Mi amigo Tom que vive en Los Angeles fue el pasado domingo a ver la exposición del fotógrafo chino Ren Hang y me dijo que nunca había visto algo tan crudo y real en su vida. Es curioso porque esa sensación de "crudeza" también la tuve yo al ver las fotos on line. Las fotos de Hang están prohibidas en su país precisamente por no poner límites ni censura a su poesía visual.
Retrata a sus amigos desnudos, en oscuras y depravadas posiciones sexuales, con otros compañeros en poses sensuales, contra bellos paisajes. Las fotos de Ren Hang son explícitas, eróticas, un poco turbias, crudas, desquiciadas... judgad vosotros mismos.
Photographer Ren Hang has certainly made a name for himself. In art circles around the world as photography's new blood, shooting his friends in the nude and avoiding the arm of the law back in his homeland of China – where his name is known for a different reason. Notably, to the authorities who are hell bent on censoring him – even threatening him with arrest. “They won’t bother my lifestyle, but they will arrest me if I’m taking pictures outside,” says the Beijing-born artist. For the moment, he’s in LA at MAMA gallery where his work has just gone on display in an exhibition titled 2014, his first in the city.
Como os dije antes su obra está censurada en China pero tiene una gran repercusión en exposiciones internacionales. Ren Hang nació en la provincia de Jilin, en la ciudad de Chang Chun, en China. Vive y trabaja en Beijing. En 2010 Ren fue galardonado con el Third Annual Terna Prize for Contemporary Art. Su trabajo ha sido expuesto y publicado extensamente en libros y revistas en China y en el extranjero. Sus libros individuales incluyen: REN HANG, and ROOM (2011). Su obra cuida mucho la puesta en escena, aunque alude a la espontaneidad y la instantaneidad. Estas fotografías íntimas exploran la sexualidad y el fetichismo de la moderna subcultura juvenil contemporánea en China.
"Its pictures’ politics have nothing to do with China. It’s Chinese politics that wants to interfere with my art,” he says. “China doesn’t allow outdoor nudity. I’m very careful about taking pictures outside. If I see police, I’ll run. But I’m not hiding as I’m taking pictures.” Although Hang is new gen (born in 1987) his determination mimics that of his fellow Beijing creatives, such as Ai Weiwei, who, co-curated a show with Hang in 2013. Weiwei uses his art for activism, employing mixed media to advocate for human rights and oppression and was thrown in jail in 2011 for 81 days – he's now banned from leaving China at all. “I care that the government want to limit me. Of course I don’t want to go to jail, but I don’t think there’s a way to fix that,” says Hang.
Estas fotos que veis llevaron a Hang a pasar 81 días en la carcel en los que se reforzó en su idea de seguir fotografiando con libertad como muestra no sólo de rebeldía sino de mostrar una China diferente a los cánones oficiales. Actualmente el gobierno le tiene prohibida su salida del país pero eso no impide que muchas galerías de arte internaciones expongan sus obras para darlas a conocer al mundo entero.
Yo confieso que podría pasar toda una tarde viendo sus fotos. Tienen algo de magnético que me atraen; no sé quizás son un poco gamberras o me recuerden a algunos fotógrafos de la movida española de los 80: irreverentes y geniales al mismo tiempo.
For Hang, he's keen to reassert that his work isn't about politics. “China has had little influence to me. If I was born in America, I would like American models. If I was born in England, I would pick English models. When I take a picture, I’m not sure what I want. It’s only when I see the picture that I realise what I want.” Intertwining the nude with nature, Hang’s images are recognisable as a jumble of bodies, limbs, flowers and plants. Previously we’ve seen hands reaching down milky thighs, a limp penis flop onto a watermelon and a series of backsides imitating a mountain range. “It’s more natural if they’re not wearing clothes,” he muses on his fascination between the two elements.
A pesar de la censura gubernamental y el rechazo de la sociedad china hacia su obra, Hang mantiene su amor y lealtad hacia China pues ha confesado mantener una gran conexión con su pueblo. Incluso, ha afirmado que sus fotografías no representan una crítica hacia el gobierno comunista, no contienen un discurso disruptivo ni las entiende como elemento transgresor de la cultura, tan sólo es su mirada hacia el arte del desnudo, el acomodo de los cuerpos y la interacción del ser humano con el exterior. Hang, quien ha trabajado en múltiples ocasiones con el artista disidente Ai Weiwei, mantiene la voluntad de seguir con su trabajo artístico, pues las restricciones y las limitaciones que enfrenta tan sólo refuerzan sus deseos para que su país acepte quién es Hang, entienda y aprecie su trabajo.
His latest work, 2014, explores the ‘optics’ of camouflage where bodies disappear beneath lily pads, arms multiply like Hindu gods and plumes of pink smoke escape from a woman's privates: “When you look at them, they look like they should be together.” For Hang, this really is just a bunch of limbs in front of a camera. There's no statement to be made. No fight to be had against the institutions that govern him. Here, in Hang's world, nudity and nature go hand-in-hand and that's all there is to it.
Beijing-based photographer Ren Hang's images are uncensored, erotic, dirty, raw, and many would say even deranged. His work is censored in China but he has a growing list of international shows. He's pretty badass and doesn't seem to have a limit.
There are two faces to the way he approaches his photographs, some are staged whilst others appear candid snapshots, blurring the line between reality and fantasy.
