Taiwanese photographer and priest Stanley Fung is exhibiting his works at the “Self-abased Gaze” exhibition at Serpentine Galley in Shekou.
Photos by Stanley Fung.
In Blaise Pascal’s “Pensées,” the French mathematician, writer and scientist wrote: “Let man then contemplate the whole of nature in her full and grand majesty. ... Man is only a reed, the weakest of nature, but he is a thinking reed.”
Following Pascal’s dialectical and ethical concerns of man and nature has been a common theme in various works of Fung. “Dust Icons” borrows figures, as well as dramatic life stories, from the Bible to show the humanity that wavers between the nature and super nature, experience and transcendence, and god and demon.
His series “Members for One Another” focuses on the interactions of two pairs of hands (male verses female, black verses white) that grows from being strangers to getting intimate, so as to think over everyone’s inevitable moral responsibility to others, which is a lifelong mission of love.
With an open view, the “Mere Straw” series introduces the viewers to a vast piece of grass that sways in the wind to suggest we ponder over the comparison of man to the power of nature.
No matter if it is a portrait, or a close-up of the body, of landscape or still life, in monochrome or color, Fung’s works always glitter with an aura of classic, simple, restrained and thought-provoking talent. It also reveals the humble priest’s kindness to ordinary people and a fascination of the world.
Dates: Until June 22
Venue: Serpentine Gallery, 109, Block 2, Nanhai E-Cool, Shekou, Nanshan District (南山区蛇口南海意库2栋109蛇口画廊)
Metro: Line 2 to Sea World Station (海上世界站), Exit A