Between Love And Duty

As every major collector is off frolicking around China, swooping up whatever they can get their hands on, there is no doubt that everyone has their eyes on China. From the Olympics to the social and economic growth to the art, etc, we all seem to be watching. Rian Dundon, winner of the 2007 Tierney Grant, has spent the last two years living and photographing in China. In a show of his work opening tonight, Dundon has focused on Chinese youth culture and how the social and economic upheavals have impacted their lives. Dundon eloquently writes:

"As a tentative ally of The West, China has always been something of a mystery, regarded with a degree of distrust and fear by those on this side of the Cold War. Even now after China has opened itself economically and culturally to the world, the western view of its development tends to take a reproachful tone. As a result China has suffered from stereotypical images and a misinterpretation of its economic rise.

Having come of age since Deng Xiaoping ‘opened up’ the country in 1978 today's youth have never known the poverty and starvation of their elders. Rather they have been raised into a consumer society, doing, seeing, and buying things their parents never dreamed of. However, as western media continues to concentrate on China's economic, political, and cultural giants, the younger generation, the very recipient and carrier of this change, becomes invisible to the world's eyes. Caught between old and new ideals of morality, these youth, perhaps more than any others, represent the transitional nature of Chinese society."



TONIGHT: opening reception, July 3, 6:00 - 8:00 pm

Gulf and Western Gallery
Tisch School of the Arts
721 Broadway (ground floor lobby)
New York, New York

Dunny- It's been a long time since we running around the halls of the 8th floor, you were the kid with the skateboard and the fish eye lens and me with my hat pulled down low and a North Face, it has been a nice ride baby, congrats.