Everything illuminated

Infusing landscapes with blinding light, pyrotechnics and rainbow arcs of neon, Chinese conceptual photographer and artist Jiang Zhi shapes commentaries on love, change, religious beliefs and urbanization in “Shine Upon Me” at DF2 Gallery in Los Angeles.

“Every piece has a surreal cinematic quality almost removed from everyday life. However, they were all created on location using essentially natural conditions,” says David DeSanctis, co-owner of DF2, which shows Chinese works exclusively.

Zhi’s striking images, part of a two-year project studying illumination, are set in urban and natural settings as well as at landmarks such as Tiananmen Square, with the subject often bathed in an ethereal spotlight. Staged mostly at night in Beijing and photographed at low shutter speeds, the photos look as though they’ve been altered with special effects.

“Things Would Turn Nails Once They Happened” depicts a dilapidated red brick building atop a lone pillar of earth in a pit being excavated for construction. Just a few days before developers in Yangjiaping in Chongqing, China, demolished the pillar, Zhi set up a spotlight, whose beam accentuated the prominence of the building -- and its role in a property rights dispute. “In the way that Hollywood gives the impression of reality, Jiang Zhi has reversed that and created these fictional cinematic moments from reality,” says DeSanctis. Which raises the question: Are the subjects being pulled into the spotlight or are they pursuing it?

-- Liesl Bradner