Ren Hang... art or not?

[mmaria]

Here's the part I don't understand, if you are indifferent to his work and his work provokes no reaction, emotion or thought overall, why the thread in the first place?

well to read what others see in his work, maybe to realize what I'm missing

 

[table1349]

Here's the part I don't understand, if you are indifferent to his work and his work provokes no reaction, emotion or thought overall, why the thread in the first place?

well to read what others see in his work, maybe to realize what I'm missing

Okay.

 

[pgriz]

Some images are striking. Some are (in my opinion) gratuitous. I'm generally not shocked or repulsed by genitals, but if shown, I expect the form to be used in a consistent manner with the rest of the image. Are these images art? It may be for some people, but I would not go out of my way to view an exhibition of such work as, beyond shock value, I don't find much that causes me to think or to feel.

 

[table1349]

Reminds me quite a bit of some of the early Maplethorpe stuff. The concept is a bit disjointed.

 

[Macmagoo]

It don't know what it is but it is not Art.

 

[table1349]

So would you consider this art?

 

[rexbobcat]

He's China's Ryan McGinley (NSFW obviously: ryan mcginley). However I do think the context of this work is much more compelling than McGinley's "edgy youth" theme partly because of the focus on the human body as sculpture in many of the shots but also because of the fact that he was creating it in China, which is slightly less individualistic than the West is. That's probably where a a lot of the "he's so brave" comments are coming from.

Personally I like some of the photos.

I think these are more interesting than another banal, technically and creatively sterile photo of a totally hot babe whose only purpose is to accommodate the male gaze.

I also think it's interesting that many of these photos of naked people are somehow less erotic than the soft core porn photographers are infatuated with. But hey, as long as the nudity is suggested and the lighting ticks all the marks from that one workshop I went to, it's a great photo.

 

[mmaria]

He's China's Ryan McGinley (NSFW obviously: ryan mcginley). However I do think the context of this work is much more compelling than McGinley's "edgy youth" theme partly because of the focus on the human body as sculpture in many of the shots but also because of the fact that he was creating it in China, which is slightly less individualistic than the West is. That's probably where a a lot of the "he's so brave" comments are coming from.

never heard of Ryan, so thank you for that. I find his images much more pleasing and emotional.

I wanted to say that I find the atmosphere in Ryan's photos understandable, familiar, I empathize but with Ren's work... that's so different than anything I could ever understand. I'm not repulsed by it or anything but I simply can't come up with any philosophy to justify praises for his work. We're not from the same planet

I think these are more interesting than another banal, technically and creatively sterile photo of a totally hot babe whose only purpose is to accommodate the male gaze.

well I find them just as interesting as a hot babe pict

I also think it's interesting that many of these photos of naked people are somehow less erotic than the soft core porn photographers are infatuated with. But hey, as long as the nudity is suggested and the lighting ticks all the marks from that one workshop I went to, it's a great photo.

I really tried but I don't understand this part, the firs sentence of the quote...so... what did you say?

 

[rexbobcat]

He's China's Ryan McGinley (NSFW obviously: ryan mcginley). However I do think the context of this work is much more compelling than McGinley's "edgy youth" theme partly because of the focus on the human body as sculpture in many of the shots but also because of the fact that he was creating it in China, which is slightly less individualistic than the West is. That's probably where a a lot of the "he's so brave" comments are coming from.

never heard of Ryan, so thank you for that. I find his images much more pleasing and emotional.

I wanted to say that I find the atmosphere in Ryan's photos understandable, familiar, I empathize but with Ren's work... that's so different than anything I could ever understand. I'm not repulsed by it or anything but I simply can't come up with any philosophy to justify praises for his work. We're not from the same planet

I think these are more interesting than another banal, technically and creatively sterile photo of a totally hot babe whose only purpose is to accommodate the male gaze.

well I find them just as interesting as a hot babe pict

I also think it's interesting that many of these photos of naked people are somehow less erotic than the soft core porn photographers are infatuated with. But hey, as long as the nudity is suggested and the lighting ticks all the marks from that one workshop I went to, it's a great photo.

I really tried but I don't understand this part, the firs sentence of the quote...so... what did you say?

Basically what I was saying is that these photos of these naked women are seemingly less erotic in many ways than the photos of models who are mostly clothed and in less explicit positions.

 

[table1349]

Just to stir the pot a little: https://petapixel.com/2017/03/04/ph...feed&utm_campaign=Feed:+PetaPixel+(PetaPixel)


The opinions expressed above do not reflect those of the management of this station.

 

[nerwin]

Kind of reminds (vaguely) me of some of the work that Ben Hopper (NSFW) has done but nothing that extreme. I know Ben Hopper and he's a really great guy and a true artist. But Ren Hang? I'm not sure if I can say he's an artist or not. Its certainly not my cup of tea.

However, after finding out that he took his own life is a little sad. As someone who does suffer from depression and having photography as a way to deal with depression and then having people call your work controversial probably set him over the edge and ultimately took his own life.

I may not be a fan of his work or that style of photography, but I can respect him as a photographer. Depression is a horrible thing and I deal with it every day and we all deal with it in different ways.

 

[mmaria]

However, after finding out that he took his own life is a little sad. As someone who does suffer from depression and having photography as a way to deal with depression and then having people call your work controversial probably set him over the edge and ultimately took his own life.

I may not be a fan of his work or that style of photography, but I can respect him as a photographer. Depression is a horrible thing and I deal with it every day and we all deal with it in different ways.

I deliberately didn't share any more information about him because that might affect on what we think about his work...

I wouldn't go that far to assume "having people call your work controversial probably set him over the edge and ultimately took his own life."

Depression is tough. Most artist suffer/ed from it and that makes them good/better in their art, I think.

He wrote and photographed... I don't know do I or don't I like how he wrote but I know that I don't understand what he photographed. That has to do with his photography, not him as a person. As a person, I feel the same way as you do, I respect his way of dealing with the depression.