MIAO XIAOCHUN (B.1964), CHINESE
MIRAGE, 2004

Eight panel digital C-print panorama digitally knit together on braced aluminum; signed in English and Chinese, dated 2004, titled in English and Chinese and numbered SS 4/8 to label verso, inscribed "Toronto Image #22607/ FP4" and annotated in black marker verso.

27.6 ins x 122 ins; 70 cms x 310 cms

Provenance:
Collection of John and Manuela Wee Tom, Ontario, purchased at the exhibition: "The Constructed Image: Photographic Culture," held at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (Mocca), Toronto from May 3 - Jun 4, 2007. Accompanied by the exhibition catalogue.

Exhibited:
Exhibited in the group exhibition: "The Constructed Image: Photographic Culture" curated by David Liss and Bonnie Rubenstein held at the Museum of Contemporary Canadian Art (Mocca), Toronto from May 3 - Jun 4, 2007.



Literature:
A detail illustrated in the catalogue: "Contact, Toronto Photography Festival," May 1- 31, 2007, p. 22 accompanying the lot.

Note:
This panorama cityscape depicts Xiaochun’s hometown of Wuxi, in Jiangsu province, and was taken at the top of Huishan, a famous hill in the city. Xiaochun was struck by the rapid urban densification of Wuxi, with high-rise buildings seeming to abruptly engulf the ancient city within a few years. Xiaochun titled the photograph Haishi shenlou, translating to "a city in the ocean with pavilions made of seashells." In a 2004 interview, he explainsexplains that “it seems that all those modern buildings you see from the hilltop shouldn't be there, but they've suddenly emerged before your eyes, like a mirage in the ocean or desert. I use the phrase haishi shenlou to indicate the seemingly surreal feeling of such modern architecture in the East.”

In 'Mirage', the two cable cars in the foreground each carry a single passenger. The descending car holds the artist with his back turned to the viewer, while the ascending car carries “He,” a life-sized mannequin, attired in traditional Chinese garb and bearing the artist's own facial features. “He” first appeared in Xiaochun’s art during his time enrolled in an exchange program in Kassel, Germany, and represents both the artist and China's highest cultural traditions. Per Victor M. Cassidy, writing for Artnet, the earliest iterations of the concept, photographed in Germany, “suggest the artist's cultural isolation and his frequent inability to communicate his emotions in a foreign language.” In 2002, Xiaochun began placing “He” in panoramic photographs taken in China, which he stitched together using digital technology, a nod to China's painting traditions. To make Mirage, Xiaochun recalls that "I climbed the hill day after day, using two tripods to support a large-format camera with an enormous lens. The guard on the hill got to know me quite well."


Estimate: $10,000—15,000