"The Peach Colony" series
Limn gallery is pleased to introduce Yang Yongliang's newest series of work, “The Peach Colony”.
The work in this series references The “Land of Peach Blossom”, a dominant symbol in Chinese culture. First appearing in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, it represents the ideal of ancient China when the literati were allowed to reside in seclusion in order to escape reality. It was a spiritual refuge where criticism of society gave way to a totally worry free state of mind.
Although it is centuries later, Yang Yongliang suggests in these works that people are still searching for this peace of mind. As modern China pursues a breakneck pace of development based on a culture of materialism, it has displaced its sense of spirituality. The romantic images Yang Yonliang recreates in these photographs juxtapose those two realms. In the foreground, we are returned to a world where human, animal and landscape exist in total harmony, an idyllic existence belied by the harsh reality of modern China taking place in the background. “The Peach Colony” extends Yang Yongliang's previous series, “Phantom Landscapes” (2007). The artist has spent the last three years researching and deliberating on this new series.
The work in this series references The “Land of Peach Blossom”, a dominant symbol in Chinese culture. First appearing in the Eastern Jin Dynasty, it represents the ideal of ancient China when the literati were allowed to reside in seclusion in order to escape reality. It was a spiritual refuge where criticism of society gave way to a totally worry free state of mind.
Although it is centuries later, Yang Yongliang suggests in these works that people are still searching for this peace of mind. As modern China pursues a breakneck pace of development based on a culture of materialism, it has displaced its sense of spirituality. The romantic images Yang Yonliang recreates in these photographs juxtapose those two realms. In the foreground, we are returned to a world where human, animal and landscape exist in total harmony, an idyllic existence belied by the harsh reality of modern China taking place in the background. “The Peach Colony” extends Yang Yongliang's previous series, “Phantom Landscapes” (2007). The artist has spent the last three years researching and deliberating on this new series.
