Nan Ke Gallery is pleased to announce its participation in PHOTOFAIRS Shanghai from May 8th to 11th. At Booth S08, the gallery will present works by two emerging artists of significance—Weiyi Hu and Di Yang—whose photography and video pieces explore themes of trauma, desire, and related existential inquiries.
Weiyi HuDream Body No. 4, 2025
Cyanotype on glass, LED light box, stainless steel bracket
291h x 163w x 20d cm
© Courtesy of the artist
In Dream Body No.4, Weiyi Hu draws from X-ray images of injured body parts, merging them with botanical and floral motifs through cyanotype techniques. The resulting photographic installation proposes a "post-human" imagination that transcends gender and species. The work not only echoes the vanitas tradition and the Buddhist concept of "skeleton contemplation" (báigǔ guān) but also interrogates contemporary ecological philosophy, prompting reflection on interspecies symbiosis and the boundaries of life.
Di Yang
Foaming Venus, 2023
1920 x 1080 2K Single Channel Video
10min 52sec
3+2AP
© Courtesy of the artist and actress Qing Wen
Di Yang
Foaming Venus 01, 2023
Hahnemühle Baryta Fine Art Giclée Print, Archival Acid-Free Mounting,
Natural White Seashell-Decorated Frame
64.5h × 86w cm / 78h × 100w cm (framed)
3+2AP
© Courtesy of the artist and actress Qing Wen
Di Yang’s video piece Foaming Venus depicts a girl singing in the shower, oscillating between her authentic self and the idealized persona of an idol. Her gaze seems to momentarily meet an imagined audience before dissolving into nothingness. Referencing the ever-evolving image of Venus in both pop culture and art history, the work examines how individuals are shaped and manufactured under the gaze and aesthetic pressures of modern society—ultimately fading away as fleetingly as a bubble.
Di Yang
Safe Word 03, 2021
Hahnemühle Baryta Fine Art Giclée Print, Archival Acid-Free Mounting,
Lead-Trimmed Frame
49.5h × 88w cm / 60h × 100w cm（framed）
5+2AP
© Courtesy of the artist
Di Yang’s other work, Safe Word, invites us to re-examine our relationship with society and, from a broader perspective, contemplate the future. Much like the Space Race during the Cold War, the distant and the unknown forever carry hope. It is as if these unattainable hopes allow us to forget our pain—as if the mere possibility of a fresh start makes the present, where we live like ants, endurable.
