Zhang Huan

Speaking of 'convergences' I want to call attention to some similarities between Weschler's new book and Geoff Dyer's The Ongoing Moment where the main theme really is the ways that photographers replicate one another's images. I posted a couple of times on Dyer's book shortly after it appeared [1] [2]. It seems to me that Dyer's entire enterprise revolvess around seeking out and drawing inferences from convergences.

"Shanghai Family Tree" (2001) © Zhang Huan

"Family Tree" (2001) © Zhang Huan

Having said that, I want to call attention to a similarity between the work of Lalla Esaydi about whom I posted a couple days ago and some of the work of Chinese artist Zhang Huan. In particular, I have in mind images like these, that incorporate themes of family and domesticity and rely on calligraphy

"1/2" (1998) © Zhang Huan

Like Essaydi's work Zhang Huan seems preoocupied with writing and legibility and how we see and understand others or ourselves within a framework of cultural and historical practices. They seem especially concerned with how those practices threaten to obstruct or obliterate the chance for such perception and understanding.