Established in 2004, Birdhead—an artist duo made up Song Tao (b. 1979) and Ji Weiyu (b. 1980)—quickly gained renown for chronicling the urban transformation of their hometown, Shanghai, at a time when China's economy and society were opening to the world. In the two decades they have spent working together, Birdhead have continued to push the technical and narrative limits of photography to rhapsodise, celebrate and critique their surroundings.
This survey is in two parts. Birdhead’s first exhibition in Kyoto, plays on the distinct character of the two spaces which make up the Kondaya Genbei, the 280-year-old manufacturer of obi sashes where the display will be shown. The Chikuin-no-Ma foyer of the main atelier, which was built between the Meiji and Taisho-era, will show Birdhead’s more traditional works, including what they termed as a new “matrix” of 124 photographs made during their recent travels in Kyoto and Tokyo. There are also six recent works from their Bigger Photo series, in which carefully assembled photographic images are silkscreened directly onto wood and fixed using a special lacquer technique.
In the hybrid modern architecture of the Kurogura, Birdhead presents their irreverent idea of “Phototheism,” an imaginary religion devoted to the mystical power of photography. This denomination, and its credo, termed We Will Shoot You, underpins the collaged images, installations and video that are presented in the exhibition. Taken together, these works offer a comprehensive introduction to an artist duo who have made a unique contribution to photography and to contemporary art in China and globally.
Birdhead was established by the artists Song Tao and Ji Weiyu in 2004. Song Tao was born in Shanghai in 1979, and Ji Weiyu was born in Shanghai in 1980. They both graduated from Shanghai Arts & Crafts College, and live and work in Shanghai. With works that employ the photographic image through photographic matrix, collage, special mounting technique, installation, photobooks, and many other media, they realize their own multivalent and ever evolving “Birdhead World” across a range of exhibition spaces and environments.
In recent years, their work has been exhibited at “Feeling the Stones” (Diriyah Biennale, Saudi Arabia, 2021); “Wave” (Power Station of Art, Shanghai, 2020). Their work has been collected by Tate Modern, the Museum of Modern Art, and Power Station of Art Shanghai, among others.
