“Mo Yi: Me in My Landscape” represents the first institutional survey of the Chinese artist, Mo Yi (b. 1958, Shaanxi). An outsider and an autodidact photographer, Mo Yi’s images of the streets have become iconic for capturing the energy and melancholy of China’s evolving social fabric at the turn of the century. Working in a variety of registers over his four-decade career, Mo Yi has consistently surprised and challenged viewers, revisiting the visual syntax of his times to critique the function of art and draw attention to the socialized nature of vision. At first glance, his early photographs of public transport, pedestrian crossings, parks, and shopping streets may seem like “traditional” documents. Despite their familiar content, many of these pictures were made in experimental ways, and Mo Yi’s innovative methodologies set him apart from other photographers of the late 1980s and 1990s. Although little-known to the general public, and only seldom recognized in specialist circles, his work played a critical role in the development of Chinese conceptual photography. 

The exhibition presents black-and-white as well as color photographs from his major series including “1m - The Scenery Behind Me” (1988), “Landscape Outside the Bus” (1995), “I am a Street Dog” (1995), “Dancing Streets” (1998), and “Red Streets” (2003), along with numerous self-portraits (1987-2003). To enhance the understanding of Mo Yi’s artistic process, select archival materials, including handmade artist books, personal journals, and original contact sheets, are exhibited for the first time alongside the photographic installations.

Mo Yi rethinks the possibilities of social documentary photography and ruminates on the question of whether photography can properly be art. Some of his best-known works employ inventive methods for taking pictures. In “1m - Scenery Behind Me” and “I am a Street Dog, ” the artist placed the camera behind his neck, or fixed it to a stick to allow him to photograph at ground level while walking. These roaming street experiments defied documentary traditions, where value is placed on particular ideas of technical precision, pictorial composition, and authorship. Mo Yi’s work and approach suggest that, like a musician or a painter, the photographer can move with their medium and engage emotion, feeling, and gesture, rather than exclusively relying on their eyes. He also challenges the idea of the photographic image as a singular document, sometimes using groups of pictures to represent a subject. Seen today, these groupings serve as both archival records and expanded expressions of a special historical moment.

“Mo Yi: Me in My Landscape” is curated by UCCA Curator Holly Roussell, and co-organized by UCCA Center for Contemporary Art and Rencontres d’Arles International Photography Festival. Exclusive wall solutions support is provided by Dulux. UCCA thanks the members of UCCA Foundation Council, International Circle, and Young Associates, as well as Lead Partner Aranya, Lead Art Book Partner DIOR, Lead Imaging Partner vivo, Presenting Partner Bloomberg, and Supporting Partners AIA, Barco, Dulux, Genelec, SKP Beijing, and Stey.

On the occasion of the exhibition’s opening weekend, UCCA Curator Holly Roussell will present a guided tour of the exhibition, “Mo Yi: Me in My Landscape,” introducing iconic series such as “1m – The Scenery Behind Me” (1988), “Landscape Outside the Bus” (1995), “I am a Street Dog” (1995), “Dancing Streets” (1998), “Red Street” (2003), and more, as well as primary archival materials to elucidate this footballer-turned-artist’s significance within the global history of photography and Chinese experimental art. Additionally, Professor Yang Yunchang, Assistant Professor of Sociology at Peking University, has been invited to speak on the development of contemporary Chinese photography against urbanization in China. His talk will also include an interpretation of urban development.

UCCA Kids has curated a series of art workshops inspired by "Mo Yi: Me in My Landscape." These  thematic courses guide young participants through an appreciation of  the artist Mo Yi’s early representative photographic works, focusing on his challenge to conventional photographic perspectives and his innovative exploration of form. These workshops aim to encourage children to explore the diverse possibilities between artist and medium in the realm of art photography. By engaging with Mo Yi's unique perspectives and techniques, participants will gain insight into his reflections on societal changes and his deep empathy for humanity. Led by skilled art instructors,  the children will venture into urban communities, encouraged to capture vibrancy in street scenes and people through spontaneous observation. In doing so, they will  move beyond traditional photographic methods to create personalized works through photography, collage, and mixed media painting.

For more information, please visit the official UCCA Kids WeChat account.

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