“I believe in fate, and that everyone who comes into this world has his or her own mission and obligation to fulfill,” artist Hai Bo said, about his artistic journey.
Hai’s mission is to document his feelings through photography, particularly feelings towards contemporary Chinese society, and he accomplishes this through his new exhibit “The Southern” series. According to Hai, the exhibit is his “own interpretation of dreams and reality.”
“The Southern” series is currently on exhibit at Pace Gallery in downtown Palo Alto. The exhibition reflects Hai’s long-standing relationship with Pace, which boasts seven international locations. Hai’s work has been displayed at several museums, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the National Art Museum of China in Beijing and the Museum of Contemporary Art in Rome.
He has long found inspiration in the changing nature of Chinese society, previously exploring the “heavy and oppressive emotion in reality” with his other body of work, “The Northern” series.
The photographs in his latest collection are at first almost mystical, displaying foggy landscapes and stoic rural houses. Slowly, people begin to appear as one moves through the exhibit, the last room displaying groups of people within the urban sprawl. A significant motif of the series is that while there are people pictured, their faces are never shown.
Hai’s work reflects rapid development in China; he emphasized how this change has “really helped” him find objects to work with. In particular, Hai finds material for his photographs in the existential consequences for Chinese people that come from this development.
“People are full of contradictions and stress while living in this age of great change,” Hai explained. “Confusion and bewilderment are expressions of this current era.”
Hai is clear about his sentiments on the rural-urban divide that has become a defining characteristic of Chinese society through his work in “The Southern” series, preferring rural to urban. His favorite photograph in the exhibition is that of a tall potted plant, extending from the gallery floor to the ceiling — a considerably simpler photograph than other expansive landscape pieces in the exhibit.
“The natural landscape has given me such comfort and brought me into an oasis of serenity,” Hai said. “By contrast, people living in the city appear to be so fabricated and numb to the surroundings that it makes me feel desperate and oppressed.”
Hai’s career as an artist began at the Fine Art Institute of Jilin, from which he graduated in 1984. Hai was a painting student but became disenchanted with his chosen medium. He gave up painting in 1998 and turned to photography. Hai was drawn to photography because of its ability to express three main standards for his work simple, natural and organic and incorporate particular thoughts and feelings.
“Cameras are magical,” Hai said. “They can easily duplicate and preserve moments at will.”
While Hai’s work reflects multilayered themes, he does not approach his initial work with such lofty goals. Hai counterbalances his rejection of intentionality with strong support for the artists’ intimate emotions and values.
Hai compared his attitude towards art to that of Czech poet Jaroslav Seifert. For Hai, art should be able to address the most obscure and complex aspects of human lives, while also touching on their nuances. Art should be “intuitive” for the viewer to understand, he said.
Elizabeth Sullivan, the president of Pace Palo Alto, first met Hai in San Francisco, and recalled feeling overwhelmed by his work. She then offered him the exhibit space at Pace Palo Alto.
“He’s always breaking new boundaries with his work, and it is always amazing,” Sullivan said.
Hai aims to continue providing a view into the human experience in as simple, natural and organic a way as possible through his work.
“Although we live in this absurd era, I try to keep the style of my work effortless, uninhabited and perhaps poetic,” he said.
What: “The Southern” series.
Where: Pace Gallery, 229 Hamilton Ave., Palo Alto.
When: Through July 15; Tuesday-Saturday 11 a.m.-8 p.m.; Sunday 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
Cost: Free.
Info: Go to Pace.