FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 2023
After mesmerizing the public with Love Letters at Art on the Mart, artist Yuge Zhou expands her series with new video art installations at Museum of Contemporary Photography
Chicago, IL – Chinese-born, Chicago-based artist Yuge Zhou to exhibit two new episodes from her video art installation series Love Letters in LOVE: Still Not the Lesser exhibition at the Museum of Contemporary Photography.
Originally debuting at Art on the Mart, Zhou’s series Love Letters captivated public audiences with a nightly public art projection onto the facade of the Merchandise Mart.
Now, two new episodes from the Love Letters series—“Summer” and “Winter”—will be exhibited as one of the two video artists featured in the exhibition LOVE: Still Not The Lesser at the Museum of Contemporary Photography. Zhou’s combination of observational vantage points, collage, and choreography charge her explorations into national and personal identity, place, connection, and longing.
Love Letters portrays a courtship dance between two people in a labyrinth metropolis. They overcome obstacles and physical barriers in order to communicate their affection. It is inspired by the collective experiences of isolation and separation felt by many during the global pandemic. The summer episode features two dancers standing on the east and west banks of the Chicago River, sending messages to one another from afar using gestures, against the industrial backdrop of the city’s South Side neighborhood. In the winter episode, we watch from above a playful chase between the dancers on a multi-axis pier during a snowstorm. This episode emphasizes the traditional Chinese concept of “Yuan 缘”, a fateful intersection leading to a relationship with an uncertain future.
Details
LOVE: Still Not the Lesser
August 17 – December 22, 2023
Led by Asha Iman Veal, MoCP Associate Curator
Opening Reception
Thursday, September 7, 2023
5:00pm – 7:00pm US Central Time
Museum of Contemporary Photography, Chicago
About Yuge Zhou
At the age of five, Yuge Zhou became a household name in China as the singer for a popular children’s TV series. Yuge came to the US a decade ago to earn a degree in computer science and subsequently moved into video art and installations. Her work addresses rootedness and longing across natural and constructed urban spaces as sites of shared dreams and transient encounters amidst the rush of contemporary life.
Yuge has exhibited nationally and internationally in prominent art and public venues and is currently a member at NEW INC, New Museum’s art and technology incubator. Recent awards include Juried Award in the installation category at ArtPrize 2021, Artist Fellowship Award in Media Arts from the Illinois Arts Council and Honorary Mention in the 2020 Prix Ars Electronica in Linz, Austria. Her work has been featured in various publications such as the New York Magazine, Hyperallergic, and The Atlantic. Yuge holds a MFA from the School of the Art Institute of Chicago as well as a Master of Science from Syracuse University.
Website: http://yugezhou.com/
Instagram: @yugezhou
About Museum of Contemporary Photography
The MoCP is a world premier college art museum dedicated to photography. As an international hub, we generate ideas and provoke dialogue among students, artists and diverse communities through groundbreaking exhibitions and programming. Our mission is to cultivate a deeper understanding of the artistic, cultural and political roles of photography in our world today.
Founded in 1976 by Columbia College Chicago as the successor to the Chicago Center for Contemporary Photography, the Museum of Contemporary Photography began collecting in the early 1980s and has since grown its collection to include over 16,800 objects by over 1,800 artists. The MoCP is accredited by the American Alliance of Museums.
Website: https://www.mocp.org/
Instagram: @mocpchi
