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4 exhibitions at PHOTOFAIRS 2019 to get excited about

The art fair returns with works from emerging artists and masters of the medium

By Ellen Schaft Posted: Monday September 16 2019

One of the region's largest art fairs, PHOTOFAIRS is back this season for the sixth time, and as usual, is bringing works by photography masters from all over the world, as well as offering space for emerging artists to showcase their work. Going down at the Shanghai Exhibition Center, the event will bring pieces to China for the first time and explore how artists are using photography in new ways. Here are a few of this year’s highlights.

Spotlight: Marina Abramović’s ‘The Lovers’

Following showcases on Ren Hang and Hiroshi Sugimoto in 2017 and 2018 respectively, this year’s Spotlight celebrates pioneering performance artist and filmmaker Marina Abramović and her 1988 series ‘The Lovers’. Created in collaboration with then-partner Ulay, the series documents the pair’s trek across the Great Wall of China – each starting at different points and culminating with Abramović and Ulay meeting in the middle to end their relationship. As the first time the series is presented in Mainland China, Spotlight is bringing together the full set of 12 photographs, a two-channel video tracing each of their journeys and a video interview with Abramović.

Collectors’ Exhibition

‘It is so important for us to be part of the conversation on what photography means today and what constitutes a photograph,’ says Group Fair Director Georgia Griffiths. ‘Artists don’t just work in one medium. They have multifaceted practices and are using photography in new ways.’ That’s the focus behind this year’s Collectors’ Exhibition, a presentation from the University of Salford Art Collection with all eyes on digital arts and new technologies, as well an exploration into how artists look backward and reinterpret traditional techniques.

Insights: Fieldwork

The Insights portion of the fest takes a look at one important theme or moment in the development of photography. This year, curated by Claire Shea, deputy director of Para Site (Hong Kong), Fieldwork presents works from artists across the Asia Pacific region using photography to explore how landscape shapes histories and perception, including Motoyuki Shitamichi’s series ‘Torii’, which looks into how the significance of the gateways outside of Japan has changed (into a park bench, for example, or being destroyed altogether).

Exposure Award: Noémie Goudal

A new portion of the fair created in collaboration with Modern Eye, the Exposure Award gives space to a gallery and an experimental artist who hasn’t previously shown at PHOTOFAIRS. The inaugural award went to Galerie Les Filles du Calvaire (Paris) and visual artist Noémie Goudal. Catch her series ‘Démantèlements’, which deals with the topics of geology and how humanity in the past believed the world was formed.