Chen Man is primarily known for her sensational photographic works, and there has been little exposure of her traditional Chinese paintings. Minimal and poetic, these paintings derive from the artist’s earliest art training in classical forms, and her own devotion to Taoist philosophy. 

In her forthcoming exhibition “East-West,” L.A. Louver will present her photographs and paintings together for the first time in the United States. In this context, one can see compositional connections between these two seemingly disparate bodies of works. The post production manipulation on her photography takes on a painterly appearance, and the calligraphic forms in her paintings become more figurative in shape. 

Chen Man “East-West” opens at L.A. Louver on December 10, 2014, and will be on view through January 24, 2015.

IMAGES: (left to right; top to bottom) Red Crest No. 1, 2008, c-print, 65 ¼ x 51 ¼ in. (165.54 x 130 cm); Mr. Zhong, 2013, Chinese ink on paper, image: 13 1/8 x 13 1/8 in. (33.3 x 33.3 cm); Chen Man, Outside Inside the Dream, 2012 (detail),Chinese ink on paper (diptych); Four Seasons: Spring, 2011, c-print, 110 ¼ x 55 in. (280 x 140 cm)