Chen Jiagang’s abandoned Chinese landscapes

Artist Chen Jiagang’s large format photographs explore the contrast of the landscape of cold-war China with the country’s shifting contemporary identity.

On at Oeno Gallery in Prince Edward County as part of their 10th anniversary exhibition, Jiagang’s shots were taken in restricted areas of China, using a customized 24×24 inch negative print camera.

Each abandoned industrial landscape features a female figure, “suspended in the image with a translucent presence,” the gallery’s exhibition notes say. “The women resurrect a sense of humanity in this lost industrial space, formerly worked by men isolated from their families.”

Chen Jiagang’s evocative photographs have been exhibited worldwide, including in Canada, the U.S.,  France, Italy, Spain, Switzerland, England and China. Jiagang is an important cultural innovator. He is founder of the first private contemporary art museum in China, and in 1999, was named by the United Nations as one of 12 “Outstanding Young Architects.”

Update 2023 – Chen Jiagang no longer appears to have a website, although there are numerous references to him on art gallery sites.