Vital Gift Exclusion

RongRong's Diary: Beijing East Village presents a selection of images and diary entries made by Chinese photographer RongRong (born 1968) between 1993 and 1998, within the artistic community known as Beijing East Village—now poignantly described as “a meteor in the history of contemporary Chinese art.” RongRong’s acutely composed, richly expressive images captured scenes of daily life among fellow young, aspiring artists, and created definitive documents of iconic performance works by Zhang Huan and Ma Liuming, among others. Often highly challenging works, their performances and photographs would send an instant shockwave throughout the Chinese avant-garde, and later the global art scene. Revisiting these texts and images anew for this publication, RongRong has composed a personal narrative of an artist coming into his own. Beijing East Village also serves as an invaluable firsthand record of a burgeoning artistic community, its precarious political context and the real lives behind a pivotal moment in Chinese contemporary art.

PUBLISHER: STEIDL/THE WALTHER COLLECTION, NEW YORK/THREE SHADOWS PHOTOGRAPHY ART CENTRE

BOOK FORMAT: Clth, 8.25 x 10.25 in. / 248 pgs / 124 bw.

PUBLISHING STATUS: Pub Date 8/20/2019

DISTRIBUTION: D.A.P. Exclusive
Catalog: FALL 2019 p. 129

ISBN: 9783958295926

• Published by Jiazazhi
• Size：233mm x 70mm x 68mm
• Hardcover with silk-screen printing
• Box includes 3D glasses, 66 pieces of 3D cards, and a booklet
• Second edition of 1200
• Published in May 2018

Sanmao: author, adventurer, pioneer. Born in China in 1943, she moved from Chongqing to Taiwan, Spain to Germany, the Canary Islands to Central America, and, for several years in the 1970s, to the Sahara.

Leafing through the pages of National Geographic as a young girl growing up in Taiwan, Sanmao became enchanted by the infinite and wonderous landscape of the Sahara. Years later, in 1974, she sets out for the Spanish desert territory of El Aaiún in hopes of becoming the first female explorer to cross the hauntingly beautiful expanse. Her boyfriend José would have to wait, or join her. He packs his things, leaves Madrid, and asks Sanmao to marry him.

Stories of the Sahara invites us into Sanmao's extraordinary life in the desert: her experiences of love and loss, freedom and peril, all told with a voice as spirited as it is timeless. At a period when China was beginning to look beyond its borders, Sanmao fired the imagination of millions and inspired a new generation.

Translated by Mike Fu.

Material: Paperback

Product Dimensions: 234 x 153 mm

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing, 1st Edition, April 2, 2020

ISBN: 9781408881880

For this book, there are two editions. One is paperback, and the other one is hardcover. A few images repeats in these two.

Artist's statement:

This project is about elderly woman wearing facekini on the beach. Facekini is something like bikini but is covering the face.

Many people may think these images are funny. Sure, humor is a part of my intention, but it’s far from my ultimate purpose. In this project, I try to explore a kind of self-gazing with some surreal, dramatic, and humorous portraits of Chinese. This is very similar to the current situation in China, where society is full of surreal landscape. This project attempts to document these fleeting things.

These masks are hand-made by themselves, which are made of tattered vest, rag or swimsuits, and even cloth from useless pants, so you won't find one same mask on the beach.

Each facekini consists of different fabric materials. You may think it's very artistic. They will consider whether the mask goes well with their swimsuit.

In fact, they also know that others may find it ridiculous and strange. But they say the main function of facekini is for UV protection, as well as the offshore pollution in recent years. And more jellyfish attack human. It can avoid getting hurt when wearing a facekini. It also represents another layer of meaning: if you look around the beach, young girls don't wear facekini, men neither. Only middle-aged and elderly women wear mask. So, I think another reason is that these middle-aged and elderly women are ashamed of exposing their aging and deformed bodies. Wearing mask will make them much more comfortable and confident. I still don't know what these people I've photographed look like.

Author: Peng Yangjun

Format:

150mm X 190mm X 25mm, 252 pages, paperback

There are two editions of Facekini - paperback and hardcover.

Artist's statement:

This project is about elderly woman wearing facekini on the beach. Facekini is something like bikini but is covering the face.

Many people may think these images are funny. Sure, humor is a part of my intention, but it’s far from my ultimate purpose. In this project, I try to explore a kind of self-gazing with some surreal, dramatic, and humorous portraits of Chinese. This is very similar to the current situation in China, where society is full of surreal landscape. This project attempts to document these fleeting things.

These masks are hand-made by themselves, which are made of tattered vest, rag or swimsuits, and even cloth from useless pants, so you won't find one same mask on the beach.

Each facekini consists of different fabric materials. You may think it's very artistic. They will consider whether the mask goes well with their swimsuit.

In fact, they also know that others may find it ridiculous and strange. But they say the main function of facekini is for UV protection, as well as the offshore pollution in recent years. And more jellyfish attack human. It can avoid getting hurt when wearing a facekini. It also represents another layer of meaning: if you look around the beach, young girls don't wear facekini, men neither. Only middle-aged and elderly women wear mask. So, I think another reason is that these middle-aged and elderly women are ashamed of exposing their aging and deformed bodies. Wearing mask will make them much more comfortable and confident. I still don't know what these people I've photographed look like.

Artist: Peng Yangjun 彭杨军

• 225mm X 330mm X 10mm,
• 80 pages
• Signed by artist

Product Details:

• 9.5" x 13.5"
• 112 pages, 60lb.
• Uncoated Test Weight Paper
• Two signatures, each sewn with dyed wax thread
• 80lb French Speckletone cover paper
• 80lb French Kraft sleeve titled with rubber stamps on cover and interior spine
• Handbound
• Edition of 30

Artist: Fung Cheung