A new exhibition, Captive of Love, at Beijing's Red Brick Art Museum is the largest showcase of Xing Danwen's art in her entire career.

It displays many of the photographs that made her a famous name in Chinese art circles, but also features several of her installation works and videos, most of which were created during the earlier parts of the 50-year-old's career.

According to the exhibition's curator, Tarek Abou El Fetouh, Captive of Love primarily focuses on the artist's relationship with Beijing, as well as presenting a personal narrative of her generation's experiences in China during the 1990s.

The exhibition's name is inspired by French poet and writer Jean Genet's last book, Prisoner of Love, which describes his experiences living among Palestinian and Black Panther activists. The exhibition recalls several threads from Jean Genet's book, which provide a basis for interpreting Xing's artistic practice. In everything she creates, Xing reconstructs reality, as if driven by a compulsive desire to be at the center of the incident, approaching her characters with a marked sensuality. 

Through photographs, installations and videos, she positions herself inside events as a subject, a model, or as a critic, creating a visual language that manages to be both subversive and poetic.

The curator said that he was obsessed with Xing's special approach to art after he visited her studio in 2011. Before this exhibition, Abou El Fetouh also worked with Xing for the "Lest the Two Seas Meet" exhibition at MoMA Warsaw in 2015.

‍Abou El Fetouh explained that he became very interested in how, in the 1990s, Chinese artists made their art creations against the backdrop of the social and economic changes that were occurring in the country. 

At the opening to the exhibition, Xing explained that she enjoys taking photos in many dangerous places, such as deserts and remote areas. For one of her photos, she even traveled deep into a coal mine in Shanxi Province with miners who were covered in dust and dirt.

The exhibition will run until October 29.