1961), Chromogenic print

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