OLAF MUELLER All Under Heaven
9 June - 30 July 2011
The Cat Street Gallery is proud to announce Olaf Mueller’s first solo exhibition with the gallery,
All Under Heaven. The German-Korean photographer juxtaposes conventional photographic methods with modern digital technologies to create surreal and visually potent compositions. Featuring 12 new works, in the new series Mueller takes as his subject the spectacular scenery of the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region of China.
To prepare for the exhibition the artist undertook an artistic journey of epic proportions, creating extraordinary shoots at a myriad of spectacular locations including: the Li River; Yulong River; the 1000 year old Xingping Town; Langzi Town near Yangshuo; the Silver Cave in Lipu County; the Longsheng Rice Terraces in Longsheng County and the Chengyang Wind-Rain Bridge in Sanjiang County.
Known for his hybrid process that is both physical and digital, Mueller has taken his aesthetic and ambitious location design to a new level in these site-specific works. His theatrical shoots throughout the region include floating villages, scores of local fishermen and the ethnic tribe known as the Yao Minority Ladies. The sublime landscapes and intriguing cast of characters the artist photographs are only the building blocks for a series of images which will be digitally sewn together to create a cornucopia of detail. A key component of the series are the giant soap bubbles painstakingly created with industrial chemicals.
Olaf Mueller is one of the region’s premier photographers and in 2009 he was catapulted into the Hong Kong art scene with a series of visually potent and critically successful fine art work. Taking inspiration from the Dragon Garden Heritage site and featuring Kay Tse as his muse, the series has entirely sold out, setting a new precedent for photographic artwork at The Cat Street Gallery. Mueller has received over 22 Honorable Mentions at the International Photography Awards, New York, and won the Kee Fashion Competition in 2008.
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