LUO DAN WHEN TO LEAVE
Through JUNE 8, 2016

M97 GALLERY, 363 Changping Road, Building 4, 2nd Floor, Shanghai

M97 Gallery is pleased to announce the opening of our newest exhibition space in downtown Shanghai. After 10 years in the Moganshan Road arts district, we have moved closer to Shanghai's city center in a converted 1940’s factory space in Jing'an district designed and developed by the Anken Group. The new exhibition space gives M97 a platform with our artists to continue to explore the boundaries and possibilities of contemporary photographic arts today.

The inaugural exhibition is “When to Leave”, a new series of photographic works by Chengdu-based artist Luo Dan. “When To Leave” portrays large-format wet-plate collodion landscapes of desolate western regions in China. Innovating on this 19th-century photographic process, Luo Dan enlarges his works to the scale of 160cm (~60”) rendering with exquisite beauty and detail in a rarely seen large format.

Harnessing the weight and history of the photographic medium, Luo Dan's works reverberate with the power of time, place, process, and most importantly the idea of transcending time. The images not only present the viewer with intriguing desolate and primal landscapes but they also transmit the canons of historical photography. In contrast with 21st century photographic culture, with its almost desensitizing flow of digital image content, Luo Dan’s hand printed large-format images generate a new part-contemporary, part-historical viewing experience with convincing visual power.

"When To Leave" is Luo Dan's third solo exhibition at M97.