source: leoxuprojects
Unlike many of the first generation of Chinese contemporary photographers whose photographs are technically documentation of performances and installations, Chen Wei (b. 1980, in Chinese 陈维) and his contemporaries are giving the voice back to the medium and forging their idiosyncratic languages that are informed and inspired by western masters like Jeff Wall, Cindy Sherman, Gregory Crewdson, etc.
With cinematic settings, Chen Wei’s photos reveal dreamscapes that capture impossible movement in everyday life and residues of histories. Modern and contemporary literatures have served as his reference and inspiration.
Chen has exhibited extensively around the world, including Seoul Museum of Art, Museum of Art, Museum of Contemporary Art Shanghai, Pingyao International Photography Festival, Poznan Biennale, etc.
Chen Wei was awarded the 1st Asia Pacific Photography Prize at ShContemporary Art Fair, in Shanghai, in 2011. A solo exhibition of his was presented in Yokohama Creative City Center (YCC), in Yokohama, Japan, in October 2011.
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source: 500photographersblogspot
Chen Wei, 1980, is a Chinese fine-art and conceptual photographer based in Beijing. He builds large installations to photograph. His narrative images show bizarre spaces, scenes and objects that leave the viewer wondering. Chen uses his personal memories, childhood fantasies and combines this with realities found in modern China. He assembles all the required objects in his studio and starts building his scenes. “Chen Wei illustrates an intricate imagination fascinated with the eccentric and fanciful pursuits of early science, mathematics, alchemy, philosophers and madmen.” (M97 Gallery) His work has been shown in several solo exhibitions and in a vast number of group exhibitions throughout the world. The following images come from the series Everyday, Scenery and Props, House of Recovery and The Augur’s Game.
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source: oldskullnet
Chen Wei nació en 1980 en China, Beijing. Sus proyectos muestran imágenes en espacios extraños, escenarios y objetos que dejan al espectador pensando. Chen utiliza sus recuerdos personales y las fantasías infantiles, todo ello combinado con la realidad que se encuentran en la China moderna. Reúne todos los objetos necesarios en su estudio y comienza a construir sus escenas, mostrando una imaginación compleja a la hora de recrear sus escena.
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source: sammlung-zimmermann

Der chinesische Künstler Chen Wei (geboren 1980) entwickelt bereits früh seine ganz eigene photographische Bildsprache. Im Gegensatz zu den meisten anderen Photokünstlern seiner Generation schafft er das Dargestellte selbst und inszeniert in seinem Studio bis auf das kleinste Detail die Kulissen für seine Photographien. In diesem Sinne orientiert er sich an Künstlern wie Jeff Wall, Cindy Sherman oder Thomas Demand.

In seinen Arbeiten lässt Chen Wei sich vor allem von ganz persönlichen Erinnerungen und Phantasien leiten. Darüber hinaus findet er Anregungen in der Literatur und Filmgeschichte, Alchemie, Philosophie oder lässt sich von Geisteskranken inspirieren. Dementsprechend ist seine oftmals surreal wirkende Bildsprache aufgeladen durch so unterschiedliche Elemente wie zerbrochene Spiegel, ausgestopfte Tiere, Bienen, Wachs oder Bücher, die durch die Luft fliegen – oftmals unterlegt mit einem sehr schwarzen Humor.

Seit 2008 stellt er international aus, wie zum Beispiel im CAFA Art Museum oder Today Art Museum in Peking, Museum of Contemporary Art in Shanghai, der 3. Guangzhou Photo Biennale oder im Guangdong Museum of Art in Guangzhou.