Four Dimensions Hong Kong Arts Centre Until December 29
Part of the Hong Kong Photo Festival 2010, Four Dimensions revisits a seminal exhibition held at the Arts Centre in 1994 that was one of the very first in the world to consider photography in Hong Kong, the mainland and Taiwan together.
This time it's a more subdued event, showing the rise of the mainland as a force in contemporary photography, with Hong Kong and Taiwan maintaining the status quo.
Taiwanese artist Chen Chien-jen's The Route (2006, below), shown around the world, is a fine example of a contemporary documentary combining a political orientation with a clever fictional approach towards the Jade Neptune strikes in Kaohsiung, Taiwan.
Two interesting examples from young Hong Kong photographers are Ki Wong's Moon's Perspective II - Family Portraits and a group work from Baptist University's art programme Local Artists titled Solos Production. While both series continue the inward-looking obsession of much Hong Kong art, Wong's circular portraits - based on the silhouette drawing technique - are touching and elegantly executed while Local Artists presents tableaux showing trained artists in menial jobs.
But the show is dominated by strong documentary projects from the mainland. Zhang Hui and Dan'er's Yumen is a fine example of research-based art. Here the artists, working over a five-year period, have closely documented the decay and degradation of the first domestic oil fields on the mainland.