Shen Wei (photographer)

Shen Wei

Contact Sheet #169 for I Miss You Already
Born 1977
Shanghai, China
Known for Photography, Video, Mixed Media
Website www.shenphoto.com

Shen Wei (simplified Chinese: 沈玮; traditional Chinese: 沈瑋; pinyin: shěn wěi) is a Chinese artist known for his intimate portraits of others and himself, as well as his photographic exploration of contemporary China.

Born in Shanghai, China, Shen Wei lives in New York City. Having grown up in a shanty town in Yangpu District of Shanghai, he began his art training at an early age at a local Children's Palace.

Shen Wei’s work has been exhibited and published internationally. In 2007, American Photo magazine named Shen Wei one of the Top 15 Emerging Artists in the world.[1] In 2008, he was included in the Photo District News’ 30 photographers to watch list.[2] Shen Wei is the winner of 2012 Philadelphia Museum of Art Photography Portfolio Competition.[3]

Education

Shen Wei studied Decorative Art at Shanghai Light Industry College. Upon arrival in the US, He continued his study at Minneapolis College of Art and Design (MCAD) where he discovered photography through a course about Diane Arbus. After receiving a Bachelor in Fine Arts (photography) from MCAD, he moved to New York City for his Masters in Fine Arts study in photography, video and related media at the School of Visual Arts from which he graduated in 2006.

installation view.
Shen Wei's Table Setting series at the Museum of the City of New York's Moveable Feast exhibition. (March, 2011)

Major Projects

Shen Wei's first major project Almost Naked is a series of intimate and intense portraits[4] of people whom he met in New York City and during his travels around the US. Most of his sitters were strangers to him. The project explores sexuality and identity, and is a reaction to Shen Wei's strict and conservative upbringing.[5]

Shen Wei’s Chinese Sentiment series was photographed from 2008 to 2010 in Mainland China. The series is the artist’s personal journey to explore the authentic China, from both public and private perspectives.[5] The series shows a poetic and romantic side of China.[6] Consistent with Shen Wei's sensual and emotional style, the images are loving and keenly felt.[7] Shen Wei’s first monograph, Chinese Sentiment, with an introduction by Peter Hessler, was published by Charles Lane Press (New York) in May, 2011.[6]

Shen Wei started his series I Miss You Already during his Rockefeller Foundation Bellagio Center residency in Italy in 2009. The self-portrait series reveals his processes of self-reflection and discovery.[8] In this series, the artist appears nude or semi-nude in each photograph, often in a fairytale-like and evocative atmosphere[9] that creates a seductive and complex ambience.[10] The artist describes his series as a provocative way to explore his sense of security through understanding the tension between freedom and boundaries.[11]

During 2010-2011, Shen Wei was commissioned by Aperture Foundation for an innovative New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene program known as Green Cart. It provides underserved communities with access to fresh fruits and vegetables via hundreds of independently owned, mobile produce stands.[12] His project Table Setting was part of the exhibition Moveable Feast at the Museum of the City of New York in 2011.[12] His radiant still lifes of fruits and vegetables”[7] were highlighted in the reviews of The New Yorker[13] and The Wall Street Journal.[14]

Shen Wei’s most recent series "Invisible Atlas" combines photography and drawing, is his personal visual interpretation of how energy forms around and through the objects and bodies. The series was inspired by the Chinese philosophy of qi - an unseen life force and a method of healing.[15]

Public Collections

Selected Exhibitions

Solo Exhibitions:

Group Exhibitions:

References

  1. ↑ "Emerging Artists 2007". American Photo. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  2. ↑ "PDN's 30 2008". Photo District News. Retrieved 6 January 2013.
  3. ↑ "2012 PPhotography Competition 2014". The Women’s Committee of the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Retrieved 31 July 2012.
  4. ↑ Schuman, Aaron. "Critic's Choice By Aaron Schuman: Shen Wei". Saatchi Online Magazine. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  5. 1 2 "Shen Wei". Museum of Contemporary Photography. Retrieved 30 July 2012.
  6. 1 2 Bell, Adam. "Shen Wei Chinese Sentiment". Photo Eye Magazine. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  7. 1 2 Aletti, Vince (June 6, 2011). "GOINGS ON ABOUT TOWN: ART: SHEN WEI". The New Yorker. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  8. ↑ Baldwin, Rosecrans. "Shen Wei". themorningnews.org. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  9. ↑ Landi, Anne (May 10, 2012). "Double Exposure". ARTNews. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  10. ↑ Aletti, Vince (September 10, 2012). "GOINGS ON ABOUT TOWN: ART - Shen Wei". The New Yorker. Retrieved 8 October 2012.
  11. ↑ Baldwin, Rosecrans. "Chinese Sentiment". The Morning News. Retrieved 8 January 2013.
  12. 1 2 "Moveable Feast: Fresh Produce and the NYC Green Cart Program". Aperture Foundation. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  13. ↑ Aletti, Vince (May 23, 2011). "CRITIC'S NOTEBOOK: FOOD FOR THOUGHT". The New Yorker. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  14. ↑ MEYERS, WILLIAM (May 23, 2011). "Moveable Feast: Fresh Produce and the NYC Green Cart Program". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 28 July 2012.
  15. ↑ "INVISIBLE ATLAS: A VISUAL INTERPRETATION OF QI". http://en.sinovision.net/. SinoVision. Retrieved 4 February 2015. External link in |website= (help)
  16. ↑ "MoMA/Collection/Shen Wei". MoMA. Retrieved 30 December 2012.
  17. ↑ "Shen Wei". http://www.mocp.org/. Museum of Contemporary Photography. Retrieved 4 February 2015. External link in |website= (help)
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