Session
Press
セッション
プレス
Athens Love
アテネラブ
Ren Hang
任航
Awards
—Artist | Recipient of the 2016 Outset | Unseen Exhibition Fund
—Book | The Best Indie Photobooks of 2016 by Sleek Magazine

Credit

—Photography: Ren Hang
—Image Editing: Ren Hang
—Design: Studio Lin, NYC
—Printer: die Keure, Belgium


Specs

—8.27" x 11.7"
—Hard Cover
—68 pages
—Edition of 500
—2016
—OUT OF PRINT


Reviews
—Art Radar
—Purple
—i-D
—Vice
—photobookstore.co.uk
—Klein Sun Gallery

Following his first book “NEW LOVE” in 2015 by Session Press, we are pleased to announce “ATHENS LOVE,” the second monograph by Ren Hang, one of China’s most distinguished and controversial emerging photographers. “ATHENS LOVE” presents Hang’s works taken in Greece in April 2015 during his participation in the Occupy Atopos artist residency and exhibition curated by Vassilis Zidianakis. “ATHENS LOVE” is published on the occasion of the exhibition “ATHENS LOVE” at Klein Sun Gallery in New York from March 24 to April 30, 2016.

Hang’s work in “ATHENS LOVE” includes casual snapshots taken of friends in various locations in Athens and Attica, Greece, such as the beach, woods, cliffs, streets, and apartments. Expressing his awe of the dynamics in nature, Hang responds to it in high spirits, his sense of humor reflecting in the composition and colors of his work. Away from his more politically strict and constraining home in China, Hang enjoys the more relaxed and playful energy in his photographs, and renders his abundant creativity in new avenues of expression. As a result, both the diaristic pictures and the stylized nudes in “ATHENS LOVE” are imbued with an undeniable sense of discovery and joy, and thrillingly document one of contemporary photography’s most exciting young artists taking bold advantage of the new and unfamiliar.

Published on the occasion of the exhibition “ATHENS LOVE” at Klein Sun Gallery in New York (March 24 – April 30, 2016)

日本語で読む

セッションプレス第8冊目の写真集は中国の写真家 任航(レン・ハン/REN HANG)の写真集『ATHENS LOVE』です。本書は、2015年4月にギリシャのオープンスタジオ「Occupy Atopos」でのアーティスト・イン・レジデンスに参加した際に撮影した作品で構成され、ギリシャの首都アテネや南東部アッティカを中心に、浜辺や林、崖、路上、室内など様々な場所で友人を撮影した作品を収録しました。2016年3月にNYのギャラリーKlein Sun Galleryで開催された同名展覧会に合わせての発行となります。


Artist Statement

Ren Hang would like to thank the following for their support on this publication:

David Strettell, Giles Cassels, Alex Lin, Miwa Susuda, Huang Jiaqi, Zhang Dongqi, Jay Park, Yin Zhenghang, Han Yujia, Vassilis Zidianakis, Stamos Fafalios, Angelos Tsourapas, Kika Kyriakakou, Katerina Sarri, Nicholas Weltyk and Klein Sun Gallery, NYC.

Ren Hang
任航

Ren Hang
(China, 1987)

Ren Hang was born in 1987 in a suburb of Changchun, Jilin province, in northeastern China. Han was a Chinese photographer and poet. During Ren's incipient career, he was known mostly for nude photographic portraits of his friends. His work is significant for its representation of Chinese sexuality within a heavily censored society. For these erotic undertones, he was arrested by PRC authorities several times. He received the backing of the Chinese artist Ai Weiwei, who included Ren in his 2013 Netherlands show, Fuck Off 2 The Sequel, and curated the photographer's 2014 exhibition in Paris, France. Ren's erotic, playful and casual yet provocative expression gained him worldwide fame. Ren Hang admired Shuji Terayama’s pictures and enjoyed Walter Pfeiffer portlaits.

Ren has published many monographs including “Physical Borderline” (ThreeShadows +3 Gallery, China, 2014), “The Brightest Light Runs Too Fast” (Editions Bessard, 2013), “Son and Bitch” (Neurasthenia, 2013), “Republic” (Éditions du LIC, 2013), “My Depression” (Self-Published, 2013), “Nude” (Self-Published, 2012), “Room” (Self-Published, 2011) , “Ren Hang 2009-2011” (Self-Published, 2011) and “Poem Collection of Ren Hang” (Neurasthenia, 2013) so on

日本語で読む

任航
(1987年、中国・吉林省長春市生まれ)

任航は1987年中国・吉林省長春市生まれで北京を拠点に活動をしました。「性」がタブーとされる中国で、警察当局から警告や逮捕を受ける中、Ai Weiweiよりサポートを受け、2013年にオランダで開催した”Fuck Off 2 The Sequel”展や, 2014年のパリの展示会に参加し、また自費出版を含める多くの写真集の制作をし、旺盛な作家活動を生涯、展開しました。任航は寺山修司の作品を敬愛し、Walter Pfeifferのポートレイトを愛しました。
友人をモデルに起用し、彫刻のようにポーズをとるスタイルを好んで作品に取り入れ、室内のみならず、高層ビルの屋上や、公園などの自然の中で作品をを制作しました。