Widely recognized as one of China’s leading photographers since the mid-1990s, Hong Lei has continued to explore the expressive potentialities of the medium at the same time as he incorporates it in installations that also include paintings and three-dimensional works.

For the current exhibition he has turned to Mi Lou, the legendary architectural folly of Emperor Yangdi (604-618 CE), the last emperor of the short-lived Sui Dynasty (589-618 CE). In order to convey the cultivated sensuality associated with Mi Lou, Hong Lei has created a group of works in various media that refer tangentially to these mythical events. With references ranging from Botticelli and the 16th Century School of Fontainebleau to the present day activities of tourists in China today, Hong Lei creates a multi-layered installation that finds deep resonance in apparently unrelated forms and images.