XING DANWEN

When traveling around Europe by train, Xing Danwen was struck by the extent to which globalization has blurred the boundaries between urban landscapes: They are becoming so increasingly similar that ‘here’ could be anywhere. Applying her vision to this realization, Xing Danwen’s series of monumental photographs Urban Fiction came into being in which urban dramas play out in architectural spaces. Using real life corporate maquettes created to promote real-estate development being planned in China today, Xing tried to imagine what life might be like in such spaces and created a whole cast of characters, all played by herself, to populate the pristine living spaces. The result is playful and fictitious, wandering between reality and fantasy. 

Xing Danwen received her BFA from the Central Academy of Fine Arts in Beijing and her MFA from the School of Visual Arts in New York in 2001.  As one of the few internationally recognized female Chinese contemporary photographers, Xing exhibits all over the world and is represented by many important museum and private collections.