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for works on canvas (150cm x 190cm) the photographs haunt and overpower the viewer with their immense gravity and detail. Liang Weizhou likens his artistic process to that of classical painters sketching scenes in the countryside to later be rendered as works on canvas in the studio. The colored and painted elements in Liang Weizhou’s black and white compositions create an abstracted, seemingly almost surreal viewing distance from the reality depicted in the photographs that evokes greater contemplation and emotion in the scenes. Working with large-format black and white film, the artist captures stunning layers of detail in each composition and later revives each scene from memory, rendering and interpreting the elements back to a point where the viewer can both access the reality of the scene as well as contemplate the work on a more synthesized, interpreted level, a visual rendering positioned literally between the subjective expression of a painting and the powerful realism inherent in the photograph.

Liang Weizhou’s photographic works are a direct extension of his formal roots in painting. Having developed a clear visual language of interweaving his painting aesthetics and techniques with his thirty year practice of photography, the continuing theme and subject matter of his works is the often isolated and existential elements of ordinary life in Shanghai and the surrounding regions. Shanghai having once been the industrial center of China during the artist’s childhood, the opening and reforms post 1980’s, has seen more development and industry move outside the now cosmopolitan urban centers and into what once were bucolic rural towns and villages. Despite the lack of human subjects, Liang Weizhou’s works are profound reflections and documents of the circumstances and realities found in the inner and outer world across Chinese society.

M97画廊荣幸地宣布于11月10日 开幕上海艺术家梁卫洲的新摄影展“后江南”。 本次展览精选梁卫洲最新的大画幅摄影创作、纸上画作以及他在80－90年代拍摄的银盐老照片原作，这也是梁卫洲继“乡愁”和“景物志”后第三次在M97画廊举办个展。展览持续到2013年1月6日。梁卫洲，1962年出生于上海，这位在美术界颇具实力的油画家在近二十年的摄影创作中已形成了独具自我风格的艺术语言。他的摄影与绘画有着直接而密切的联系，采用传统胶片和主观着色相结合的手法，梁卫洲以绘画般的创作心态营造摄影的情境。

“后江南“是梁卫洲对上海周边江南地区的重新发现，也是他与其幼年记忆的深度重逢；是梁卫洲摄影精神脉络的延续，也是他透过影像进行的心灵探索。梁卫洲将传统布面油画的画幅（宽190厘米，高150厘米）运用在“后江南”的摄影创作中，黑白胶片和主观着色的结合如同古典画家对写生素描进行油彩塑造。上海古北苏州河边不复存在的旧式厂房出现在了江南的乡镇和农村，在一片笼罩着空朦的灰冷色调和虚淡的斑驳光影中，时空错乱般的仿佛狄更斯笔下的大工业时代，似曾相识，又似是而非。眼前的江南褪去了现实的重量，如轻盈的幻象。而摄影内在固有的纪实性和大幅黑白胶片的使用，使画面上的细节张显着真实存在的重力：吐着云雾的烟囱，车轮压过土地的痕迹与腾起的浮尘，道旁田边竹竿上的红色旗子，不由分说地宣告着它们的存在，把观者带回当下。质感细腻却无法触摸，正是这种淡淡的落寞和暧昧的疏离，勾起观者不由自主的共情，心领神会梁卫洲对空间和时间的独特个人体验。梁卫洲的作品没有太多的艺术表达权力或是评判，沉静地持续着对人生常态和一般存在地关怀，在喧嚣中给予观者慰藉。通向码头的蜿蜒道路，工地上堆砌的乱石，阔开的河滩，大场景与细节的相辅相成充满了张力，长久的注视之下嘈杂静默，时空凝固。不同于他早期色彩浓重的表现主义画作的焦躁和矛盾，梁卫洲的摄影在其一贯的细腻敏感外，愈加开放豁达，具有强大的内心力量。