Jeff Chien-Hsing Liao’s subject is the cultural diversity that has been a binding factor in the borough of Queens. The #7 train, the Flushing IRT, has long been dubbed “The International Express” due to myriad nationalities that have formed hybrid communities along train’s route. Like the great civilizations that lined the major rivers of the world, the #7 is one of New York City’s important arteries and has been an inspiration for numerous creative ideas on the level of economic and cultural exchange. Habitat 7 invites a reconsideration of the ways in which modern societies evolve around the manmade river basins of today.
Liao’s photographic eye has been influenced by the seminal work of German photographers Bernd and Hilla Becher and their protégé Andreas Gursky. He works with a large format camera that can produce an 8 x 10 negative. Many shots of a single scene over a period of time are then grafted together with digital technology. “By joining the pieces together in post-production,” Liao says, “I can best represent the atmosphere of time and give panoramic as well as detailed representation of the environment.” With these cinematic photographs, Liao is “interested in observing how people uphold their ethnic traditions while pursuing the typical “American dream.”
Jeff Chien-Hsing Liao (b. 1977, Taiwan) immigrated to Vancouver from Taiwan when he was 18, eventually making his way to New York to study art and photography at Pratt Institute of Art and Design (B.F.A., 2003) and The School of Visual Arts (M.F.A., 2005). Liao is the winner of the New York Times’ the 2nd Annual “Capture the Times” photography contest in 2005 with the series Habitat 7. His first solo museum exhibition of the same title was held at the Queens Museum of Art in 2006. His forthcoming monograph Habitat 7 will be published by Nazraeli Press later this year. Jeff Liao currently lives and works in Jackson Heights, New York.
QMA at Bulova Corporate Center
75-20 Astoria Boulevard, Jackson Heights, N. Y. 11370
A satellite branch of the Queens Museum of Art is located in the west and South Concourse galleries of the Bulova Corporate Center. The works of individual artists or a group of artists are presented in three exhibitions each year. This program is sponsored by the Blumenfeld Development Group, Ltd. Works in Jeff Chien-Hsing Liao: Habitat 7 are from the collection of the Queens Museum of Art and Joy of Giving Something, Inc.
More information about Bulova Corporate Center:
Open Call for Artists
Exhibitions at Bulova 1997-2007
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