Series: Model Room Series
Creation Date: circa 2010
Medium: Digital giclee print
Edition: 2/6
Model Room is an important series in which Chen Jiagang examines China's urbanization and the visual culture of consumption. The artist transforms the real-estate "model room" into a kind of social theatre: within seemingly refined and perfect interiors, figures, furniture, decor, and image symbols are carefully staged to form visual metaphors for desire, identity, class aspiration, and urban lifestyles. Rather than merely recording interior space, the series uses highly theatrical mise-en-scene to reveal the complex relationship between spatial production and psychological projection in an era of rapid urban transformation.
Chen Jiagang was born in Chongqing in 1962. From 1980 to 1984, he studied architecture at Chongqing Institute of Architecture and Engineering. After achieving success in business, he founded Shanghe Art Museum in 1997, the first privately operated contemporary art museum in China, and supported many young artists, including Zhou Chunya, Zhang Xiaogang, and Fang Lijun. In 2004, his first solo photography exhibition, "Light . Space . Time - Chen Jiagang Photography Exhibition", marked the beginning of his career as a professional artist. His photographic practice focuses on urban space, social transformation, and the landscape of the times. His works have been exhibited at institutions including Edwynn Houk Gallery in New York, Contemporary by Angela Li in Hong Kong, Art Paris, and the CAFA Art Museum in Beijing, and have frequently appeared at auctions such as Sotheby's.