Third Front, by Chen Jiagang
Please give me your hand, where is your hand? I only saw the lure foot behind the age-old wall and your silhouette that has disappeared – Chen Jiagang
ChinaSquare is a new gallery, located in the heart of the art scene in New York City, Chelsea. As one could guess from the name, ChinaSquare focuses on Chinese contemporary artwork including photography. Browsing the site I found the work of Chen Jiagang, a Chinese photographer who has impressive photography and just published a beautiful book “Third Front“.
This work shows abandoned factories in China, the ”Third Front“, located in the Southwestern provinces of Guizhou, Sichuan and Yunnanthat. These sites hosted millions of workers during the 1960’s-1980’s to exploit the natural resources in the area but were rapidly closed after government reforms in the 1980’s shifted the country towards a market driven economy. In few years these factories lost their significance and workers went back to their own towns, leaving behind empty factories and sparsely populated cities that originally were created to sustain the industrial effort.
The work of Chen Jiagang captures the industrial left overs that still remain in the region. The series, being the first large body of work of Chen Jiagang, is beautiful, majestic and melancholic at the same time. Extremely well composed photography that captures the essence of the region and now has been published in a beautiful book.
The third Front will be exhibited at the Edwynn Houk Gallery in New York, between September 11 and October 18th.
Miguel, thanks for linking Chen Jiagang’s work. Really great photography here. I started reading your blog a few months back and thought I’d finally stop by to say I love your blog. It’s full of good content – the kind that makes me coming back everytime.
Keep up the good work!
Hello Patrice,
Thanks very much for leaving a message. I visited your blog and I will follow it from now on. Great content.
Best wishes and thanks again.
Miguel