The avant-garde of photography in China in Mo Yi's shots

Mo Yi is an experimental and avant-garde photographer who has challenged the documentary tradition, rigid technical precision and ideas of composition-authorship inherent in Chinese photography. Throughout his prolific career as an outsider he has experimented with different styles, always favoring the search for his own alternative potential and that of the medium, the camera. He created images without looking through the viewfinder and by placing the camera behind his neck, or attached to a stick to allow him to photograph at ground level while he walked. UCCA Beijing presents Mo Yi's first major retrospective. Over 150 black and white and color photographs from iconic series such as 1M Behind Me (1988), Tossing Bus (1989), Landscape from the Bus (1995), I am a Street Dog (1995), Dancing Streets (1998) and numerous self-portraits (1987-2003), highlight the artist's prescient character within Chinese photography and experimental art. Numerous archival materials such as handmade photo books, collages and original contact sheets, exhibited for the first time, will complement the photographic installations and contribute to a deeper understanding of his artistic process.