MA YONGFENG
THE CRETACEOUS PERIOD

28 JULY - 16 SEPTEMBER 2007

RECEPTION FOR THE ARTIST: SATURDAY 28 JULY 2PM - 5PM

Ma Yongfeng describes his photographic work and video installations as ”relating to aspects of animal culture, man-made environments and topographic modelling”. His five-month residency in the UK took place in Manchester and at ArtSway, in collaboration with the Chinese Arts Centre in Manchester.

For three months in Manchester, the artist spent the majority of his time travelling the UK visiting numerous zoos and museums, conducting exhaustive research relating to all aspects of Natural History. Subsequently at ArtSway and for this exhibition, the artist has focused on a significant period in Earth’s history, a period that lends itself to the title of his exhibition: The Cretaceous Period. The exhibition takes the form of two video works and three large-scale photographs. These images examine the cretaceous period in relation to the artist’s continuing research into natural history, animal culture and fossil archaeology alongside his interest in archaeological simulations, geographical models and displays in natural history museums. One image included in the exhibition depicts a miniature volcano, complete with authentic looking lava that the artist constructed in his studio in Beijing. This working volcano is also featured in one of two video works in The Cretaceous Period, and comments upon the relationship between artificial environments, natural habitats and aesthetics.

Ma Yongfeng was born in Shanxi, China in 1971 and is a media artist currently based in Beijing. He has exhibited widely across Europe, the United States and China – most recently in Chinese Video Now at the John Hansard Gallery, The Fragmented Gaze: Video Art from the PRC at Deborah Colten Gallery, Houston TX, and Becoming Landscape, Platform China Contemporary Art Institute, Beijing.

GALLERY TALK: SATURDAY 28 JULY 3PM:
Join Rob La Frenais, curator at the Arts Catalyst and Peter Bonnell, ArtSway Exhibitions & Education Officer, in conversation with Ma Yongfeng as the artist discusses the link between science and art in his work, and his experiences of being in residence at ArtSway. FREE

GALLERY TALK: WORK IN CONTEXT (GEOLOGY): THURSDAY 6 SEPTEMBER 7PM:
Dr Derek Siviter, Oxford University Museum of Natural History will talk about the presentation of geological findings in the natural history museum, with visual representations of fossils from China and the UK. New fossil discoveries in China record the earliest diversification of animal life, and those from the UK are presented as ‘virtual fossils’, and have been obtained by micro-grinding, digital photographic, and computer rendering techniques. FREE Booking essential

In partnership with the Chinese Arts Centre