de Sarthe Gallery is pleased to present a solo exhibition by Liang Ban, entitled Landscape Browser, opening on December 9th in Beijing. Featuring new work that encompasses installation, video, and spray paint, Liang Ban’s first solo exhibition at de Sarthe Gallery will continue through February 26th, 2017.

Liang Ban’s practice gained recognition with his groundbreaking “Hand of God” (2015) series. In this series the artist traversed deserts, forests, rivers and various other landscapes while carrying his mobile phone in order to connect the device’s internal operating system with the external environment around him. He achieved this by displaying images of scenery onto the mobile phone, then staging phone within the landscape and recording the resultant dialogue between device and nature. The videos portray a seemingly innocuous moment, but while viewing the work one quickly realizes the poetry contained within addresses contemporary notions of society, culture, and most prominently-landscape. An important component of Landscape Browser, the “Hand of God” series begins a conversation about the connotations and implications of landscape and how the subject is portrayed as a social commodity today. Furthering an exploration of landscape, a major installation, “Evening Ramble” (2016) recreates a version of the Mount Rushmore National Memorial in the gallery. Unlike the actual memorial, “Evening Ramble” is covered in dirt, grime, and bird droppings made by a living parrot. Another piece titled “The Earth Magician No.1″ (2016) is a 3D topological map that is hung on a wall of the gallery and covered with phosphorescent spray-paint that extends off of the map and onto the wall itself. A new video work, “Hole” (2016), plays in reverse footage of Coca-Cola cans and coins being thrown into a deep cave. Collectively, the artworks approach an alternate and critically engaging theory behind the significance of landscape in contemporary global society.

For the online catalogue, please click here.

For more information on Liang Ban and his other exhibitions, please click here.