Ren Hang
(Chinese, 1987–2017)
Biography
Ren Hang was a contemporary Chinese photographer. Before his death at the age of 29, he was the subject of both controversy and critical acclaim for his daring erotic photographs. Ren’s work often featured an amalgam of nude figures, with several young models posing together in abstracted compositions that felt at once surreal and banal. He shot his friends and lovers in manner reminiscent of Ryan McGinley, and is said to have worked improvisationally and without a preconceived plan. Ren was arrested multiple times over the course of his short life and was the target of censorship by the Chinese government. “I do not think nudity is challenging—nudity is common, everybody has it,” the artist explained, undaunted. “I like people naked and I like sex; I use nudity so that I can feel more realism and sense of presence.” Born in 1987 in Jilin, China, Ren began taking photographs while studying advertising in college, and found a champion of his work in the influential Chinese artist Ai Weiwei. He would go on to be featured in exhibitions worldwide, notably including the Foam Museum in Amsterdam, the Fotografiska Museum in Stockholm, and Stieglitz19 gallery in Antwerp. Tragically, having long suffered from depression, the artist took his own life in February 2017, just weeks after having posted a message to his Weibo social media account "Every year, the wish I make is the same: to die earlier.”
Ren Hang
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English (US)
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