Sun, 14 March 2010
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Rong Rong’s latest exhibition in Barcelona reflects his love life intertwined with the process of devastation in China.BARCELONA - The large-scale photo portrays a couple who are celebrating a symbolic marriage, sat among the remains of the roof of a dilapidated house.
It is the Chinese photographer Rong Rong and his wife Inri. The house is his own, brought down by the process of destruction and reconstruction that is currently transforming China's main cities.
The image forms part of Rong Rong & inri. El poder de las ruinas. Entre destrucción and construcción de la ciudad global (Rong Rong & inri. The power of ruins. Between the destruction and construction of the global city), an exhibition running in Casa Asia in Barcelona until mid-January.
A total of 46 photos are on show, but the accompanying catalogue features more than 200, which constitute the complete series created by the couple.
The devastation caused by speculation and urban development are the main themes, along with the love story itself between Rong and Inri.
Constant evictions
"Rong Rong associates domestic life with the fragmentation of the city and the continuous evictions it suffers," explains Menene Gras, culture director at Casa Asia and the curator of the show.
Rong Rong came to fame in the early 1990s, thanks to his photos of performance artists Zhang Huan and Ma Luimin, and soon became a key figure in the avant-garde art of Beijing's East Village.
It was in 2000 that he began his collaboration with Inri, turning the pair into the protagonists of their own work. The results are poetic, carefully crafted photos, often taken with a remotely operated camera and featuring scenes of contemporary urban ruin.
Rong Rong & inri is on until January 11 at Casa Asia, Av. Diagonal 373, Barcelona. For more information, go to www.casaasia.es.
text: Roberta Bosco / El Pais
photo credit: Casa Asia
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