In an immediate sense, Yang Fudong: Filmscapes represents an important and exciting event. It is the first solo show in Australasia of one of China’s most renowned contemporary artists (Yang’s work has appeared in such illustrious contexts as documenta and the Venice Biennale); a second large-scale exhibition at Auckland Art Gallery Toi o Tāmaki of moving image art, immediately following Lisa Reihana’s much vaunted in Pursuit of Venus [infected] (2015); an affirmation—as Director Rhana Devenport has indicated—of the Gallery’s commitment to its Chinese patrons, from both Auckland and abroad; and an opportunity for visitors like me who know relatively little about Chinese art (to say nothing of Chinese history and culture more generally) to broaden our horizons. …
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