Detail of Sakura 15, 109" wide x 16" high

The blooming of Japanese Sakura (cherry blossom) marks the change of the seasons from winter to spring.  However they also symbolize the transience of life (mujo) and play a tremendous role in Japanese culture and ritual.

In April 2009 Doug Fogelson traveled to Japan with the express purpose of photographing Sakura during the blooming process.  His journey began in Tokyo then on to Yoshino Mountain, historically the most revered area of the country for Hanami (or cherry blossom viewing), and finished in Kyoto as the last petals fell.  At Yoshino native Sakura trees climb far up a winding mountain valley.  As altitude increases the temperature difference affects the bloom so that flowers open successively to the highest grove near the top (where the poet Saigyo [1118-1190] lived for years lovingly admiring the trees)

The series of images shown exclusively at Pagoda Red lead the viewer through the seasons and metaphorically through the changes in life–from winter to spring; from early budding to full bloom, to mature leaf.

Artist Bio:

Doug Fogelson uses an iconoclastic multiple exposure technique in order to depict our collective surroundings, producing imagery that reflects our own alien experience of nature, as well as the distanced perspective of the viewer.  His images are the result of overlapping multiple exposures along the film within the camera at the time of shooting.  Fogelson’s art depicts a measured study of time, complexitiy, and space to be found when scenes correspond and multiply.  The viewer becomes enmeshed in the variegated forms captured by the photographer’s eye and via the machine of the camera.

Fogelson’s process takes a stance between motion picture and still photography as his images are often shot with changing vantage points of the scenes depicted and overlapped along the film.  Movement is  displayed-both of photographer and subject-yet a cognitive sense of the subject in consideration is rooted in time and perhaps personal reflection or memory.

Born in Chicago in 1970, Doug Fogelson studied at Columbia College and the Art Institute of Chicago,  receiving his BFA in 1994.  He has been recognized by numerous publications including Art News, Focus, and Photo District News, and his work is included in prominent museum, corporate, and private collections.  Fogelson exhibits in galleries, museums, and public spaces around the world.

More from the collection:

Sakura 3, 30" wide x 20" high

Sakura 17, 30" wide x 18" high

Sakura 6, 70" wide x 20" high

Sakura 8, 80" wide x 15.5" high

Sakura installation at Pagoda Red

“Origin,” Qi Jin’s raw and graceful work is a study of the origins of life.   It is hand carved from solid white marble, chosen for its pristine beauty as well as its elemental nature. “Origin” has three separate parts which can be understood as three “eggs.” This concept is further reinforced by the “yolk” highlighted by a light within each egg that radiates through a pierced vine design suggesting shell like fragility and presenting a pattern that is organic and eternal.
 
“Origin” was also designed for sitting.  The origin of civilized life is marked by moments when elements of nature were crafted into useful tools.  Parallel to those moments, function drove innovation which gave birth to many examples of prehistoric art that reveal the deep human need for beauty.
 
The Chinese tradition of appreciating stones as sculpture began during the 17th century when Chinese artists collected unusual stones in their studios to inspire their work.  “Scholars’ Rocks” were titled, carefully mounted and often painted on scrolls or referenced in poetry.   
 
With “Origin”, Qi Jin effectively communicates that depending on perspective, a stone can be an unnoticed part of the natural world, a light, a seat or even a work of art.  Whether interpreted as stones, eggs, seats, lanterns or sculptures, “Origin” conceptually and functionally blurs the boundaries between nature and art.

Qi Jin earned her M.A. in Design from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing, the premier fine arts institute in China.

“Origin”

Qi Jin

Beijing, China

2009

Marble

Print

I hope the images carry some message, but a vague one…there’s a trace of abstraction in my paintings even though the subjects are all rather concrete.

Ren Hui, 2006

Born in Nanjing in 1957, Ren Hui describes himself as a “low-profile person.” At the age of twenty, he joined the army but refrained from registering as a Communist. Army life did not suit him well. “I was not a good soldier,” he says, “as I wasn’t proactive enough.”

After three years, he left the army and found work as a steel-cutter in the Nanjing Ocean Shipping Fitting Factory. A factory worker’s uniform fit him as poorly as a soldier’s, and he spent much of his time reading classic novels and writing unpublished articles. In the mid 1980s, Ren Hui left factory work for good. He embarked on a long bicycle ride across central China-from Nanjing to Tibet-taking photographs and visually documenting the life he saw around him.

When he returned from his trip, Ren Hui stopped wandering and started painting. Artwork gave him the sense of purpose he had lacked in other lines of work. “I feel more at ease when painting,” he says. At first he created woodcarvings and paper cuttings. Later, he developed the method of dot painting for which he is known today. Painstakingly created from layers of paint applied in various densities, the circles that fill his paintings reference the dot matrix that underlies a photograph.

Ren Hui’s subjects range from friends and family to political figures. “My work reflects life,” he says, “We have family, friends, ourselves, history, culture, trees, flowers, buildings, demolition-all of which are reflected in my work. This is our life.”

Ai Weiwei-China’s famous artist, curator, and social commentator-compiled an exhibition of Ren Hui’s work in 2006 for the China Art and Archives Warehouse in Beijing. This exhibition, along with others in Germany and the United States, introduced Ren Hui to an international audience. He currently lives and works in Songzhuang Artist Village, a community of avant-garde artists on the outskirts of Beijing.