03 February 2020 Three cities are about to merge to form a megacity of over 110 million people — this isn't some sci-fi dystopia, it's happening in China today. Artist Gordon Cheung charts the rapid urbanisation of China including rivers that are being dammed to generate power and mapping the region where the Uighur community are being targeted with 're-education'. There are political references embedded within Romantic landscape paintings, that can be viewed through lattices in the style of the cultures that lay along the anicent Silk Road. By examining the region's past and present, the artist challenges us to consider what the future holds for this part of the world.
Gordon Cheung, Tears of Paradise, installation view, Edel Assanti, London, UK, 2020
