Feng Yan came to photography recently after training to be a director at the Beijing Film Academy and then living in New York as a writer until 2001. His photographs are informed by both this cinematic and literary background. Yet, the intense colors and intentional lighting give his work a painterly quality as well—the muted reflection of the artist in the hubcap reminds me of Jan van Eyck’s Arnolfini Portrait. The subject of this photograph, a white-walled car tire incongruously at rest on an immaculate red carpet, is more than just an air-filled rubber tube. Rather, Feng’s studied treatment of the tire transforms it into an object of significance. It’s a thing with a story to tell. The photograph is part of a detailed portrait of Chairman Mao Zedong 1960s vintage limousine, currently on display at the Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution in Beijing. Part of his photographic series entitled Power, Feng uses his lens to extricate the subtle coding of things that occupy public spaces and expose the visual construction of control. For him, a line of flags, a set of carpeted stairs, or even a simple tire become traces of authority.
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